Canada’s La Presse sues OpenAI for copyright infringement

French-language media outfit La Presse has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT generative AI model, for unauthorised use of content protected by copyright.

Patrick Bourbeau

The lawsuit seeks acknowledgement of and compensation for the defendant’s use of thousands of La Presse articles to train its AI model, without consent or payment.

Montreal-based La Presse said the commercial success of the ChatGPT platform is predicated on repeated acts of copyright infringement with no consideration for the intellectual property rights of the Canadian publisher.

It added that OpenAI profits from the news content produced by La Presse, without bearing any of the cost related to newsgathering, writing and publication, and the success of ChatGPT would not have been possible were it not for OpenAI’s unauthorised use of the resources of La Presse and those of other media.

The legal action announced by La Presse is in line with that undertaken by a coalition of Canadian media organisations, including CBC/Radio-Canada, the Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, Postmedia and the Toronto Star.

That lawsuit was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in November 2024, while La Presse’s was filed in Québec Superior Court.

“La Presse’s mission is to deliver high-quality news and information, free of charge and accessible to everyone,” said Patrick Bourbeau, VP of legal affairs at the French-language online newspaper.

“To ensure that accessibility, we invest considerable resources in producing and distributing content from the largest independent French-language newsroom in North America.

“Copyright is a foundational element in our journalists’ and our non-profit organisation’s ability to produce thorough, rigorous reporting, which is a pillar of our democracy.

“In today’s era of disinformation, independent, high-quality journalism like that practised by La Presse is indispensable.

“When we publish verified information, obtained by means of a rigorous newsgathering process, we help to distinguish facts from fake news. Given the speed at which ‘fake news’ travels, whether via social media or news platforms lacking in credibility, this type of journalism is a bulwark against the manipulation of information, which is one of the gravest threats to our democracy and its institutions.”

He concluded: “Our action sends a clear message: free access to news and information is no justification for pillaging our content for commercial purposes. We believe that high-quality news and information are a public good. Today, we are moving proactively to safeguard the value of our content, without waiting for a legislative framework.”