Ross Intelligence violated Thomson Reuters copyright when training AI model
Occurred: 2020
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Ross Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters' copyrights by using Westlaw headnotes to train its AI-powered legal research tool, a US federal judge ruled.
What happened
Judge Stephanos Bibas granted a partial summary judgement to Thomson Reuters, finding that Ross Intelligence directly infringed on 2,243 Westlaw headnotes when creating its competing AI legal research platform.ย
The court rejected Ross's fair use defense, determining that the use was commercial, non-transformative, and would impact the market for Thomson Reuters' services.
Why it happened
Ross Intelligence, seeking to create an AI-powered legal research tool, initially attempted to license Westlaw materials from Thomson Reuters.ย
After being refused, Ross obtained "Bulk Memos" created by a third-party using Westlaw resources as a guide. These memos, which were substantially similar to Westlaw headnotes, were then used to train Ross's AI model.
The court found that this use constituted copyright infringement and did not qualify as fair use, primarily due to its commercial nature and potential market impact.
What it means
The decision is seen to have far-reaching implications for the AI industry and content creators, and may set a precedent for other pending AI copyright cases, potentially making it more challenging for AI companies to use copyrighted materials for training without permission.ย
The ruling may lead to increased licensing costs for AI developers and could slow down innovation in fields heavily reliant on copyrighted content.
Conversely, it strengthens the position of content creators and publishers, providing them with greater control over how their works are used in the development of AI-powered products and services.
Fair use
Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder.
Source: Wikipedia ๐
System ๐ค
Unknown
Operator:ย
Developer: Ross Intelligence
Country: USA
Sector: Business/professional services
Purpose: Train AI models
Technology: Generative AI; Machine learning
Issue: Copyright
Legal, regulatory ๐ฉ๐ผโโ๏ธ
Page info
Type: Incident
Published: February 2025