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Wikimedia Foundation takes middle position in NYT v OpenAI copyright case
See how this story connectsThe Wikimedia Foundation filed an amicus brief in the lawsuits brought by publishers including The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft, taking neither side. It argues that pre-training large language models on copyrighted works without a licence should be fair use when the result provides something new and different from the original sources. It says a licence should be required when models deliver copies of material in response to user queries while supplanting readers’ engagement with the originals. Wikimedia says an overly black-and-white ruling could deprive Wikipedians of useful AI tools or endanger the open web.
Why it matters
Wikimedia says a ruling that does not apply fair use carefully could threaten the sustainability of free knowledge, and that AI services reproducing Wikipedia text should credit the source under its Creative Commons licence.
- When
- 30 Oct 2026
- ID
WTA-N-2026-0563- Where
- United States
- Who
- Wikimedia Foundation, OpenAI, Microsoft, The New York Times; Stephen LaPorte, Bernadette Meehan
Summary written with AI by wheresthe.ai, from The Verge. Checked against the source on 30 Oct 2026.
Source copy: saved on 30 Oct 2026 to check this story and not republished, because the text belongs to its publisher. Also held by the Internet Archive.
Cite this story
WTA-N-2026-0563: “Wikimedia Foundation takes middle position in NYT v OpenAI copyright case.” wheresthe.ai, 30 Oct 2026. https://wheresthe.ai/d/us-wikimedia-foundation-takes-middle-position-in-nyt-v-opena-2026-10/ (source: The Verge).
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