Encyclopaedia Britannica, which owns Merriam-Webster, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging large-scale copyright infringement related to the use of its content in training artificial intelligence models. The complaint claims that nearly 100,000 copyrighted articles were used without authorization to train OpenAI’s large language models.
The publishers also allege that OpenAI’s systems generate outputs containing partial or full reproductions of their content and that its retrieval-augmented generation processes incorporate their materials without permission. The lawsuit further raises claims under trademark law, arguing that AI-generated inaccuracies may be incorrectly attributed to Britannica, potentially impacting its reputation.
The case adds to a growing number of legal actions against OpenAI by media organizations, including The New York Times and Ziff Davis, as courts continue to assess how copyright law applies to AI training and outputs.
