News Outlets Ask Judge to Sanction OpenAI in Copyright Case
The New York Times, the Daily News, and Others Accuse OpenAI of Hiding Evidence in a Landmark Copyright Fight
July 9, 2026 – 7:20 pm
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A group of news publishers has requested a federal judge to impose sanctions on OpenAI. The New York Times, the Daily News, and others allege OpenAI is concealing evidence crucial to their copyright case, as reported by the Associated Press.
In a filing on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, they claimed OpenAI chose obstruction over providing datasets and ChatGPT logs, which could reveal how the system used copyrighted news content for training. The publishers accused OpenAI of “discovery misconduct,” stating that an OpenAI employee’s recent deposition contradicted the company’s previous claims.
The motion seeks to punish OpenAI for hiding and destroying evidence, as stated by Daily News lawyer Steven Lieberman.
The stakes are high; The Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023, joined since by a wave of other newspapers, Ziff Davis, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Fair Use or Free-Riding?
At the heart of this dispute is a complex question: Does training AI on public writing fall under copyright’s “fair use” doctrine, or is it unfair competition? OpenAI argues fair use, while The Times frames it as free-riding, considering AI firms leverage costly journalism without compensating publishers.
This threat intensified when AI-generated search answers began impacting publisher traffic. Courts are just beginning to decide; a German court recently found Google liable for its AI Overviews.
A Costly Legal Battle
The litigation is expensive. The Times has spent over $28 million fighting AI companies, including a separate suit against Perplexity, and now seeks to recover fees from OpenAI for pursuing withheld evidence.
A benchmark was set when Anthropic agreed to pay book authors approximately $1.5 billion, roughly $3,000 per work.
While some outlets have licensed AI tools, others are still suing. Getty Images, for instance, reached a pact with a company it previously sued. Regulators, too, are taking action, such as France’s €250 million fine against Google.
This split—sue or license—represents the industry’s bet on its future. A sanctions ruling against OpenAI wouldn’t settle copyright issues but could provide publishers with much-needed leverage.