The Wikimedia Foundation weighs in on the NYT’s case against OpenAI
The Wikimedia Foundation has urged a nuanced approach in The New York Times’ copyright case against OpenAI and Microsoft, warning that an extreme ruling in either direction could harm the open web. The case could shape how AI companies use published material and influence access to knowledge and future technology development.
The Foundation says some uses of copyrighted material should qualify as fair use, including certain training of models that produce something new and different from their sources, and retrieval-augmented generation that uses authoritative knowledge bases. It opposes systems that reproduce existing articles without attribution, and warns that blanket fair use could reduce the availability of secondary sources. A summary judgment is expected soon; the case is one of more than a dozen similar disputes.
In short
- Wikimedia wants a nuanced ruling on AI and copyright.
- Some model training and attributed knowledge retrieval could qualify as fair use.
- The decision may shape more than a dozen similar cases.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A broad fair-use allowance for some AI training could support new tools that transform published material into different outputs, while helping researchers and the public access knowledge. Retrieval systems grounded in authoritative sources may also make information easier to use, and overly restrictive rules could entrench existing companies or slow beneficial development.
The case against
Using published work to train commercial AI without permission or compensation may undermine authors’ control and the economic basis for journalism. Systems that reproduce articles without attribution, or rules that treat nearly all training as fair use, could divert readers and revenue from publishers and weaken the supply of reliable reporting and other secondary sources.
Explained simply
The New York Times is a newspaper that publishes original reporting, while OpenAI develops artificial intelligence systems and Microsoft is one of its major partners. The Times has brought a copyright case against the two companies over the use of its articles in AI products.
Copyright law governs how others may use published work. One issue in the case is whether some uses of articles to train AI or provide answers count as fair use, especially when the result is new, and how to distinguish that from reproducing an article without credit.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, says the outcome could affect both access to knowledge and the supply of published sources. The case is among many similar disputes and may help shape how courts treat the use of copyrighted material by AI companies.