AI training of copyrighted material not fair use: Third Circuit
4 hours ago
- The Third Circuit rejected ROSS Intelligence's fair use defense, ruling that training AI on a competitor's copyrighted headnotes constitutes copyright infringement.
- Thomson Reuters sued ROSS in 2020 for using Westlaw headnotes via a third party to train AI for a competing legal research platform.
- The lower court found Westlaw's headnotes original due to a 'creative spark' in their selection and arrangement, and ROSS's use was insufficiently transformative.
- The Third Circuit affirmed, stating the case is an ordinary copyright matter, and found ROSS's use minimally transformative and harmful to Westlaw's market value.
- The ruling sets a potential landmark precedent for AI training and copyright law, with ROSS intending to seek Supreme Court review.