The Delhi High Court is hearing ANI Media’s suit against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT used its news content without permission. Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal argued that “commercial use isn’t automatically infringement under Indian law,” citing fair dealing exceptions.
New Delhi: Today, on September 12, the Delhi High Court heard submissions from the remaining intervenors in ANI Media Pvt. Ltd.’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI. ANI Media has claimed that OpenAI used its original news content to train the ChatGPT artificial intelligence model and earned commercial profits from it, all without ANI’s permission.
The case has drawn attention to the emerging legal questions surrounding AI training and copyright protection in India. During the proceedings, the court asked whether there is an Indian equivalent of ChatGPT.
It was informed that a private entity is currently in talks with the government to develop such a platform.
Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal, appearing for OpenAI, argued that fair dealing is a well-established exception under Indian copyright law, stating that
“facts can’t be monopolized, only expression.”
He emphasized that merely using copyrighted material for commercial purposes does not automatically amount to infringement under Indian law.
Sibal also referred to US court rulings, including the Anthropic case, to support his arguments.
He highlighted that Section 52 of the Indian Copyright Act does not extend fair dealing exceptions to computer programs, implying that AI systems like ChatGPT require careful consideration under existing copyright norms.
The court has scheduled the continuation of the hearing on September 23. Speaking about the broader implications of the case, J Bansal remarked,
“For it to make sense, it needs to come to end,”
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indicating the importance of a definitive judicial decision on the matter.
This lawsuit marks a significant step in addressing how Indian copyright law will adapt to the rise of AI technologies and their use of protected content.
Case Title:
ANI MEDIA PVT. LTD. V/s OPEN AI OPCO LLC, CS(COMM)- 1028/2024,
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