Britannica, Merriam-Webster Sue OpenAI Over Alleged AI Content Misuse
The world’s oldest English-language general knowledge encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster have jointly filed a lawsuit against U.S.-based artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI. The case was filed last Friday (13 March) in a federal court in Manhattan, United States, Reuters reported.
According to the complaint, OpenAI used nearly 100,000 Britannica articles, encyclopedia entries, and dictionary definitions without permission to train its AI models. It is alleged that this content was used to enable ChatGPT to answer human queries, while also generating AI-produced summaries of Britannica’s website content that have effectively “cannibalized” its web traffic.
In its 44-page filing, Britannica claims that ChatGPT’s responses often reproduce its copyrighted articles “verbatim or nearly verbatim.” As a result, users obtain information directly through ChatGPT instead of visiting Britannica’s website, posing a threat to its business model.
The complaint further states that although Britannica initiated licensing discussions with OpenAI in November 2024, the company “rejected” the proposal. While entering into agreements with other publishers, OpenAI allegedly continued to use Britannica’s content without authorization.
On the issue of trademark infringement, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI has harmed Britannica’s brand by implying authorization to reproduce its content and by associating its name with AI-generated inaccuracies or “hallucinations.”
In a statement on Monday (16 March), an OpenAI spokesperson said, “Our models empower innovation and are trained on publicly available data, based on principles of fair use.”
It is noted that in September last year, Britannica also filed a similar copyright infringement lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity AI, which remains pending. This marks the latest legal action by authors, media organizations, and other copyright holders against AI companies.
DBTech/BMT/OR
