Every AI Copyright Lawsuit in the US, Visualized
WiredIn May 2020, the media and technology conglomerate Thomson Reuters sued a small legal AI startup called Ross Intelligence, alleging that it had violated US copyright law by reproducing materials from Westlaw, Thomson Reuters’ legal research platform. But it’s now clear that the case—filed more than two years before the generative AI boom began—was the first strike in a much larger war between content publishers and artificial intelligence companies now unfolding in courts across the country. The plaintiffs include individual authors like Sarah Silverman and Ta Nehisi-Coates, visual artists, media companies like The New York Times, and music-industry giants like Universal Music Group. AI companies are frequently defending themselves by relying on what’s known as the “fair use” doctrine, arguing that building AI tools should be considered a situation where it’s legal to use copyrighted materials without getting consent or paying compensation to rights holders.