Judge Stein orders the USA TODAY Co. plaintiffs to show cause why their OpenAI case should not be stayed

The order

The one-page order is Document 2105 in In re OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation, No. 1:25-md-03143 (SHS) (OTW) (S.D.N.Y.), dated October 15, 2026 and signed by Judge Sidney H. Stein. It relates to USA Today Co., Inc. et al. v. OpenAI Foundation et al., No. 1:26-cv-08892.

What it requires

The plaintiffs must show cause in writing on or before October 30, 2026 why their action should not be stayed pending resolution of summary judgment motions in the other active cases in the multidistrict litigation. The defendants' response, if any, is due November 6, 2026.

The underlying case

The plaintiffs are USA TODAY Co., Inc. and 13 companies the complaint says it owns. Their complaint, filed October 8, 2026 against seven OpenAI entities, alleges that OpenAI trained its models on copyrighted material scraped from the internet without authorization, including the plaintiffs' news content, used programs that strip copyright management information, and that its models memorized the works they ingested and, before OpenAI implemented what the complaint calls litigation-inspired safeguards, would reproduce verbatim or near-verbatim copies when prompted. It pleads direct and vicarious copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 and removal of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202.