Judge strikes Susman Godfrey-funded AI books report from OpenAI/Microsoft copyright MDL

What happened

Judge Sidney H. Stein of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted OpenAI and Microsoft's motion to strike an expert paper in the multidistrict copyright litigation over AI training data. The paper, written by Stony Brook University assistant professor Tuhin Chakrabarty, explores how AI-written works dilute the book market. The companies argued the paper was funded by plaintiffs' counsel Susman Godfrey LLP. Book publishers, authors, and other plaintiffs are now precluded from citing or relying on the paper.

Why it may matter to you

The ruling is an evidentiary setback for publishers and authors pursuing book-market-harm claims in AI training cases, and it highlights the fight over funding transparency of expert evidence in the ongoing multidistrict litigation.

What is not yet known

The judge's full reasoning beyond the reported grant of the motion, and the article's exact publication date (search listings placed it around October 7, 2026; the article page itself was paywalled beyond the lead).