On Wednesday, September 16 — along with our colleagues at Noisy Creek — Memphis Magazine, the Memphis Flyer, and Memphis Parent joined 60 publishers representing more than 550 publications across the country in a major collective effort to challenge OpenAI and Microsoft over the unauthorized use of original reporting.
Companies should not profit from work they did not create without permission or compensation. AI systems do not attend school board meetings, sit through city council hearings, chase down leads, cultivate sources, or investigate corruption. Local reporters do. The value in these systems comes directly from the original reporting of journalists on the ground.
We expect our case to be consolidated with the In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement multi-district litigation very soon.
Local journalism depends on the dedicated work of human beings. It is strange to say that we are proud to be human, but there it is. If you share our belief in human-powered journalism, please share our work with a friend or family member.
A press release from Platkin, LLP follows:
Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft Grows to More Than 550 Publications
Platkin LLP now represents 60 publishers across the country suing Open AI, Microsoft
Represented by Platkin LLP, publishers argue OpenAI and Microsoft systematically
and willfully stole copyrighted news articles without permission or compensation.
New York, NY — September 16, 2026 — A new group of 26 local, regional and specialty
publishers joined a landmark copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft Wednesday,
alleging the defendants systematically and willfully stole copyrighted news articles
produced by local publications, used that content to train and build commercial AI
products, and reproduced or repurposed that reporting without permission or
compensation. The latest complaint brings the total number of outlets and publishers
represented by Platkin LLP in this legal action to over 550.
The lawsuit, filed by Platkin LLP, a mission-driven law firm founded by former New Jersey
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, argues the actions violate longstanding protections
under the Copyright Act, and claim OpenAI knowingly removed copyright management
information from the publishers’ works, such as author credits, copyright notices, and
terms of use information in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The continued growth of this case demonstrates the widespread impact of the issue, as
publishers across the country look to protect their original journalism from alleged
unauthorized use by AI companies. When the case was initially filed in June, it represented
the largest collective effort by local and regional publications to challenge AI companies
over the unauthorized use of original reporting. The addition of another significant group
of publishers expands that effort further, bringing together publications serving
communities and audiences across the country.
The publishers behind this case invest substantial resources in the reporters, editors,
photographers and staff who produce original journalism every day. That reporting
informs communities, holds institutions accountable and provides the original information
that AI products have relied on. Rather than compensating or citing the publishers for use
of their work, OpenAI and Microsoft illegally used that copyrighted material to build
enormously valuable commercial products.
“The scale of this coalition should be a wake-up call,” said former Attorney General of New
Jersey and partner at Platkin LLP, Matt Platkin. “Over 500 news publications are standing
together because what happens here will help determine whether local and independent
journalism can continue to thrive in communities across the country. If some of the largest
technology companies in the world can take copyrighted reporting without permission,
use it for their own commercial benefit and face no consequences, the damage will extend
far beyond any one publisher. It will weaken the institutions people rely on to understand
what is happening in their own communities. That is why this case matters, and why we
intend to hold OpenAI and Microsoft accountable.”
The newest plaintiffs show just how wide the impact of OpenAI and Microsoft’s harm
reaches. They include Times Publishing Company, parent of the 14-time Pulitzer
Prize-winning Tampa Bay Times; The Austin Chronicle, an independent publication that has
covered Austin for more than four decades; the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, which
works with organizations supporting more than 500 Black- and Latino-owned, alternative
and online news outlets across the country; and SwimSwam, one of the world’s leading
sources for competitive swimming news. They are joined by local outlets, nonprofit
investigative newsrooms and community publications serving readers from New England
and New Jersey to Florida, Texas and Arizona. The breadth of publications alleging the
same misuse of their work underscores the sweeping reach of OpenAI and Microsoft’s
practices across the news industry.
The lawsuit seeks to hold OpenAI and Microsoft fully accountable for violations of
publishers’ rights—past, present and ongoing—and to ensure that the organizations
investing in original journalism have meaningful protections in the AI era. The case is not
about stopping AI innovation, but ensuring that innovation happens fairly and within the
bounds of the law, without coming at the expense of the publishers and journalists whose
work helps power these technologies.
The Plaintiffs are the following publishers: Times Publishing Company; Alternative
Newsweekly Foundation; Austin Chronicle Corp.; Boston Neighborhood News, Inc.; Cape
Gazette, Ltd.; Chapman Hyperlocal Media, Inc.; Conrad Communications, LLC; Contemporary
Media, Inc.; East Greenwich News; ecoRI Inc.; Florida Trend Magazines, Inc.; HD Media
Company, LLC; Massachusetts Media Fund, Inc.; New Hampshire Center for Public Interest
Journalism; Noisy Creek, Inc.; Richland Times, LLC; San Francisco Jewish Community Publications, Inc.; SwimSwam Partners, LLC; TAP IP, LLC; The Alternative Press, LLC; The
Calais Advertiser, Inc.; The Hudson Valley Local News Lab Inc.; The Jewish Link of Bergen
County and Northern NJ, LLC; The Machias Valley News Observer, Inc.; Tucson Investigative
Reporting Center Inc.; We-Ha.com LLC
For more information, visit platkinllp.com or contact PlatkinLLP@Orchestraco.com.
