Chabon v. OpenAI — Author Copyright Class Action (N.D. Cal.)
N.D. Cal. · Chabon v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-04625 (N.D. Cal.)
Pulitzer winner Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, David Henry Hwang, and other authors sued OpenAI in September 2023 alleging ChatGPT was trained on their copyrighted books. Consolidated with Tremblay and Silverman before the same judge.
Technical detail
Chabon v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-04625 (N.D. Cal., filed Sept. 8, 2023; Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín). Parallel complaint to Tremblay; same partial-dismissal disposition. Consolidated with Tremblay and Silverman; surviving claim is direct copyright infringement.
Who is protected: Class of U.S. book authors with works in OpenAI training corpora
Who must comply: OpenAI, Inc.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | N.D. Cal. |
|---|---|
| Level | Federal |
| Status | Blocked / in litigation |
| Protection strength | Limited protection |
| Effective date | 2023-09-08 |
| Citation | Chabon v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-04625 (N.D. Cal.) |
| Topics | copyright and training data |
| Last verified | 2026-06-17 |
| Official source | Chabon v. OpenAI — CourtListener 3:23-cv-04625 ↗ |
More AI rules in N.D. Cal.
- Tremblay v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Silverman v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Kadrey v. Meta · Blocked / in litigation
- Chabon v. Meta · Blocked / in litigation
- Andersen v. Stability AI · Blocked / in litigation
- Doe v. GitHub (Copilot) · Blocked / in litigation
Related copyright and training data rules elsewhere
- Copyright Office AI Guidance · In effect
- USPTO AI Inventorship Guidance · Repealed / replaced
- AB 2013 (Training Data Transparency) · In effect
- ELVIS Act · In effect
- SSB 5886 (WA Digital Likeness Rights) · In effect
- AR Generative AI Ownership Act (Act 927) · In effect
See something wrong or out of date? Submit a correction — every entry must carry a verifiable official source.