A memorandum of law filed on 29 October in the Southern District of New York says SAG-AFTRA, the American Federation of Musicians and the two Writers Guilds have asked to file a brief supporting plaintiffs in In Re: OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation. Their request concerns the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment in the copyright case before Judges Sidney H. Stein and Ona T. Wang.
The unions say they represent more than 250,000 media and entertainment professionals and can explain how licensing income reaches members through residuals, royalties and contributions to pension and health plans. They point to terms addressing AI in their agreements with employers, including provisions in SAG-AFTRA’s and the Writers Guilds’ 2026 agreements concerning the licensing of covered work for generative AI training.
The court invited proposed amicus briefs of no more than 6,000 words by 30 October. The unions argue that a ruling treating AI training as categorically fair use would undercut terms they reached through collective bargaining.
.jpg){kind=link}