Nonfiction Writers’ Champion: Julian Sancton’s Legal Battle Against OpenAI and Microsoft

Credit: Barnes & Noble

So, here’s something that caught my eye today. Julian Sancton, the guy behind Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night, is taking OpenAI and Microsoft to court. And guess what? He’s not just swinging for himself; he’s stepping up for other nonfiction authors too. The beef? He’s claiming these tech giants are using their work to train ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and other AI tools without permission. Yeah, the whole copyright infringement saga.

But here’s the kicker – this lawsuit is a bit different from the usual. It’s zooming in on nonfiction writers’ content, and Microsoft is on the hot seat along with OpenAI. This isn’t the first rodeo for lawsuits like this, but it’s the first time Microsoft’s getting dragged into it. The complaint? OpenAI is raking in the dough – we’re talking $1.3 billion a year – by using copyrighted material, and they’re not tossing a dime to the original creators.

The lawsuit is pretty blunt. It says OpenAI and Microsoft’s success is all thanks to them “copying and digesting” tons of copyrighted text from millions of works. And they did all this without cutting a check to the authors and rights holders.

There’s also this bit about OpenAI and Microsoft joining forces to develop and cash in on these AI products. Imagine, they’re like a tag team in this AI showdown.

So, that’s the story. It’s a mix of tech, law, and the classic David vs. Goliath. Let’s see how this one unfolds.