News Broadcasting
ANI lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright infringement
MUMBAI: Cheating may seem harmless until the consequences come crashing down—a classic case of “play stupid games, win stupid prizes”.
Imagine the titan of artificial intelligence, the very force reshaping our understanding of innovation, now standing accused of stepping over the ethical boundaries it once sought to redefine.
With a jaw-dropping market cap of $157 billion as of October 2024, OpenAI—the so-called savior of human progress—is now grappling with a high-stakes copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Asian News International (ANI) in India.
This legal clash, steeped in complexity and a touch of irony, pits the ambitions of cutting-edge AI against the enduring principles of intellectual property rights. Could this be a case of progress overstepping its bounds? Or a necessary infringement in the name of human advancement?
ANI has taken OpenAI to court, accusing the tech giant of unauthorised use of its copyrighted content to train its large language model (LLM). The case not only raises pressing questions about copyright infringement and fair use but also dives deep into the murky waters of territoriality and intellectual property in the age of artificial intelligence. The stakes? Nothing less than the future of AI innovation and creators’ rights in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.
ANI accused OpenAI of using its copyrighted material without permission and highlighted the inadequacy of OpenAI’s opt-out policy, which ANI claims fails to prevent its content from being scraped through third-party websites. ANI also alleged that OpenAI’s models produced outputs either verbatim or substantially similar to its copyrighted content, further compounding the copyright violation. Additionally, ANI flagged fabricated responses generated by ChatGPT that falsely attributed interviews or news stories to the news agency.
OpenAI defended its practices by citing fair use, which permits limited use of copyrighted material under specific conditions. It argued that its models do not reproduce content verbatim and that it sufficiently transforms language to comply with copyright exceptions. On fabricated responses, OpenAI stated it resolved issues flagged by ANI and committed to addressing such problems promptly in the future.
ANI is seeking an interim injunction to prevent OpenAI from storing, publishing, or reproducing its content and has requested a prohibition on accessing ANI’s material through any channel, including subscribers. OpenAI countered by asserting that no legal action could apply within India, as its data processing and model training occur outside the country, with no offices or servers in India.
The lawsuit brings two critical issues to the forefront: the balance between copyright infringement and fair use, and the challenges of territoriality in data storage. India’s existing copyright law lacks explicit provisions regarding AI training, making the applicability of fair use a grey area. Moreover, the absence of text and data mining (TDM) provisions complicates the country’s approach to fostering innovation while safeguarding content creators’ rights.
The territoriality argument further underscores complexities in applying local laws to global AI platforms. Data sovereignty issues arise as distributed AI models utilise data generated in India but processed across international cloud environments, challenging traditional legal frameworks.
Globally, AI platforms and news publishers have clashed over the use of copyrighted material. While some publishers have entered licensing agreements with AI firms, others, such as The New York Times, have pursued legal action. ANI’s lawsuit reflects a broader struggle over how GenAI platforms interact with intellectual property.
India’s policymakers face the task of balancing innovation in AI with content creators’ rights. A permissionless innovation approach, which allows experimentation with new technologies while addressing harms retrospectively, may provide a pathway for advancing AI while protecting intellectual property.
This lawsuit will likely serve as a landmark case in determining the accountability of AI developers for content generated by their platforms. As the first legal action of its kind in India, the outcome will influence how AI platforms navigate copyright, fair use, and territorial regulations in the country.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
