NYT, publishers rebut DOJ's fair-use stance in OpenAI suit
The New York Times and other News Plaintiffs filed a response on Sept. 28 to the Justice Department’s Sept. 1 Statement of Interest in In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement Litigation, arguing the DOJ’s fair-use position contradicts trial evidence, conflicts with the Copyright Office’s own analysis, and leans on an unfounded national-security argument, per News/Media Alliance. The trade group’s president and CEO, Danielle Coffey, said in a statement there’s “no credible argument” that OpenAI and Microsoft’s use of copyrighted news content is fair use given the companies’ resources to license it, comparing the practice to a utility giving away electricity for free.
Why it matters: It's the publishers' formal rebuttal to the first federal-government position on the fair-use question central to nearly every AI-copyright suit, keeping that dispute open as the case nears summary judgment.
The record: OpenAIAI training & copyright litigation
Posted to the wire September 29, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.