AI Systems and Legal Challenges: Redefining Fair Use in the Era of Data-Driven Innovation

In an evolving legal landscape, a contentious issue has arisen concerning the substantial amounts of material required to train artificial intelligence systems. The ongoing legal battle highlights the question of how much copying is permissible in such contexts, a query poised to test traditional notions of fair use. As seen in a recent dispute involving a legal tech company and Thomson Reuters over Westlaw’s database, the outcome could redefine the parameters of copyright in the AI era. Historically, fair use determinations have often prioritized factors other than the quantity of material copied, but the scale of AI’s need for data may push this factor to the forefront.