In a recent legal battle between OpenAI and independent publishers Alternet and Raw Story, the startup has emerged victorious. On November 7, a judge dismissed a copyright case against OpenAI, stating that the publishers lacked legal standing to bring the claim. This is just one of many copyright lawsuits currently being faced by AI startups, with many alleging direct copyright infringement for training their tools on copyrighted materials without permission. The complaint brought by Alternet and Raw Story focused on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the judge ruled in favor of OpenAI, stating that the publishers failed to provide evidence that their material was used in the training of OpenAI’s AI models. While this is a setback for Alternet and Raw Story, they plan to continue the case by requesting permission to file an amended complaint. OpenAI maintains that their use of publicly available data is protected by fair use and legal precedents.