The writer George RR Martin, author of the saga song of ice and fire which inspired Game of Thrones, has been involved in a legal battle that could set a precedent in the relationship between artificial intelligence and copyright.
A US federal judge has allowed a class-action lawsuit filed by Martin and other authors against OpenAI and Microsoft to move forward, accused of using copyrighted works to train their language models without the consent of their creators.
The case became relevant a few days ago, when the judge Sidney Steinof the federal court in Manhattan, noted that a text generated by ChatGPT could be considered “substantially similar” to Martin’s original works. In his ruling, the magistrate argued that a reasonable jury could determine that the content created by artificial intelligence violates the writer’s copyright.
The example that caught the court’s attention was an experiment conducted during the judicial inquiry, in which lawyers asked ChatGPT to draw up a detailed outline for a sequel to clash of kingsdistinct from storm of swords.
The model responded by proposing a supposed new book titled A dance with shadowsfeaturing characters like a Targaryen heiress named Lady Elara, a rebellious sect of the Children of the Forest, and an ancient form of magic related to dragons.
According to Judge Stein, These elements show enough parallels with the A Song of Ice and Fire universe to warrant further analysis.. The lawsuit claims that ChatGPT and similar tools not only reproduce fragments of original texts, but they also imitate the narrative style and creative patterns of their authors, generating derivative works without compensation or authorization..
In addition to Martin, the legal action includes other well-known writers such as Michael Chabon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jia Tolentino y Sarah Silvermanall of them denouncing the improper use of their works as training material.
At the moment, neither OpenAI nor Microsoft have commented on the court ruling. If the lawsuit is successful, it could become a legal milestone that redefines how intellectual property laws are applied in the era of artificial intelligence, where the line between inspiration and copying is increasingly blurred.