Silverman v. OpenAI — Author Copyright Class Action (N.D. Cal.)
N.D. Cal. · Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-03416 (N.D. Cal.)
Comedian and author Sarah Silverman, along with Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, sued OpenAI in July 2023 alleging ChatGPT was trained on their books via shadow-library datasets like Books3. The case proceeds in N.D. Cal. consolidated with related author actions.
Technical detail
Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-03416 (N.D. Cal., filed July 7, 2023; Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín). Mirror of Tremblay complaint with overlapping plaintiffs; same Feb. 12, 2024 partial dismissal applied. Surviving claim: direct copyright infringement. Consolidated for pretrial purposes with Tremblay and Chabon.
Who is protected: Class of U.S. book authors whose works appear in shadow-library training corpora
Who must comply: OpenAI, Inc.
Key facts
| Jurisdiction | N.D. Cal. |
|---|---|
| Level | Federal |
| Status | Blocked / in litigation |
| Protection strength | Moderate protection |
| Effective date | 2023-07-07 |
| Citation | Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-03416 (N.D. Cal.) |
| Topics | copyright and training data |
| Last verified | 2026-06-17 |
| Official source | Silverman v. OpenAI — CourtListener 3:23-cv-03416 ↗ |
More AI rules in N.D. Cal.
- Tremblay v. OpenAI · Blocked / in litigation
- Kadrey v. Meta · Blocked / in litigation
- Chabon v. OpenAI · 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- USPTO AI Inventorship Guidance · Repealed / replaced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See something wrong or out of date?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.