05:50 AM EST, 03/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates last paragraph with a comment from Microsoft ( MSFT ).)

Microsoft ( MSFT ) filed a motion Monday to dismiss parts of a lawsuit filed by The New York Times Company ( NYT ) alleging copyright infringement by Microsoft ( MSFT ) and its partner OpenAI.

In its motion, Microsoft ( MSFT ) asks the court to dismiss The New York Times' ( NYT ) contentions that Microsoft ( MSFT ) is liable for any end-user copyright infringement, that it violated provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and that tools like ChatGPT appropriate time-sensitive news.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) argued in its motion that artificial intelligence tools do not damage the market prospects of news organizations, comparing them to videocassette recording technologies that emerged in the 1970s. "Content used to train Large Language Models does not supplant the market for the works, it teaches the models language," the motion says.

In a statement published by The New York Times ( NYT ), an attorney for the company noted that the motion did not dispute the claim that Microsoft ( MSFT ) and OpenAI copied the news outlet's works without permission to build their tools. "Instead, it oddly compares large language models to the VCR even though VCR makers never argued that it was necessary to engage in massive copyright infringement to build their products," said the attorney.

"Lawfully developed AI-powered tools should be allowed to advance responsibly just like valuable technologies of the past. They are also not a substitute for the vital role that journalists play in our society," a Microsoft ( MSFT ) spokesperson said in an email to MT Newswires.