Copyright
Contributory Copyright Infringement
Liability for knowingly inducing, causing or materially contributing to another party's infringement.
Pleaded in 10 of the 98 matters on this docket
Governing law
Judge-made doctrine; Gershwin Publishing v. Columbia Artists, 443 F.2d 1159 (2d Cir. 1971); MGM Studios v. Grokster, 545 U.S. 913 (2005)
Damages
Same remedies as direct infringement, joint and several.
Limitations period
Three years, 17 U.S.C. 507(b).
Reference material about publicly available law, current as of the date this file was compiled. It is not legal advice and it does not describe anyone’s particular situation. Statutes and limitations periods vary by jurisdiction and change.
Matters pleading this claim
Warner Bros. v. Midjourney
C.D. Cal. · 2:25-cv-08376
Midjourney image and video generation service
Filed 2025-09-04 · Individual Action
DiscoveryUnconfirmedDisney & Universal v. Midjourney
C.D. Cal. · 2:25-cv-05275 (JAK-AJR)
Midjourney image and video generation service
Filed 2025-06-11 · Individual Action
DiscoveryZiff Davis v. OpenAI
S.D.N.Y. · 1:25-cv-04315 (SHS-OTW) (orig. D. Del. 1:25-cv-00501)
ChatGPT / GPT-series models
Filed 2025-04-24 · MDL
MDL ConsolidatedIn re OpenAI Copyright MDL
S.D.N.Y. · 1:25-md-03143 (SHS-OTW)
ChatGPT / GPT-series models
Filed 2025-04-03 · MDL
MDL ConsolidatedAdvance Local Media v. Cohere
S.D.N.Y. · 1:25-cv-01305
Cohere Command models and Cohere's North/RAG products
Filed 2025-02-13 · Individual Action
DiscoveryCIR v. OpenAI
S.D.N.Y. · 1:24-cv-04872
ChatGPT / GPT-series models
Filed 2024-06-27 · MDL
MDL ConsolidatedDaily News v. Microsoft/OpenAI
S.D.N.Y. · 1:24-cv-03285
ChatGPT / GPT-series models and Microsoft Copilot
Filed 2024-04-30 · MDL
MDL ConsolidatedNazemian & Dubus v. NVIDIA
N.D. Cal. · 4:24-cv-01454 (JST)
NeMo Megatron / Megatron-family large language models
Filed 2024-03-08 · Class Action
DiscoveryUnconfirmedNYT v. Microsoft & OpenAI
S.D.N.Y. · 1:23-cv-11195 (SHS-OTW)
ChatGPT, GPT-4, Microsoft Copilot / Bing Chat
Filed 2023-12-27 · MDL
MDL ConsolidatedAuthors Guild v. OpenAI
S.D.N.Y. · 1:23-cv-08292
ChatGPT / GPT-series models
Filed 2023-09-19 · MDL
MDL Consolidated