MEDIANAMA
Technology and policy in India
Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), publisher of The Times of India and The Economic Times, has entered a content partnership with OpenAI. This agreement allows ChatGPT to display excerpts and summaries of BCCL’s journalism, with attribution and links to the original articles. The partnership, announced this week, covers BCCL’s English and Indian-language publications and includes live news coverage.
What does the deal actually do?
Under the arrangement, when a ChatGPT user asks about a topic covered by BCCL, the chatbot may provide a summary or excerpt from BCCL’s reporting. The response will credit the publication and link to the full article on BCCL’s website, rather than reproducing the entire article in the chat.
The arrangement includes BCCL’s Indian-language publications in addition to its flagship titles. It also covers both breaking news and archival content.
Beyond distribution: Internal use under discussion
The two companies will explore how OpenAI’s technology can support BCCL’s operations, including archive search, research support, data analysis, translation, back-end processes, and reader-facing products.
No timeline, product names, or financial terms have been disclosed for this internal-use exploration. Neither company has disclosed the financial details of the agreement. There is no confirmation of a licensing fee, revenue-sharing structure, or contract duration. In similar global publisher deals, such as those with the Associated Press, Axel Springer, and News Corp, OpenAI has made licensing payments. However, BCCL and OpenAI have not stated whether this agreement follows the same model.
Editorial control clause: Both parties directly addressed editorial independence. BCCL stated that its editors and journalists will continue to make all decisions regarding reporting, verification, editing, and publication, and that OpenAI will not influence coverage decisions. The companies also confirmed that any use of AI technology in newsrooms will remain subject to each publication’s existing editorial standards and human oversight.
The bigger picture
This agreement positions BCCL alongside other news organisations that have signed content deals with OpenAI, as AI chatbots become a primary way for people to access news instead of visiting publishers’ websites or apps. OpenAI is pursuing similar partnerships globally to secure legitimate access to news content and address criticism and litigation from some outlets over its use of copyrighted material to train its models.
For BCCL, the deal helps address industry concerns that AI answer engines may divert search and referral traffic that publishers depend on for readership and advertising revenue. Attribution links to the original articles are intended to mitigate this risk, though neither company has disclosed how much traffic these links generate.
Other publishers OpenAI has signed
BCCL joins dozens of global news organisations that have partnered with OpenAI. The company’s first publisher agreement was with the Associated Press in mid-2023, granting OpenAI access to its archive. Since then, OpenAI has signed similar deals with major publishers such as Axel Springer, Le Monde, Prisa Media, the Financial Times, News Corp, Dotdash Meredith, The Atlantic, Vox Media, Time, Condé Nast, Hearst, Axios, and Schibsted Media. Most agreements allow ChatGPT to display content with attribution and a link to the source, while financial terms are typically not disclosed. Some publishers, including The New York Times, have chosen to pursue legal action against OpenAI instead of licensing their content.
Licensing deal contrasts with ANI’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI
BCCL’s licensing agreement contrasts with an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court, where Indian news agency ANI sued OpenAI in November 2024 for allegedly using news content without authorisation to train ChatGPT. ANI also claimed that ChatGPT fabricated stories and misattributed them to the agency.
OpenAI challenged the court’s jurisdiction, citing the lack of local servers, and argued that its use of publicly available data falls under fair use. In an interim ruling, the Delhi High Court declined to block OpenAI from using ANI’s content, finding that the practice was likely covered by India’s fair-dealing exception.
However, ANI has appealed the Delhi High Court order.
Also read:
For You
- Read Reasoned by Nikhil Pahwa: How AI is changing our world
- Sign up for MediaNama’s Daily Newsletter to receive regular updates
- Sponsor a MediaNama Event
ANI has appealed a Delhi High Court order allowing OpenAI to train ChatGPT on its journalism, challenging India’s key interim ruling on AI training and copyright.
CBSE Class 12 students who dispute their marks must now approach the board individually after the Delhi High Court disposed of a PIL seeking a system-wide remedy.
MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.
© 2024 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd.
source