An additional 26 publishers joined the copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft on Wednesday, taking the coalition’s membership above 550. Platkin LLP said it now represents 60 publishers in the litigation, including Times Publishing Company, Austin Chronicle Corp., Alternative Newsweekly Foundation and SwimSwam Partners. The publishers accuse the companies of using their work without consent or compensation to develop commercial AI products and of removing copyright information, including author names and copyright notices. The litigation centers on whether copying copyrighted material to train large language models qualifies as fair use. The outcome could influence licensing prices, access to high-quality training data and the ability of smaller companies to compete. Related cases include the combined Richner Communications litigation and separate lawsuits by The Seattle Times and Newsday. On September 4, both sides sought summary judgment in In re OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation, while U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein invited amicus briefs by October 16. The U.S. Justice Department supported a broad interpretation of fair use for AI training on September 2 and warned compulsory licensing could hinder smaller companies. The legal outlook remains mixed: OpenAI and Microsoft won part of the GitHub Copilot developer case on September 16, although other claims remain. The U.S. Copyright Office says fair use depends on the material, how it was obtained, the purpose of copying and its effect on copyright markets. Gartner forecasts spending on AI models and platforms will rise 63.4%, from $39.31 billion in 2025 to $64.25 billion in 2026, with foundation generative AI models reaching $23.36 billion. The OECD has warned that concentrated access to data, computing power and cloud infrastructure can reinforce incumbents, while Europe’s general-purpose AI code addresses copyright obligations under the AI Act. Courts’ treatment of training data could shape both the cost of model development and the range of companies able to compete.