The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind Wikipedia, is warning that a bad ruling in the landmark AI copyright cases could threaten the open web. In a legal filing, it staked out a middle ground in the lawsuits pitting publishers like The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft.
Filed Friday, the amicus brief takes neither side — but argues that training large language models should be fair use, while chatbots regurgitating articles to users should not.
Wikipedia (Credits: The Verge)
Wikipedia AI Copyright Filing: Training Should Be Fair Use, Regurgitation Should Not
Wikimedia says it is concerned that both sides push “overbroad and simplified applications of the fair use doctrine” around AI. A nuance-free victory for publishers, it fears, could let copyright holders “gatekeep” even innovative and transformative uses of their work. On the other hand, a total victory for AI companies could be “a green light to snub licensing terms and fragment the flow of knowledge between human authors and audiences.”
The ruling could be existential for Wikipedia. Wikimedia sites “have become one of the most critical sources of data for all artificial intelligence and machine learning training,” the filing says. But the same systems siphon away visitors, undermining the communities that maintain these sites — and Wikimedia argues they also violate copyright, since services like ChatGPT reproduce Wikipedia text licensed under Creative Commons without adhering to its terms.
Why Wikipedia Needs AI Tools Too
At the same time, Wikipedia itself benefits from AI. The foundation says large language models can help editors fight vandalism, detect copyright violations and doxxing, and find articles that need improvement.
“A ruling that does not apply fair use principles carefully could threaten the sustainability of free knowledge, and stifle the development of open source technologies, ultimately impacting access to information for everyone in both cases,” said Wikimedia Foundation general counsel Stephen LaPorte, adding that Wikipedia is “created through a collaborative process that requires a strong foundation of open and accessible human knowledge to thrive.”
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Source: The Verge — read the full story there.