OpenAI secures partial dismissal of authors’ copyright claims
Setback for US author Sarah Silverman and others as judge grants in part OpenAI’s motion to dismiss their claims | ChatGPT owner must still face direct copyright allegations | Move follows Meta’s success in part-dismissal of Silverman’s separate complaint.
A group of authors who brought two class-action suits against OpenAI have suffered a setback after a US judge dismissed the majority of their copyright infringement claims against the generative AI giant.
Comedian, actress and writer Sarah Silverman, and horror and sci-fi writer Paul Tremblay, filed their original complaints along with their respective co-plaintiffs, in summer 2023, in a California court.
The complaints alleged that OpenAI infringed by using copyrighted material to train its large language models (LLMs) behind its phenomenally successful AI tool, ChatGPT.
Silverman, author of her memoir The Bedwetter, was joined by fellow authors including novelist Richard Kadrey, who wrote the supernatural noir series Sandman Slim; and horror writer Christopher Golden, whose books include Ararat. Their complaint indicted both OpenAI and Meta.
Tremblay, whose books include The Cabin at the End of the World, was joined in his lawsuit by Mona Awad who wrote ‘darkly comic’ books such as 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Bunny.
The order, issued this week by US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín on February 12, dismissed the authors’ allegations of vicarious copyright infringement; unlawful business practices by infringing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA); negligence; and unjust enrichment.
The move comes months after Meta Platforms was partially granted its motion to dismiss claims brought by Silverman et al concerning the use of copyrighted material by its genAI tool Llama.
US District Judge Vince Chhabria criticised the nature of the plaintiffs’ suit in his order from November 2023. While Chhabria allowed the plaintiffs time to amend their claims, he said he would dismiss the claims once more if the authors failed to demonstrate that Llama's output closely resembled their works.
Motions to dismiss
OpenAI filed instant motions to dismiss five of the authors’ six claims in August 2023, but did not move for dismissal of the authors’ claim for direct copyright infringement—which means it must still face this charge.
These motions were heard before the US District Court for the Northern District of California in December 2023.
Judge Martínez-Olguín allowed the claim for unfair competition under California law to proceed because OpenAI’s “conduct may constitute an unfair practice”.
She ordered the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint by March 13, 2024, which will consolidate the claims in both cases.
The cases are Tremblay et al v OpenAI et al; and Silverman et al v OpenAI et al.
Representing the authors in the lawsuits are Joseph Saveri of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm; Bryan Clobes of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel; and Matthew Butterick.
Representing OpenAI is Joe Gratz of Morrison & Foerster; and Andy Gass of Latham & Watkins.
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