• by Ray Schultz , January 4, 2024

Publishers said to be negotiating with OpenAI over licensing rights to their content for training purposes should not expect to hit the jackpot soon. 

OpenAI is offering publishers a mere $1 million to $5 million per year, according to The Information, citing anonymous sources. 

Presumably, publishers with vast content archives would do much better.  

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that major publishers, including The Gannett, News Corp. and IAC, owner of The Daily Beast and Dotdash Meredith, were in talks with OpenAI.

However, the legal situation remains murky.

The New York Times has filed suit against Microsoft and Open AI, charging that they used its copyrighted work to compete against it.  

The suit, on file with the U.S. District Court for the southern District of New York, alleges that Microsoft and Open AI singled out the Times in particular because of its wide newsgathering capabilities and digital strength.

The defendants utilized large-language models (LLMs) “that were built by copying and using millions of The Times’s copyrighted news articles, in-depth investigations, opinion pieces, reviews, how-to guides, and more,” the suit continues.