SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians and both Writers Guilds, East and West, have asked a federal judge to turn down a blanket fair-use exemption for training AI models. The four unions filed a joint amicus brief on 29 October in the consolidated copyright litigation against OpenAI in New York.
“The harms of unlicensed training fall not just on companies like the News Plaintiffs, but on the countless professionals behind the work”
the unions' amicus brief (SAG-AFTRA, AFM, WGA West, WGA East), in the amicus brief · deadline.com ↗
The 34-page filing says the unions speak for more than 250,000 entertainment and media workers. It argues that a categorical exemption would shift enormous value from creators to corporations, leaning on the human element in writing, news in particular, before widening to other creative work. The unions call the dispute an ordinary copyright case, to be weighed case by case.
They add that the harm of unlicensed training reaches past the news plaintiffs to the professionals behind the work, and that taking human work without consent, credit or pay devalues labour and weakens emerging licensing markets. A ruling that training is categorically fair use, they warn, would make moot the AI terms agreed at the bargaining table, where the unions won notice-and-bargaining rights over third-party licensing of covered work for training.
About OpenAI
This is not the first time OpenAI has faced creators in court. In September 2023 the Authors Guild and 17 authors, among them George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and Jonathan Franzen, filed a class action over the use of their books. In late December 2023 the New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its articles in training; OpenAI said it was surprised and disappointed and had hoped for a deal.
Suits by media organisations including The Intercept, the Times, Tribune Media and Ziff Davis were later consolidated before district judge Sidney Stein in New York. On 1 September 2026 the Trump administration filed a Manhattan brief backing OpenAI, saying AI training is generally fair use, the first time the US government weighed in on these cases.
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The case gathers the New York Times, other newspapers, The Intercept, the Authors Guild and authors such as George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and Sarah Silverman. Whether the court will accept the proposed brief is not yet known, and no ruling on fair use has been reported.
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