# OpenAI sued by textbook authors over training data

Published: 2026-08-16T20:37:57.296Z · Source: Chat GPT Is Eating the World (https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2026/08/14/openai-sued-by-textbook-authors-michael-sullivan-total-copyright-cases-132/)
Source date: 2026-08-14
Entities: openai, ai-litigation

Textbook author Michael Sullivan and other writers sued OpenAI for copyright infringement in the Southern District of New York on August 14, alleging their books were used to train its models without authorization, per the litigation tracker Chat GPT Is Eating the World. The suit echoes an earlier Sullivan v. Meta case filed in the Northern District of California, and the tracker counts it as the 132nd AI copyright case in its running tally.

Why it matters: Training-data suits keep landing on OpenAI specifically, adding to the same liability question already pending against Google over Gemini's book training.

## What this answers

**Has OpenAI been sued over textbook copyrights?**

Yes — textbook author Michael Sullivan and others filed a copyright suit against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York on August 14, 2026, alleging their books were used as training data without authorization.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-08-16-openai-sued-by-textbook-authors-over-training-data/
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