Who’s Suing AI and Who’s Signing: A Wave of Prorata Partnerships, New York Times Signs with Amazon
A small but significant number of news publishers have taken legal action against AI companies such as OpenAI, accusing them of unauthorized use of their copyrighted content. Meanwhile, many more publishers are opting to forge partnerships with AI firms, permitting the use of their content to inform AI tools like ChatGPT—with promised citations—and gaining access to AI technology for developing their own products.
As of 29 May 2025, The New York Times has signed its first AI licensing agreement, partnering with Amazon.
News Publishers Pursuing Legal Action Against AI Platforms
- Ziff Davis vs OpenAI
- News/Media Alliance members vs Cohere
- Indian news publishers vs OpenAI
- Coalition of Canadian news outlets vs OpenAI
- News Corp vs Perplexity
- Mumsnet vs OpenAI
- The Center for Investigative Reporting vs OpenAI and Microsoft
- Eight Alden Global Capital newspapers vs OpenAI and Microsoft
- The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet vs OpenAI
- The New York Times vs OpenAI and Microsoft
- Getty Images vs Stability AI
News Publishers and Organizations That Have Signed Deals with AI Companies
- More than 500 publications – Prorata.ai
- The New York Times – Amazon
- The Washington Post – OpenAI
- Shutterstock – Synthesia
- News/Media Alliance – Prorata.ai
- Guardian – OpenAI
- Schibsted – OpenAI
- Agence France-Press – Mistral
- Associated Press – Google
- Axios – OpenAI
- Future – OpenAI
- The Independent, LA Times, Lee Enterprises and others – Perplexity
- DMG Media, Guardian, Sky News and Prospect – Prorata.ai
- Reuters – Meta
- Hearst – OpenAI
- FT, Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst Mags, USA Today Network – Microsoft
- Conde Nast – OpenAI
- FT, Axel Springer, The Atlantic, Fortune – Prorata.ai
- Time, Der Spiegel, Fortune, Texas Tribune and more – Perplexity
- Time – OpenAI
- Vox Media – OpenAI
- The Atlantic – OpenAI
- News Corp – OpenAI
- Dotdash Meredith – OpenAI
- Informa – Microsoft
- Axel Springer – Microsoft
- Financial Times – OpenAI
- Le Monde and Prisa Media – OpenAI
- Axel Springer – OpenAI
- Associated Press – OpenAI
- Shutterstock – OpenAI
OpenAI reportedly offers news organizations annual licensing fees ranging from $1 million to $5 million to use their copyrighted content for AI training. News Corp’s deal is notably larger, reportedly exceeding $250 million over five years. Apple is also exploring partnerships for content licensing with publishers like Conde Nast and NBC News, though no public agreements have been announced yet.
Other publishers remain in negotiations with AI companies, while some are considering legal options. Reach’s CEO Jim Mullen urged publishers to hold off on deals, advocating for industry-wide solidarity to negotiate licensing terms collectively. He emphasized the risk of becoming overly dependent on AI-generated referral traffic without structured agreements that fairly compensate content creators.
Analysis shows that over 40% of the largest English-language news websites have not blocked AI bots from crawling their content.
Key Lawsuits Against AI Companies
Ziff Davis vs OpenAI
On 25 April 2025, Ziff Davis filed suit against OpenAI, accusing it of “intentionally and relentlessly” using its copyrighted content without authorization. Ziff Davis owns notable brands such as CNET, PCMag, IGN, and The Skimm. OpenAI countered that its models are trained on publicly available data and operate under fair use principles.
News/Media Alliance vs Cohere
In February 2025, a group of US news and magazine publishers brought a copyright infringement suit against Canadian AI startup Cohere. The complaint alleges extensive unauthorized use of publishers’ content—including paywalled material—to train Cohere’s AI systems. Publishers claim Cohere’s chatbot reproduces verbatim content and generates misleading hallucinations attributed falsely to them.
News/Media Alliance CEO Danielle Coffey criticized Cohere for undercutting publishers while exploiting their content. Conde Nast’s CEO Roger Lynch and Guardian’s Anna Bateson underscored the threat to journalistic standards and pledged to defend their rights vigorously.
Indian News Publishers vs OpenAI
Several Indian publishers, including The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and NDTV, joined a lawsuit against OpenAI in early 2025. They argue that OpenAI’s scraping and adaptation of content violates copyrights and poses a threat to their businesses. Not all members of the Digital News Publishers Association support the suit. OpenAI maintains that Indian courts lack jurisdiction and that removing data would breach US obligations.
Canadian News Coalition vs OpenAI
A coalition of Canadian news organizations sued OpenAI in November 2024 for copyright infringement, emphasizing the substantial investment in original reporting. They accuse OpenAI of profiting from their content without permission or compensation. OpenAI responded by reiterating its reliance on publicly available data and fair use principles.
News Corp vs Perplexity
In October 2024, News Corp subsidiaries filed a lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity, alleging massive free-riding of their content. They seek damages and removal of their content from Perplexity’s indexes. News Corp has separately partnered with OpenAI.
Mumsnet vs OpenAI
UK parenting forum Mumsnet issued a legal challenge to OpenAI in July 2024 over unauthorized scraping of its extensive content. Mumsnet’s founder highlighted the unique value of their community-generated content and criticized AI companies for exploiting publishers without compensation. Although OpenAI declined licensing discussions, Mumsnet stresses the importance of protecting original content from being repurposed by AI tools.
The Center for Investigative Reporting vs OpenAI and Microsoft
In June 2024, the nonprofit news organization The Center for Investigative Reporting accused OpenAI and Microsoft of using its content without permission or compensation. The lawsuit highlights concerns about the sustainability of journalism if AI companies continue to rely on unpaid content. CIR’s CEO warned that such practices limit public access to truthful information.
Eight Alden Global Capital Newspapers vs OpenAI and Microsoft
Eight US newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital sued OpenAI and Microsoft in April 2024. They demand recognition of rights over their content and compensation for its use in AI training. The newspapers voiced concerns over AI-generated misinformation falsely attributed to their publications, undermining their credibility and business model.
The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet vs OpenAI
In February 2024, three progressive news outlets filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft for unauthorized use of their articles in AI training. They emphasized the effort behind their journalism and called on news organizations to push back against unlicensed monetization of their work by AI companies.
The New York Times vs OpenAI and Microsoft
In December 2023, The New York Times launched a high-profile lawsuit seeking damages and the destruction of AI models trained on its content. The Times cited significant revenue losses due to AI chatbots diverting readers. OpenAI countered by claiming that the Times’ findings were based on targeted exploitation of a bug, and that typical users cannot access Times articles verbatim via ChatGPT.
Getty Images vs Stability AI
Getty Images initiated legal proceedings in January 2023 against Stability AI, alleging unauthorized copying and processing of millions of copyrighted images for AI model training.
Conclusion
The landscape for news publishers engaging with AI companies is sharply divided. Some choose litigation to protect intellectual property and seek compensation, while others pursue licensing agreements to benefit from AI technology. For legal professionals and content creators, monitoring these developments is critical as they set precedents for copyright law and media rights in AI’s expanding role.
This page will be updated as new partnerships are formed or legal actions emerge involving news publishers and AI companies.
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