A group of Indian book publishers, along with their international partners, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the Delhi High Court, claiming copyright infringement. This move is part of a wider global push to limit the use of copyrighted material in training artificial intelligence systems, including ChatGPT.
The lawsuit was announced by the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), which represents major publishing houses like Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, Cambridge University Press, Pan Macmillan, Rupa Publications, and S. Chand and Co.
Pranav Gupta, the general secretary of the federation, explained that the case revolves around ChatGPT using copyrighted book content to produce summaries. This practice could negatively affect sales and creativity in the publishing sector. Gupta stated, "Our demand is straightforward. OpenAI needs to stop using our copyrighted works. If they are unwilling to talk about licensing agreements, they should remove the datasets that were used for AI training and explain how they plan to compensate us. This misuse harms creativity and intellectual property."
The lawsuit was filed back in December 2024 but has only recently become public. OpenAI, known for launching the generative AI tool ChatGPT in November 2022, has not yet responded to these claims. The company has previously maintained that its AI systems operate under the principle of fair use by relying on data that is publicly accessible.
In a related development, the Delhi High Court is already considering a lawsuit by the Indian news agency ANI against OpenAI. This makes it one of the most significant legal battles regarding generative AI and copyright in India. The publishers’ federation aims to combine their case with ANI’s, showcasing the larger issues concerning intellectual property rights and technology advancement in the country.
"This moment is crucial," commented Siddharth Chandrashekhar, a lawyer from Mumbai. "The outcomes will set the standard for how we balance protecting intellectual property and promoting AI innovation."
In response to the allegations from ANI, OpenAI argued that a demand to delete its training data would violate U.S. legal requirements. The company also claimed that Indian courts don’t have authority over cases involving servers based in other countries. However, the publishers’ federation countered this argument, asserting that OpenAI’s operations in India subject it to Indian laws.
A central concern for the federation is ChatGPT’s capability to generate detailed summaries of books. For example, when asked about the first volume of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, ChatGPT provided a breakdown by chapter without sharing the actual text, which it claimed was protected by copyright.
Despite these safeguards, Gupta worries that providing free summaries might deter readers from buying books. "Why would anyone purchase books if they can easily find free summaries and excerpts?" he questioned. "Our members are genuinely concerned about the potential effects on sales."
In November 2024, Penguin Random House launched a global initiative to include a copyright notice that explicitly forbids the use of its books for AI training purposes.
Looking ahead, the federation claims to have credible evidence that OpenAI has used their members’ works in training ChatGPT. The Delhi High Court has asked OpenAI to respond to these allegations during a preliminary hearing scheduled for January 10. A full hearing is set to take place on January 28.
