MSFT · News · 20260916N

AI Training Copyright Litigation

MICROSOFT CORP · 2026-09-16 · Importance 44 · Surprise 60

A U.S. appeals court ruled for OpenAI and Microsoft on part of a lawsuit brought by software developers over the alleged use of GitHub code to train generative AI systems. The developers claimed the conduct violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The court upheld an earlier ruling that Microsoft and OpenAI were not liable under the DMCA, distinguishing the claims from traditional copyright infringement. The decision reduces Microsoft’s exposure on the specific DMCA claims, although the digest does not state whether other copyright claims remain pending.

Key facts

• A U.S. appeals court sided with OpenAI and Microsoft against a portion of a lawsuit alleging misuse of GitHub code to train generative AI systems, upholding a previous ruling that OpenAI and Microsoft were not liable under the DMCA. source