The US Department of Justice has filed arguments supporting fair use protections for AI model training on copyrighted material in a class-action lawsuit brought by The New York Times. The position directly opposes a recent US Copyright Office report on the same issue.
The DOJ's legal filing argues that using copyrighted text to train artificial intelligence models falls within fair use doctrine—a legal framework allowing limited use of copyrighted material without permission under specific circumstances.
The filing contradicts the US Copyright Office's position, which raised concerns about copyright protections in AI training. The Copyright Office director was dismissed by the Trump administration shortly after publishing that report.
The case centers on whether publishers and authors should receive compensation when their work is used to train large language models. The New York Times filed the lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, seeking damages for alleged unauthorized use of their copyrighted content.
The DOJ's backing of fair use in AI training represents a significant statement from the federal government on the contentious issue. The outcome could establish precedent for how AI companies handle copyrighted material in model development.
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