The Seattle Times and Newsday have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the companies of systematically scraping their paywalled articles without permission to train AI models, potentially violating copyright and digital access restrictions.
- Lawsuit claims bypass of paywalls during data scraping
- EU AI code prohibits circumvention of access controls
- Allegations include content distortion and copyright removal
What happened
The Seattle Times and Newsday jointly sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging the companies intentionally scraped their premium, paywalled news articles without authorization to train AI language models. The complaint asserts these actions enabled AI systems to generate summaries or alternatives to the original articles, undercutting website traffic and advertising revenue.
The suit also alleges that copyright metadata was stripped from the articles and that the AI models sometimes hallucinate, generating false or misleading information attributed to the news outlets. This lawsuit aligns with earlier claims brought by other publishers such as The New York Times, while some organizations like AP and Vox Media have opted for licensing agreements instead.
Why it matters
This case underscores key legal and ethical challenges at the intersection of generative AI and copyrighted journalism. The Seattle Times and Newsday accuse OpenAI and Microsoft of violating subscription access protections by circumventing paywalls, which poses new questions around fair use and copyright enforcement in AI training.
The lawsuit also points to the EU’s general-purpose AI code of practice, which explicitly forbids signatories from bypassing technological access restrictions like paywalls. Since OpenAI is a signatory, this raises the stakes for compliance, though the code’s application to content scraped before August 2025 remains unsettled. The evolving legal landscape highlights tensions between innovation in AI and protection of intellectual property.
What to watch next
Microsoft has already asked the court to dismiss the claims related to lost licensing fees and market impact, making the upcoming legal arguments over paywall circumvention particularly significant. Courts will need to clarify whether using subscription content without authorization violates digital access terms and copyright laws under US and EU frameworks.
The case may influence how AI developers obtain training data and whether stricter technological or legal safeguards will be mandated. It also could shape the future scope of fair use and copyright protections for digital news content amid rapid AI advancements. Observers should watch for court rulings and potential policy changes impacting AI training practices.