A US District Court judge has allowed most of the New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft to move forward.

The lawsuit, filed in late 2023, accuses the companies of copyright infringement for using the Times’ content to train AI models.

Judge Sidney Stein rejected multiple motions to dismiss, including those related to indirect liability and older copyrighted works. However, he partially dismissed claims regarding the removal of copyright management information under the DMCA.

This case is one of the first major legal challenges by a news publisher against AI companies. Other publishers have joined the lawsuit, consolidating their claims with the Times’.

The ruling comes amid ongoing debates over whether AI firms’ use of publicly available data qualifies as “fair use.” After discovery, the court will decide if the case moves to a jury trial.