Digital Trends Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of massive copyright infringement for scraping nearly 100,000 of their online articles to train its large language models. The complaint alleges that ChatGPT reproduces Britannica content, reduces web traffic and revenue, and violates trademark law. The case joins a growing wave of legal actions by publishers against AI firms, highlighting unresolved questions about the legality of using copyrighted material for AI training. A prior Anthropic case showed mixed rulings, underscoring the uncertainty that will shape future AI‑content use.
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