What you need to know
- OpenAI recently filed a copyright infringement against a popular subreddit for unauthorized use of its logo.
- The move has sparked hot debates across social media with OpenAI being referred to as hypocritical.
- The company has set aside the suit and allowed the subreddit to use its logo but requested it to include a disclaimer indicating all the trademarks belong to OpenAI.
In the latest episode of the pot calling the kettle black, OpenAI recently filed a copyright infringement suit against the r/ChatGPT subreddit on Reddit for unauthorized use of its logo (via 404Media). The move by the ChatGPT maker has sparked hot debates across social media, with the majority referring to the whole issue as hypocritical on OpenAI's side.
OpenAI based its suit on the following:
"Hello Mods, We have received a copyright complaint from openai.com alleging unauthorized use of their copyrighted logos in r/ChatGPT. The 'subreddit profile image' does make use of the copyrighted content, which can lead to user confusion: please address the unauthorized copyrighted elements by May 16."
👍 from r/ChatGPT
The hot tech startup requested the subreddit to stop using its logo and further furnishing it with a reply indicating compliance.
For the past few years, OpenAI has been slapped with copyright infringement lawsuits from publishers, websites, and authors for using their copyrighted content without consent. At the beginning of this month, eight news publishers filed a suit against Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement. This adds to the ongoing legal battles the ChatGPT maker is fighting against other outlets like The New York Times and non-fiction authors.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously admitted it's virtually impossible to create ChatGPT-like tools without copyrighted materials.
"Well, many people have started simping for a company which scraped the entire internet without attribution, so of course they are further emboldened" and "ClosedAI" were some of the comments made by users after OpenAI requested the Subreddit to stop using its logo. Billionaire Elon Musk joined the party, referring to OpenAI's actions as "hypocritical."
New: OpenAI—which has scraped the internet and fed copyrighted works into its own products—has filed a copyright claim over the OpenAI logo being used on the ChatGPT subreddit "It does not seem wise for OpenAI to start enforcing copyright claims."https://t.co/IMpjvXBC4fMay 9, 2024
Interestingly, OpenAI has since backtracked on this move and granted the subreddit permission to continue using its logo. However, the company's legal team has requested for the inclusion of disclaimers indicating:
"Use of the OpenAI logo is with permission from OpenAI; all rights in OpenAI's trademarks belong to OpenAI."
r/ChatGPT is arguably one of the largest subreddits on Reddit with over 5.4 million members. Perhaps the backlash from its members pressured OpenAI to back off and set aside the copyright infringement suit.
