Umjetna inteligencija i mediji: The New York Times Company protiv kompanija OpenAI i Microsoft

The paper examines the first lawsuit filed by a media organization against representatives of the AI industry, namely the New York Times Company against OpenAI and Microsoft. The key issue in the background of this dispute is the training models of generative artificial intelligence without prior authorization or paying remuneration on the works protected by copyright that belong to media publishers. Furthermore, the plaintiff voiced claims that the AI products (e.g. ChatGPT) based on these models produce synthetic outputs that almost completely or to a large extent reproduce those works or represent their derivatives. The paper defines the basic concepts and categories essential for understanding the technology at the heart of the dispute (eg, generative artificial intelligence, fundamental models and large language models). In addition, it addresses the possible safe harbours for AI-developers in this context. Firstly, in the European Union, in terms of the text and data mining exception from Directive (EU) 2019/790, which is strongly backed by the text of the EU AI Regulation. Secondly, in the United States of America, in terms of applying the legal doctrine of „fair use“, especially in the sense of the transformative use of works. The author elaborates in detail the circumstances of the origin and the content of the dispute and looks at parallel cases in the domain of relationship between copyright and artificial intelligence, which could provide some guidance regarding the direction of the outcome of the NYTC– case. In addition, the paper draws attention to positive examples of OpenAI concluding agreements and even creating partnerships with large media organizations (e.g. Associated Press, Le Monde or News Corp) regarding the use of their content in GPT-model training, as well as in the context of technological cooperation.