WorkSeptember 2, 2026via The Decoder
US Department of Justice backs fair use for AI training in landmark copyright case
Why it matters
A major government legal position on whether AI models can legally train on copyrighted data, with immediate implications for how AI companies source training data and what practitioners and enterprises can legally do. The internal government contradiction and personnel move signal political pressure on a foundational AI policy question.
Key signals
- US Department of Justice filed brief in New York Times class-action copyright lawsuit
- DOJ position: AI training on copyrighted text qualifies as fair use
- Filing contradicts prior US Copyright Office report
- US Copyright Office director fired by Trump administration after report publication
- Case shapes legal foundation for AI model training practices
The hook
The DOJ just filed a landmark brief arguing AI training on copyrighted text is fair use — directly contradicting its own Copyright Office, whose director was then fired.
In the class-action lawsuit involving The New York Times, the US Department of Justice argues that training AI models on copyrighted text qualifies as fair use. The filing directly contradicts a report from the US Copyright Office. Its director was fired by the Trump administration shortly after the…