Unfair Competition Claims Dismissed from OpenAI Copyright Case

Summary
On July 30, 2024, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín (N.D. Cal.) dismissed plaintiffs’ unfair competition claims, without leave to amend, in the consolidated case combining Tremblay v. OpenAI, Chabon v. OpenAI and Silverman v. OpenAI. Judge Martínez-Olguín dismissed many of plaintiffs’ claims in February 2024 but did not dismiss the unfair competition claims. As in other AI copyright cases, the unfair competition claims were dismissed because they overlap with the plaintiffs’ allegations under the Copyright Act, which preempts state law claims that are “qualitatively the same” as infringement. After this dismissal, the plaintiffs’ direct copyright infringement allegations are the only claims remaining.