RIAA, NMPA, ASCAP, BMI and five other music groups file brief backing plaintiffs in NYT case against OpenAI and Microsoft

What happened

On 30 October 2026, nine music organizations — the RIAA, NMPA, ASCAP, BMI, A2IM, Songwriters of North America, the Black Music Action Coalition, the Recording Academy, and the Artist Rights Alliance — filed a proposed amicus brief in the consolidated New York Times copyright case against OpenAI and Microsoft before Judge Sidney Stein, formally backing the plaintiffs. The case combines the Times' lawsuit with others brought against OpenAI and Microsoft, including by book authors, and both sides have asked the court to decide without a trial whether training AI models on copyrighted works without a license is fair use.

What the brief argues

The brief asks Stein to rule that OpenAI and Microsoft's training on the plaintiffs' works is not fair use. It argues the purpose of the copying is not learning about language or music at large but generating substitutes that read and sound like the originals, and rejects the argument that licensing for AI training is too sporadic or speculative to form a reasonable licensing market, pointing to existing AI licensing deals and blanket licensing through ASCAP and BMI. The groups say their members own or control the majority of music consumed in the United States. The music groups are not parties to the case and their brief does not seek damages.

Boundary

This is an advocacy filing, not a court ruling; Stein has yet to rule on either side's requests. This item covers only the RIAA-led brief. Other briefs filed the same week — including the Human Consent Foundation brief and the SAG-AFTRA/AFM/Writers Guild brief — are covered by separate items already on the site.