Delhi High Court OpenAI Copyright Infringement Case

In 2025, Asian News International (ANI), one of India's largest news agencies, sued OpenAI in the Delhi High Court for copyright infringement. ANI alleged that OpenAI scraped its proprietary news content without permission to train large language models like ChatGPT, reproducing near-verbatim excerpts and undermining its business. OpenAI argued that it had already blocked ANI's domains, its servers are located outside India, and the use of publicly available data for training constitutes fair use. The case raised novel questions about the applicability of Indian copyright law to AI training data. The court engaged with complex jurisdictional and substantive arguments, drawing significant attention from the media and technology sectors.

As of 2025, the case remains pending. The Delhi High Court issued notice to OpenAI and allowed the proceedings to continue but did not grant ANI an interim injunction. The court is examining jurisdictional challenges and the substantive copyright claims, with no final judgment rendered yet.

Whether using publicly available copyrighted news articles to train AI models without a license constitutes infringement under Indian copyright law, and whether the court has jurisdiction over a foreign AI developer whose servers are outside India.

The case has sent shockwaves through India's media and tech industries. It intensified debates over AI ethics and creators' rights, prompting other news publishers to consider similar litigation. The ongoing proceedings are closely watched as a potential bellwether for AI regulation and copyright reform in India, influencing how global AI companies approach content licensing in one of the world's largest digital markets.