Nearly 400 local newspapers sue OpenAI and Microsoft over training data

Nearly 400 local newspaper publishers have joined a federal class action against OpenAI and Microsoft, filed June 24 and obtained by Bloomberg Law, alleging the companies built billion-dollar AI products on copyrighted journalism without permission or payment. The complaint says the firms copied local reporting to train ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot while stripping away copyright management information — author bylines, copyright notices and terms of use — asserting violations of both the Copyright Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The coalition is represented by former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin's firm. 'This lawsuit is not about stopping AI innovation, but ensuring that innovation happens fairly and within the bounds of the law,' Platkin said, framing local newspapers as 'the lifeblood of the communities they serve.' The case is described as the largest coordinated legal challenge yet from local and regional publishers, expanding a fight previously led by national outlets, authors and musicians.

Strategically, bundling nearly 400 shoestring-budget outlets amplifies both damages exposure and public sympathy, and the DMCA copyright-management-information claim is a sharper hook than fair-use fights alone. The suit adds to mounting legal and financial scrutiny of OpenAI, which also faces a separate product-liability and negligence suit alleging ChatGPT worsened a man's mental health, and questions over its Stargate UK project.

What to watch: whether courts certify the class, how Microsoft's Copilot liability is treated versus OpenAI's, and whether this pressures a licensing settlement template for local news.