Ziff Davis Copyright Claims Against OpenAI Advance in Federal Court

Published: 2025/12/16 01:59:02

Ziff Davis Accuses OpenAI of Copyright Infringement

MANHATTAN (CN) – A federal judge on Monday advanced a trio of copyright claims brought by digital publisher Ziff Davis against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, while the artificial intelligence firm won dismissal of several others.

Ziff Davis, a global digital media company whose portfolio includes leading brands in technology, shopping, gaming and entertainment like Mashable, PCMag and IGN, accuses OpenAI of scraping its online content without authorization to train the artificial intelligence chatbot’s language technology.

Judge Advances Key Claims

Ruling on OpenAI’s motion to dismiss Ziff Davis’ first amended complaint,U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein refused to throw out three of the publisher’s copyright infringement claims. These claims center on the allegation that OpenAI distributed copies of Ziff Davis’ copyrighted works with the copyright management data removed, violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Contributory Infringement Claim Upheld

The judge reasoned that Ziff Davis adequately stated a claim for contributory infringement. He clarified that “knowledge of specific infringements is not required to support a finding of contributory infringement.” Ziff Davis plausibly alleged end-user infringement and that OpenAI possessed actual or constructive knowledge of this third-party infringement, based on “widely publicized instances of copyright infringement” and “numerous examples of infringing outputs” detailed in the complaint.

Dismissed Claims

While some claims were dismissed, the court allowed key aspects of Ziff Davis’ case to proceed, focusing on the unauthorized use and distribution of copyrighted material.

Looking Ahead

This ruling represents a notable step forward for Ziff Davis in its legal battle against OpenAI. The case highlights the ongoing debate surrounding copyright law and the use of copyrighted material in the training of artificial intelligence models. Further proceedings will likely delve deeper into the specifics of OpenAI’s data scraping practices and the extent of the alleged copyright infringement. The outcome of this case could have broad implications for the AI industry and the protection of intellectual property in the digital age.