Thomson Reuters scores early win in AI copyright battles in the US

By: Sarah Parvini, The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thomson Reuters has won an early battle in court over the question of fair use in artificial intelligence-related copyright cases.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2025 (579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thomson Reuters has won an early battle in court over the question of fair use in artificial intelligence-related copyright cases.

The media and technology company filed a lawsuit against Ross Intelligence — a now-defunct legal research firm — in 2020, arguing they had used materials from Thomson Reuters’ own legal platform Westlaw to train an AI model without permission.

Judge Stephanos Bibas of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision Tuesday that affirmed Ross Intelligence was not permitted under U.S. copyright law to use the company’s content in order to build a competing platform.

FILE - The Library of Congress stands on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - The Library of Congress stands on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In his summary judgment, Bibas said that “none of Ross’s possible defenses holds water” and ruled in favor of Thomson Reuters on the issue of “fair use.” The “fair use” doctrine of U.S. laws allows for limited uses of copyrighted materials such as for teaching, research or transforming the copyrighted work into something different.

Thomson Reuters’ win comes as a growing number of lawsuits have been filed by authors, visual artists and music labels against developers of AI models over similar issues.

What links each of these cases is the claim that tech companies ingested huge troves of human writings to train AI chatbots to produce human-like passages of text, without getting permission or compensating the people who wrote the original works. 

OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft have also battled copyright infringement cases led by writers such as John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and “Game of Thrones” novelist George R. R. Martin; and another set of lawsuits from media outlets such as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Mother Jones. 

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Don’t deny kids a bedtime bond with Gran

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My mother is coming to visit and our little kids want her to sleep in their bedroom, where there’s a double bed and a single. My husband thinks this idea is ridiculous and says grandma needs her sleep, but I disagree.

I remember sleeping with my grandma — who’s now with the angels — and she told us grandkids (two girls) some wonderful bedtime stories she made up herself. She even put our names into them, making us the stars of the stories.

The best part was getting into our pyjamas with our grandmother, who showed us the magic cord from the little thing that ran from her near-deaf ear down to the secret battery pocket hidden in the bra of her slip. It made her hear us better in the daytime. We thought, “Wow!”

Not surprisingly my own mother has inherited her mom’s fantastic storytelling talent and who knows what else she has to teach the kids when she’s alone with them? I want them to be close.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Progressive Conservative party health critic Kathleen Cook says health authority officials upended her plan to visit the Dauphin care home.

Tory health critic ‘disappointed’ after being rebuffed by health officials

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Tory health critic ‘disappointed’ after being rebuffed by health officials

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 12, 2026

The health critic for the Progressive Conservative party says her ability to get information about the accelerated reopening of Dauphin’s emergency department was stymied by Prairie Mountain Health officials because they refused to meet with her.

“I wanted to meet with PMH staff to discuss the status of the facility and the challenges they’re facing and getting services back online,” Kathleen Cook said Friday.

“I was very disappointed that Prairie Mountain Health declined me that opportunity.”

Cook said she asked for a meeting a few days after the Sept. 7 reopening of a temporary ER at the hospital, that was severely damaged by flooding.

Read
Saturday, Sep. 12, 2026
PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Bell is currently evaluating upgrade options for its infrastructure in the southwest region.

Citizen reports help highlight connectivity issues across southwest Manitoba

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Citizen reports help highlight connectivity issues across southwest Manitoba

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Saturday, Sep. 12, 2026

A southwestern Manitoba man has created a map to document cell service blackout spots in an effort to push for better access in rural areas.

Mark Custance compiled more than 300 citizen reports over the last few months to document where service in southwest Manitoba is strong, spotty or doesn’t exist at all.

“I’ve heard people complain and say, ‘cell service sucks’ or ‘this is not working.’ But what does the data actually say?” Custance said from his office in Melita, where he has installed a cell-service booster to maintain connectivity with the rest of the world.

Analyzing where service is good and poor, he cross-references it with the location of cellphone towers across the region.

Read
Saturday, Sep. 12, 2026
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Terri Settle, owner of Terri’s Trinkets and Toys, says the thieves stole thousands of dollars worth of Pokemon cards along with other higher-end items this week.

Pokemon thieves clear out collectibles shop

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Pokemon thieves clear out collectibles shop

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 11, 2026

Terri Settle loved watching children walk into her collectibles shop to hunt for their favourite Pokemon cards.

After the latest break in stripped her shelves of much of the inventory, she’s not sure she’ll get to see it again.

Thieves broke into Terri’s Trinkets and Toys on Tuesday evening, punching through a grate and then the store’s bathroom wall to reach the storefront.

They made off with about $6,000 worth of merchandise, including all of the store’s Pokemon cards — about 7,000 of them — along with toys, Lego, jewelry, video games, a debit machine and personal laptop. They even took her vacuum cleaner.

Read
Friday, Sep. 11, 2026

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

The New York Times files U.S. President Donald Trump

Staying away to keep the heat on

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Staying away to keep the heat on

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

It’s a tough sell these days for U.S. tourism groups seeking to attract Canadian visitors as tension, tariffs and traded verbal barbs continue to rise between the two countries.

Or, as one Canadian marketing executive put it, “It’s just a wasted effort.”

Indeed, it does seem as if — for a sizable percentage of the Canadian population, anyway — there’s nothing U.S. tourism officials can say that will rekindle interest in vacation visits to American destinations, as long as President Donald Trump remains in office and continues to actively antagonize what was once his country’s closest trading partner and most steadfast ally.

With Canada having applied, as promised by Prime Minister Mark Carney, reciprocal tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods crossing into this country, there’s no reason to believe relations between the governments of the two nations will improve soon.

Read
2:00 AM CDT