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Eight MediaNews Group Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft for Over $10 Billion

The SDNY filing escalates publishers’ effort to restrict AI training on news content, with discovery battles in related cases shaping what evidence companies must disclose.

Overview

  • The 119-page complaint was filed on Nov. 26 in the Southern District of New York by MediaNews Group–affiliated publishers.
  • The suit names the Los Angeles Daily News, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, The Morning Call, Boulder Daily Camera, Daily Press, and The Virginian-Pilot as plaintiffs.
  • Plaintiffs allege OpenAI and Microsoft harvested millions of copyrighted articles to build and operate large language models without permission or payment.
  • The newspapers are represented by Rothwell Figg, with attorney Steven Lieberman asserting the companies took journalists’ work as uncompensated raw material.
  • The case proceeds separately from a 2024 MNG lawsuit in SDNY and is counted by one tracker as the 61st U.S. copyright suit against AI firms and the 15th naming OpenAI; the companies had not commented at publication.