Canadian News Media Companies v OpenAI (Jurisdiction Motion)

Counsel to Canada's leading news media organizations in successfully defending against a jurisdiction motion brought by OpenAI in this complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, which sought to stay or dismiss claims of copyright infringement breach of contract and unjust enrichment on the basis that the Ontario court lacked jurisdiction. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) confirmed jurisdiction over OpenAI Inc. and related entities in this AI and technology dispute, allowing our clients' claims to proceed. Read the decision here.

Monique Jilesen, Sana Halwani, Jim Lepore, Jessica Kras, Devon Kapoor, and Niema Mohammad are counsel to Canada’s leading news media companies (the Toronto Star Newspapers, Metroland Media Group, Postmedia Network, the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Press, and CBC/RSC). The case concerns claims for copyright infringement, circumvention of technological protection measures, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment against the OpenAI defendants relating to OpenAI’s unauthorized use of the Canadian news media companies’ proprietary content for commercial purposes.

This decision will likely be a significant one for media organizations and other content creators in Ontario (and in Canada), with the Court finding, on multiple grounds, that claims of this nature can be commenced and adjudicated in Ontario.