US Judge Allows Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against OpenAI Over ChatGPT Outputs
A US federal judge ruled that authors including George R.R. Martin can proceed with a class action copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, finding that ChatGPT outputs could violate their copyrights. The authors allege their works were used to train language models without permission.
What happened
District Judge Sidney H. Stein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on October 27, 2025, that OpenAI and Microsoft must face a consolidated class action lawsuit alleging copyright infringement over ChatGPT outputs.
The plaintiffs, writers owning copyrights for various books including George R.R. Martin, Michael Chabon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jia Tolentino, and Sarah Silverman, allege that OpenAI and Microsoft copied their works and fed them into large language models without permission.
The judge considered an example where ChatGPT generated an alternative sequel outline to 'A Clash of Kings' featuring plot elements such as ancient dragon-related magic, a new claim to the Iron Throne from a character named Lady Elara, and a rogue sect of the Children of the Forest.
Reported impact
The authors allege the defendants engaged in 'flagrant and harmful infringements' of their copyrights by using their works to train language models.
Index analysis
The judge found that a reasonable jury could conclude the allegedly infringing outputs are substantially similar to the plaintiffs' works, sufficient for the class action to proceed on copyright infringement grounds.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.