AI Copyright Litigation Update: Recent Rulings In Consolidated Cases Against OpenAI And Microsoft

Recent Activity in the Consolidated AI Lawsuits

Recent activity in the consolidated AI lawsuits brought by various authors, the New York Times, and others, against Open AI and Microsoft involves rulings by the magistrate judge on various discovery disputes among the various parties. The central allegations in the consolidated cases involve claims that OpenAI, Microsoft, and others committed direct copyright infringement by accessing and copying copyrighted material for the purposes of training each defendant's given AI model.

Key Court Rulings in the AI Copyright Litigation Against OpenAI and Microsoft

In recent opinions issued in late November and early December, Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ruled in favor of the authors and newspaper Plaintiffs in the consolidated cases on two important points: (1) whether California Labor Code § 980 prohibits Open AI and Microsoft from gathering and producing work-related text and direct messages sent by their employers using