The Delhi High Court has asked OpenAI to respond to a petition filed by the news agency ANI, which alleges copyright infringement over OpenAI’s use of ANI’s news content to train ChatGPT. The court will hear the case on December 5. ANI has appealed the court’s July 24 order that refused it interim relief against OpenAI’s use of its content, according to medianama.com.
During the September 14 hearing, advocate Kapil Sibal appeared on behalf of the Broadband India Forum, seeking to intervene in the case. The Division Bench of Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed OpenAI to submit its response to ANI’s petition. The court will decide on BIF’s intervention application at the next hearing. ANI’s detailed grounds for the appeal have not been made public but are based on arguments presented so far.
ANI contends that OpenAI’s use of its copyrighted news content to train large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT amounts to copyright infringement rather than fair dealing. ANI argues that training a commercial AI model does not qualify as private or personal use or research under India’s Copyright Act, 1957. The news agency further claims that LLM training involves copying and storing its news content, which constitutes reproduction requiring a license. ANI had sought interim relief to restrain OpenAI’s use of its content pending trial.
The Delhi High Court’s next hearing on this matter is scheduled for December 5, when OpenAI’s response and BIF’s intervention application will be considered. The case highlights ongoing legal scrutiny over AI training data use and copyright compliance in India.