• by Ray Schultz , April 7, 2025

A dozen copyright lawsuits filed by authors and publications against OpenAI and Microsoft have been combined in one case in New York.

The cases involve “common questions of fact,” wrote Karen K. Caldwell, chair of the Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, last week. Moreover, “centralization in the Southern District of New York will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation,” Caldwell added. 

It will be quite a complicated piece of litigation. The plaintiffs include The New York Times, New York Daily News, seven other publications owned by Alden Global Capital’s MediaNewsGroup and Tribune Publishing, and the Center for Investigative Reporting. 

On the authors’ side, class action cases had been filed by comedian Sarah Silverman, and by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Michael Chabon and Junot Díaz. 

The authors had wanted the cases to be combined in the Northern District of California. So did OpenAI. But there was no unanimity of opinion. 

Some plaintiffs insisted that “pretrial proceedings in the class actions and the New actions are too advanced for centralization to be beneficial.” But Caldwell countered, “We do not find this argument to be persuasive. Counsel stated during oral argument that only four depositions have been taken thus far and, at a minimum, forty more depositions will be needed in the class actions alone.”

Indeed, a recent briefing consisted of “counsel blaming the other side for the breakdown in negotiations,” Caldwell noted. 

Wherever they are held, the proceedings are bound to confuse the average lay person. 

“Each action will involve overlapping, complex, and voluminous discovery regarding how defendants trained and designed their LLMs,” Caldwell continues. “Given the novel and complicated nature of the technology, there likely will be overlapping experts across these actions. Centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, particularly as to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary.”