In a significant development on January 28, 2025, OpenAI Global, LLC reiterated its stance in the Delhi High Court, arguing that it cannot be sued for copyright infringement in India, reportedThe Hindu.
According to the publication, the company’s legal counsel, senior advocate Amit Sibal, contended that OpenAI’s terms of use mandate that any legal disputes be resolved through arbitration or in the courts of California, not in India.
This argument was put forward in the ongoing case filed by ANI Media Pvt. Ltd. (ANI) over allegations of unlawful use of copyrighted content to train ChatGPT’s AI models.
The Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), two industry groups representing publishers and news media organisations, have intervened in the matter.
They support ANI’s claims, asserting that OpenAI’s use of publicly available content constitutes copyright infringement.
The court, under Justice Amit Bansal, reportedly decided to examine the jurisdictional issue alongside the broader legal questions in the case, allowing proceedings to continue.
OpenAI’s terms of service state that disputes should be resolved under California law, and the company’s legal team has objected to the inclusion of FIP in the case, particularly as OpenAI claims its AI models are not trained on paywalled content such as books and journals, added the report. Sibal also questioned the relevance of the FIP’s participation.
Justice Bansal acknowledged the importance of the case, which may set a significant precedent for the future of AI research and development in India. According to the publication, he appointed two legal experts, Arul George Scaria, a professor at the National Law School of India University, and advocate Adarsh Ramanujan, as friends-of-the-court to assist with the legal complexities.
The report highlighted that the court issued notices to OpenAI regarding the interventions from DNPA and FIP, with a two-week deadline for the company to respond. It will be decided whether these interventions will be admitted in the case.
