We’ve compiled a running list of the lawsuits filed against AI companies, including OpenAI and ChatGPT. New lawsuits highlighted in blue below.
Court decisions
Judge Chhabria order dismissing most of claims in Kadrey v. Meta (Nov. 20, 2023) [*NEW]
Judge Orrick order granting in part defendants’ motions to dismiss in Sarah Anderson v. Stability AI LTD (Oct. 30, 2023).
Judge Bibas’s decision rejecting summary judgment and analysis of fair use in light of Andy Warhold Foundation v. Goldsmith and Google v. Oracle decisions in Thomson Reuters v. Ross (Sept. 25, 2023).
Copyright lawsuits in US = 12 proposed class actions + 2 lawsuits
Julian Sancton v. OpenAI, Microsoft, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1:23-cv-10211 (filed Nov. 21, 2023) (proposed class action) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT] [*NEW]
- Author of book sues OpenAI and Microsoft Corporation. Complaint alleges OpenAI “copied and data-mined the works of writers, without compensation, to build a machine that is capable (or, as technology advances, will soon be capable) of performing the same type of work for which these writers would be paid. Without the wide corpus of copyrighted material to feed off of, there would be no ChatGPT. Defendants’ commercial success was possible only because they copied and digested the protected, copyrightable expression contained in billions of pages of actual text, across millions of copyrighted works—all without paying a penny to authors and rightsholders.” Then Microsoft provided billions of dollars in investment to OpenAI that facilitated that “the bespoke supercomputing system that OpenAI used to maintain and copy the copyrighted works owned by Plaintiff and the proposed Class.”
- Plaintiff’s attorneys: J. Craig Smyser, Justin A. Nelson, Alejandra C. Salinas, Rohit D. Nath, SUSMAN GODFREY L.L.P.
- Defendants’ attorneys:
Mike Huckabee v. Meta Platforms, Inc., Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg Finance, L.P., Microsoft Corporation, and The EleutherAI Institute, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1:23-cv-09152 (filed Oct. 17, 2023) (proposed class action) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books sue EleutherAI for compiling dataset “The Pile,” which allegedly contains the Books3 dataset consisting of “information scraped from a large collection of approximately 183,000 pirated ebooks, most of which were published in the past 20 years.”
- Author of books also sue Meta Platforms, Inc., Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg Finance, L.P., Microsoft Corporation for allegedly using “Books3 to train LLMs, with the full knowledge and understanding that the datasets they were using to train their LLMs were assembled from copyrighted works, including copyrighted works of the Plaintiffs and Members of the Class.”
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Greg G. Gutzler, Adam J. Levitt, Amy E. Keller, James A. Ulwick, DICELLO LEVITT LLP; Seth Haines, Timothy Hutchinson, Lisa Geary, RMP, LLP
- Case assigned to Judge Lorna G. Schofield
Concord Music Group, Inc. v. Anthropic PBC, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division, No. 3:23-cv-01092 (filed Oct. 18, 2023) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Music publishers led by Universal Music Group (UMG) sue Anthropic PBC for its chatbot Claude’s alleged infringement of their copyrights in musical works and seeks $75 million in damages. “In the process of building and operating AI models, Anthropic unlawfully copies and disseminates vast amounts of copyrighted works—including the lyrics to myriad musical compositions owned or controlled by Publishers.”
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Steven A. Riley, Tim Harvey, RILEY & JACOBSON, PLC; Matthew J. Oppenheim, Nicholas C. Hailey, Audrey Adu-Appiah, Jennifer Pariser, Andrew Guerra, Timothy Chung, OPPENHEIM + ZEBRAK, LLP; Richard S. Mandel, Jonathan Z. King, Richard Dannay, COWAN, LIEBOWITZ & LATMAN, P.C.
- Case assigned to Chief Judge Waverly D Crenshaw, Jr
Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GMBH v. Ross Intelligence Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:20-cv-613-SB (filed May 6, 2020) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Owner of Westlaw research database allege AI startup illegally copied Westlaw headnotes to train startup’s AI program.
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Jack B. Blumenfeld, Michael J. Flynn, MORRIS, NICHOLS, ARSHT & TUNNELL LLP, Wilmington, Delaware; Dale M. Cendali, Eric A. Loverro, Joshua L. Simmons, KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, New York, New York.
- Defendant’s attorneys: David E. Moore, Bindu A. Palapura, Andrew L. Brown, POTTER ANDERSON & CORROON LLP; Gabriel M. Ramsey, Warrington Parker, Joachim B. Steinberg, Jacob Canter, Christopher J. Banks, Shira Liu, Margaux Poueymirou, Anna Z. Saber, CROWELL & MORING LLP, San Francisco; Mark A. Klapow, Lisa Kimmel, Crinesha B. Berry, CROWELL & MORING LLP, Washington, D.C.
- Case assigned to Judge Stephanos Bibas (sitting by designation)
- Judge Bibas’s decision rejecting summary judgment and analysis of fair use in light of Andy Warhold Foundation v. Goldsmith and Google v. Oracle decisions
Authors Guild v. Open AI, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1:23-cv-8292 (filed Sept. 19, 2023) (proposed class action) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books and writings allege their works were used without permission to train and retained in OpenAI’s AI and in derivative works in ChatGPT’s responses
- Authors include David Baldacci, Mary Bly, Michael Connelly, Sylvia Day, Jonathen Franzen, John Grisham, Elin Hilderbrand, Christina Baker Kline, Maya Shanbhag Lang, Victor Lavalle, George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, Douglas Preston, Roxana Robinson, George Sanders, Scott Turow, Rachael Vail.
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Rachel Geman, Reilly T. Stoler, Ian R. Bensberg, LIEFF CABRASER HEIMMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP; Scott J. Sholder, CeCe M. Cole, COWAN DEBAETS ABRAHAM & SHEPPARD LLP
- Defendant’s attorneys: Joseph C. Gratz, MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
- Case assigned to Judge Sidney H. Stein
Chabon v. Meta Platforms, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-04663 (filed Sept. 12, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books and writings allege their works were used without permission to train and retained in OpenAI’s AI and in derivative works in ChatGPT’s responses
- Authors include Michael Chabon, David Henry Hwang, Matthew Klam, Rachel Louise Snyder, and Ayelet Waldman
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Daniel J. Muller, VENTURA, HERSEY & MULLER LLP for Andrew Sean Greer, Ayelet Waldman, David Henry Hwang, Jacqueline Woodson, Junot Diaz, Laura Lippman, Matthew Klam, Michael Chabon, Rachel Louise Snyder, Ta-Nehisi Coates; Bryan L. Clobes, CAFFERTY CLOBES MERIWETHER & SPRENGEL LLP, for Ayelet Waldman, David Henry Hwang, Matthew Klam, Michael Chabon, Rachel Louise Snyder
- Defendant’s attorneys: Bobby A. Ghajar, COOLEY LLP
- Case assigned to Judge Vince Chhabria
Chabon v. OpenAI Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-04625-PHK (filed Sept. 8, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books and writings allege their works were used without permission to train and retained in OpenAI’s AI and in derivative works in ChatGPT’s responses
- Authors include Michael Chabon, David Henry Hwang, Matthew Klam, Rachel Louise Snyder, and Ayelet Waldman
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Daniel J. Muller, VENTURA, HERSEY & MULLER LLP for Andrew Sean Greer, Ayelet Waldman, David Henry Hwang, Jacqueline Woodson, Junot Diaz, Laura Lippman, Matthew Klam, Michael Chabon, Rachel Louise Snyder, Ta-Nehisi Coates; Bryan L. Clobes, CAFFERTY CLOBES MERIWETHER & SPRENGEL LLP, for Ayelet Waldman, David Henry Hwang, Matthew Klam, Michael Chabon, Rachel Louise Snyder
- Case assigned to Judge Charles R. Breyer
J.L. v. Alphabet Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-03440-LB (filed Jul. 11, 2023) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT] (proposed class action).*also involves privacy claims]
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Ryan J. Clarkson, Yana Hart, Tiara Avaness, Valter Malkhasyan, Tracey Cowan, Timothy K. Giordano of Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
- Defendants’ attorneys: David H. Kramer, WILSON SONSINI for Alphabet, Google DeepMind, and Google LLC; Eric Preston Tuttle, Maura Lea Rees, WILSON SONSINI for Google LLC
- Case assigned to Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin
Richard Kadrey v. Meta Platforms, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-03417 (filed July 7, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books allege their books were used without permission in “the Books3 section of ThePile” database, drawn from the shadow library Bibliotik, to train Meta’s AI program, LLaMA.
- Authors include Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Christopher Golden
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Joseph R. Saveri, Cadio Zirpoli, Christopher K.L Young, Kathleen J. McMahon , JOSEPH SAVERI LAW FIRM; and Matthew Butterick.
- Defendant’s attorneys: Bobby A. Ghajar, Colette Ani Ghazarian, Judd D. Lauter, Mark Weinstein, Judd Lauter, COOLEY LLP; Mark Lemley, LEX LUMINA PLLC for Stability AI, Inc.
- Case assigned to Judge Vince Chhabria
Sarah Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-03223 (filed July 7, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books allege their books were used to train OpenAI’s GPT without permission based on illegal digital copies of the books from shadow libraries; and that GPT-4 produces detailed summaries of their books upon queries.
- Authors include Sarah Silverman, Richard Kadrey, and Christopher Golden
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Joseph R. Saveri, Cadio Zirpoli, Christopher K.L Young, Kathleen J. McMahon, JOSEPH SAVERI LAW FIRM; and Matthew Butterick.
- Defendants’ attorneys: Allison L Stillman, Andrew Michael Gass, Joseph Richard Wetzel, LATHAM & WATKINS; Allyson Roz Bennett, Joseph C. Gratz, Tiffany Cheung, MORRISON & FOERSTER; Sarang Damle for OpenAI GP, L.L.C., OpenAI, Inc., OpenAI, L.P., OpenAI OpCo, L.L.C., OpenAI Startup Fund GP I, L.L.C., OpenAI Startup Fund I, L.P., OpenAI Startup Fund Management, LLC
- Case assigned to Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin
Paul Tremblay v. OpenAI, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-03223 (filed June 28, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of books allege their books were used to train OpenAI’s GPT without permission based on illegal digital copies of the books from shadow libraries; and that GPT-4 produces detailed summaries of their books upon queries.
- Authors include Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Joseph R. Saveri, Cadio Zirpoli, Christopher K.L Young, Kathleen J. McMahon of Joseph Saveri Law Firm; and Matthew Butterick.
- Defendants’ attorneys: Allison L Stillman, Andrew Michael Gass, Joseph Richard Wetzel, LATHAM & WATKINS; Allyson Roz Bennett, Joseph C. Gratz, Tiffany Cheung, MORRISON & FOERSTER; Sarang Damle for OpenAI GP, L.L.C., OpenAI, Inc., OpenAI, L.P., OpenAI OpCo, L.L.C., OpenAI Startup Fund GP I, L.L.C., OpenAI Startup Fund I, L.P., OpenAI Startup Fund Management, LLC
- Case assigned to Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin
Getty Images (US), Inc. v. Stability AI Ltd, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:23-cv-00135-UNA (filed 2/03/23) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of photographs
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Tammy L. Mercer, Robert M. Vrana of YOUNG CONAWAY STARGATT & TAYLOR, LLP; and Benjamin E. Marks, Jared R. Friedmann, Melissa Rutman of WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
- Defendant’s attorneys: Amir R. Ghavi, Michael C. Keats, Nicole M. Jantzi, Paul M. Schoenhard, FRIED FRANK HARRIS SHRIVER & JACOBSON LLP; Michael Flynn, MORRIS NICHOLS ARSHT & TUNNELL for Stability AI, Inc.; Michael J. Flynn, MORRIS NICHOLS ARSHT & TUNNELL for Stability AI, Ltd.
- Case Assigned to Judge Gregory B. Williams
Sarah Andersen v. Stability AI Ltd, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-00201 (filed 1/13/23) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [Amended COMPLAINT]
- Authors of visual art
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Joseph R. Saveri, Cadio Zirpoli, Christopher K.L Young, Elissa A. Buchanan, Travis Manfredi, Louis Kessler, JOSEPH SAVERI LAW FIRM; and Matthew Butterick; Arielle S. Wagner, Brian D Clark, Eura Chang, Laura Matson, LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN PLLP
- Defendant’s attorneys: Andrew Michael Gass, Brittany Nichole Lovejoy, Michael H. Rubin, LATHAM & WATKINS for Deviant Art, Inc.; Angela Lucille Dunning, Arminda B. Bepko, CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON LLP for Midjourney, Inc.; [withdrawn: James Asheton Lemay, Judd D. Lauter, Kayla Elizabeth Blaker, COOLEY LLP]
- Amir R. Ghavi, Michael C. Keats, Nicole M. Jantzi, Paul M. Schoenhard, FRIED FRANK HARRIS SHRIVER & JACOBSON LLP and Mark Lemley, LEX LUMINA PLLC for Stability AI, Inc.; Mark Lemley, LEX LUMINA PLLC and Paul M. Schoenhard, FRIED FRANK HARRIS SHRIVER & JACOBSON LLP for Stability AI Ltd.
- Case assigned to Judge William H. Orrick
Doe 1 v. Github, Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No 4:2022cv06823 (filed 11/03/22) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Authors of computer programs
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Joseph R. Saveri, Cadio Zirpoli, Christopher K.L Young, Elissa A. Buchanan, Travis Manfredi, Louis Kessler, Steven Noel Williams, JOSEPH SAVERI LAW FIRM; and Matthew Butterick.
- Defendant’s attorneys: Alyssa M. Caridis, Annette L. Hurst, Daniel Denny Justice, William Wayne Oxley, ORRICK, HERRINGTON & SUTCLIFFE LLP for Github, Inc. and Microsoft Corp.; Alexandra Marie Ward, Allyson Roz Bennett, Joseph C. Gratz, Tiffany Cheung, Melody Ellen Wong, Michael A. Jacobs, Rose S. Lee, MORRISON & FOERSTER for OpenAI GP, L.L.C., OpenAI, Inc., OpenAI, L.P., OpenAI Startup Fund GP I, L.L.C., OpenAI Startup Fund I, L.P., OpenAI Startup Fund Management, LLC; Joseph C. Gratz, MORRISON & FOERSTER for OpenAI OpCo, L.L.C.
- Case assigned to Judge Jon Steven Tigar
Privacy lawsuits in US = 2 proposed class actions
A.T. v. OpenAI LP, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-04557 (filed Sept. 5, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Michael F. Ram, John A. Yanchunis, Ryan J. McGee, MORGAN & MORGAN COMPLEX LITIGATION GROUP
- Case assigned to Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero
J.L. v. Alphabet Inc., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-03440-LB (filed Jul. 11, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT] [*also involves copyright claims as noted above]
- Case assigned to Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Ryan J. Clarkson, Yana Hart, Tiara Avaness, Valter Malkhasyan, Tracey Cowan, Timothy K. Giordano of Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
P.M. v. OpenAI LP, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 3:23-cv-03199-JCS (filed Jun. 28, 2023) (proposed class action). [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT] VOLUNTARILY DISMISSED BY PLAINTIFFS ON Sept. 15, 2023
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys: Ryan J. Clarkson, Yana Hart, Tiara Avaness, Valter Malkhasyan, Tracey Cowan, Timothy K. Giordano of Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
- Case assigned to Judge Trina L. Thompson
Defamation lawsuits in US = 1
Mark Walters v. OpenAI, LLC, in the Superior Court of Gwinnett County, State of Georgia (filed June 5, 2023) [DOCKET] [COMPLAINT]
- Plaintiff’s attorney: John R. Monroe of John Monroe Law, P.C.
- Syndicated radio talk show host alleges ChatGPT generated false and defamatory information about him in response to a query by a ChatGPT user.
Copyright lawsuits in UK
Getty Images (US), Inc. v. Stability AI Ltd., in the High Court of Justice in London (Chancery Division), (filed 1/16/23), No. IL-2023-000007.