- Keshan Infotech vs Oliver Brandt [PDF]
The Madras High Court recently held that unauthorised use of proprietary content as training data or prompts for large language models, AI-based content generation tools and web scrapers raises a prima facie case of copyright infringement.
The matter pertains to Keshan Infotech Pvt Ltd, which operates www[dot]travelandtourworld[dot]com. The company alleged that Oliver Brandt, an Italian editor, was systematically scraping its copyrighted travel-related content and reproducing it on Google-owned social media platforms, retaining the applicant’s logo while masking the original authorship.
Protection against reproducing content using AI: Senior Advocate Rudraman Bhattacharya, appearing for the applicant, sought four injunctions —
- Restraint against reproducing, copying, translating, adapting, summarising or paraphrasing of its content “whether by human authorship or through any AI-assisted or algorithmic process”.
- Restraint against using its content as an input, source, reference, training data or prompt for any AI model, large language model, automated content generation tool, web scraper or any other software or app, whether for the purpose of generating articles or for any other purpose.
- Restraint against using its website www[dot]travelandtourworld[dot]com, whether directly or indirectly, for any automated scraping tool, AI system, algorithmic process, or content generation mechanism.
- Restraint against reproducing its work in any transformed, paraphrased, summarised or derivative form, including through the use of AI or automated tools.
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu noted that a prima facie reading of the plaint indicated that the applicant was a travel vlogger producing original content. He observed that the allegations were substantiated by the first respondent’s social media post annexed to the suit.
The court granted all four injunctions and granted an ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiff for four weeks.
MediaNama’s take: This case reignites the debate on whether training an AI model on copyrighted content without permission or a licence constitutes copyright infringement under Indian law, or whether such use falls under “fair dealing” under Section 52 of the Indian Copyright Act. This question is at the very heart of the ANI vs. OpenAI debate.
While ANI contends that OpenAI has unlawfully infringed its copyright by storing, using and reproducing copies of ANI’s copyrighted material for the purpose of training its AI model, OpenAI argues that its practices are legally permissible because the content in question is publicly accessible.
The plaint with the Madras HC also highlights the concerns raised by media publishers, including ANI. It seeks protection against unauthorised use of its copyrighted content as training data or prompts for AI models. The interim injunction signals that courts can order AI-training restraints, even if only temporarily,…
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