Court lets 5 Canadian news firms sue OpenAI

Canadian news firms can sue OpenAI in Canada, an Ontario appeal court ruled on the 13th of November 2026, Broadcast Dialogue reported. OpenAI had asked the court to send the case to the United States.

The publishers say OpenAI used their stories to train ChatGPT without permission or payment.

Who is suing

The group includes Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press and CBC. They claim breach of copyright, breach of website terms and unfair gain.

Le Devoir called it the first Canadian lawsuit over using news articles to train AI.

What the court said

OpenAI argued the claims fell outside the reach of Canadian law. A panel of 3 judges rejected that view, all agreeing.

Ontario has a real and substantial link to the claimed breaches, the court wrote. It upheld an earlier ruling by Justice Jessica Kimmel.

Below we break down the cost

The court ordered OpenAI to pay 100,000 dollars in legal costs to the publishers, Broadcast Dialogue reported. Shared among 5 publishers, that is 20,000 dollars each, by our arithmetic.

What is confirmed and what is not

The ruling only decides where the case will be heard. It does not decide whether OpenAI broke the law.

Broadcast Dialogue did not name the currency of the costs. OpenAI's comment was not in the reports we read.

Key facts

An Ontario appeal court let a news lawsuit against OpenAI go ahead in Canada.

Five publishers, including CBC and The Canadian Press, are suing.

They say OpenAI trained ChatGPT on their stories without permission.

OpenAI must pay 100,000 dollars in legal costs.