On Tuesday, a federal court ruled in favor of Reuters’s parent company, Thomson Reuters, in their lawsuit against legal AI developer Ross Intelligence.
US Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas said that he revealed his brief judgment on the case 2023 on the case, according to judicial documents.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit of May 2020 in which Thomson Reuters accused Ross Intelligence based in San Franciso of the unlawful copying of content from the WestLaw platform to train its AI with the help of data obtained from Michigan-established Legalase solutions.
Since the launch of Chatgpt in 2022, media, artists and authors have expressed concern that their content was used to train AI models.
Many, including Game of Thrones maker George RR Martin, John Grisham and Michael Connelly, have sued developers who accuse them of using their work without permission or compensation. In December 2023, the New York Times Openai sued it, claiming that his articles were used to train chatgpt.
“In my opinion of 2023 I denied a brief judgment about reasonable use,” wrote Judge Bibas. “But with new information and understanding, I vent the sections of that order and the associated opinion about reasonable use. Fair use is a confirming defense, so Ross bears the burden of proof. ‘
Judge Bibas explained that after Ross was refused a license to use Westlaw content, obtained the training data of Legalase – a research and writing provider that offers deferred legal support – which offered ‘bulk memos’ or collections of legal questions and answers.
“Legalase, Ross sold around 25,000 bulk memos, which used Ross to train his AI search tool,” Bibas wrote. “In other words, Ross has built his competitive product with the help of bulk memos, which in turn were built from Westlaw Headnotes. When Thomson Reuters found out, the Ross sued for copyright infringement. “
According to Judge Bibas, Legalase gave a guide explaining how the questions and answers can be made using Westlaw Headnotes. The manual has instructed users not to copy and paste the head notes directly.
“The parties agree that Legalase had access to Westlaw and used it to make the bulk memos,” wrote Judge Bibas. “Of course, admission is not only evidence. But when a bulk memo question is more like a head nut than the original judicial opinion, this strongly suggests to copy.”
Judge Bibas discovered that Ross Intelligence infringed 2,243 head notes, with the only remaining factual question whether some of their copyright had expired. He also ruled that the defense of Ross Intelligence – including innocent infringement, abuse of copyrights, merger and scenes à faire – fail.
“Smart man knows when he is right; A wise man knows when he is wrong, “wrote Judge Bibas. “Wisdom doesn’t always find me, so I try to embrace it when it does – even when it comes late, like here.”
Published by Sebastian Sinclair
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