OpenAI Did Not Violate Copyright, Says Delhi Court To ANI

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – In a ruling that could shape the future of artificial intelligence and copyright disputes in India, the Delhi High Court has refused to temporarily bar OpenAI from using news reports published by Asian News International (ANI) to train ChatGPT, finding that such use is covered by the Copyright Act’s fair dealing provisions.

Justice Amit Bansal, in an interim order delivered on July 24, held that storing ANI’s content to train a large language model falls within the scope of fair dealing under Section 52(1)(a) of the Copyright Act. “Therefore, it does not amount to infringement under Section 51,” the court said.

Declining ANI’s request for an interim injunction, the court ruled that the news agency had not established a prima facie case.

The court also rejected ANI’s contention that ChatGPT reproduces its copyrighted material. Justice Bansal observed that the data collected to train large language models is used internally and is not made available to the public. The order further noted that ChatGPT transforms information rather than simply reproducing news articles.

ANI, the first Indian news organization to sue OpenAI over alleged copyright infringement, filed the case in 2024, accusing the company of using and storing its news reports without permission to develop and operate ChatGPT.

OpenAI argued that copyright protection does not extend to facts and maintained that publishers who do not want their websites accessed by its systems can use available opt-out mechanisms.

The case has since attracted wide attention from India’s media and technology sectors. The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), whose members include The Times Group, Hindustan Times, India Today Group and The Hindu, later joined the proceedings.

The main copyright suit remains pending before the Delhi High Court, and July 24 decision addresses only ANI’s request for interim relief while the larger case continues.