An Indian court found that OpenAI did not infringe ANI's copyright by using the agency’s articles to train ChatGPT. Justice Amit Bansal said ANI failed to prove the model memorised or reproduced its reports. The judge ruled the retention and use of ANI content for training falls under a research fair‑dealing exemption in India’s Copyright Act. This is the first major Indian judgment on AI training data and could influence related international cases.
Indian Court Rules OpenAI Did Not Infringe ANI's Copyright When Training ChatGPT
FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows OpenAI logo
An Indian court ruled on Friday that OpenAI's use of news agency Asian News International (ANI) material to train its ChatGPT service did not constitute copyright infringement.
Key finding: Justice Amit Bansal of the Delhi High Court found that ANI had not demonstrated that ChatGPT memorised or reproduced the agency's news reports in responses generated for users. The judge also held that OpenAI's retention and use of ANI articles for model training is covered by a research-oriented fair-dealing exemption under India's Copyright Act.
Why the ruling matters
This is the first substantive Indian court ruling on whether AI companies may train large language models on copyrighted news content without a licence. The decision could shape India’s emerging case law on AI training data and may be cited in related litigation abroad, including ongoing suits in the United States and Canada.
Background
ANI sued OpenAI in the Delhi High Court in November 2024, alleging the U.S. company used ANI's published reporting without permission to train its AI models and claiming that ChatGPT had attributed fabricated stories to the agency. The court found those allegations unproven on the evidence presented.
Court's legal basis: The judge concluded OpenAI's storage and use of ANI articles for model training falls within a fair-dealing exemption for research under a provision of India's Copyright Act, and therefore does not infringe ANI's copyright.
The ruling clarifies how Indian copyright law may apply to the use of copyrighted material in AI development, though further appeals or related cases could refine or change its practical impact.
Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier.
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