Two More Newsrooms Join the Case Against OpenAI and Microsoft
September 5, 2026 – 7:49 pm
The Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft over the training of AI models on their journalism, alleging the companies methodically scraped articles in a way that bypasses paywalls.
The complaint argues this offers readers an AI-generated alternative to the articles themselves, cutting traffic and digital advertising revenue. It also alleges the models hallucinate, attributing false information to the two outlets, and that copyright management information was stripped from articles.
They join the New York Times (sued in 2023), 400 local newspapers, AP, and Vox Media who licensed their archives to OpenAI instead.
The EU’s AI code commits signatories not to circumvent access restrictions, naming subscription models and paywalls specifically.
Microsoft’s arguments:
Interestingly, on the same day, Microsoft asked a court to reject two theories central to this complaint: lost licensing fees and market dilution.
Copyright Considerations:
The key copyright issue revolves around circumvention of access restrictions. While the US focuses on how pages were accessed, the EU code has specific provisions against circumventing effective technological measures restricting access, including paywalls. OpenAI is a signatory to this code.