Encyclopaedia Britannica Sues OpenAI Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

Whether generative AI companies may use copyrighted material to train models without authorization has become a central dispute between publishers and technology companies worldwide. Encyclopaedia Britannica and its Merriam-Webster subsidiary allege that OpenAI used their authoritative encyclopedia and dictionary content to improve ChatGPT while diverting traffic from their websites with summaries. A ruling that such use is not fair use could reshape the licensing and cost structure for AI training data.

Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster sued OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 13, 2026. The case, No. 1:26-cv-02097, alleges that OpenAI copied nearly 100,000 articles without permission and generated near-verbatim content and false attributions, infringing their copyrights and trademarks. The companies are seeking an injunction, disgorgement of profits and monetary damages, but have not specified an amount.