The New York Times has asked a court for permission to update its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. The move follows a Supreme Court ruling that raised the bar for proving contributory infringement claims.
In a motion filed Thursday, the newspaper wants to strengthen its allegation that Microsoft contributed to copyright infringement by building a powerful supercomputer specifically for OpenAI. The filing comes after the Supreme Court sided with Cox Communications in a Sony case, requiring plaintiffs to show intentional inducement of illegal conduct.
Graham James, an NYT spokesperson, said the amendment clarifies the contributory infringement claim based on new law and discovery evidence. The Times also agreed to drop two other claims against the defendants.
Microsoft described the effort as a last-ditch attempt to salvage the case after unfavorable precedents. The newspaper alleges the supercomputer was designed to train models on its copyrighted articles without permission and helped boost Microsoft’s market value.
