Major Indian media organisations have attempted to join a copyright case against OpenAI, the firm behind the well-known AI chatbot ChatGPT, but OpenAI is retaliating. A media report claims that the company has contended in a recent court filing that it is not required to sign into licensing agreements with Indian media companies and does not utilise their content to educate ChatGPT. Media companies owned by prominent figures like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are among the Indian media groups that have alleged OpenAI for using their content without any license or agreement.
In a 31-page court filing, OpenAI denied allegations that it uses content from its website to train its artificial intelligence model. The filed documents are a reaction to a lawsuit filed by a well-known Indian news organisation. The latter claims that OpenAI has copied its news articles without permission.
Indian Media Joining Forces to Fight with AI Giant
The case was filed by ANI in November 2023. A group of Indian publications has joined the action, including the Digital News Publications Association (DNPA), which represents Ambani’s Network1, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and NDTV (owned by Adani). These media outlets have accused OpenAI of using their websites to train ChatGPT by unauthorizedly scraping content.
The lawsuit filed by ANI is demanding damages of 20 million rupees ($230,000), according to a report from an international media outlet. This is the first legal obstacle that OpenAI has faced in the Indian market, which is also the company’s second-largest market. The case may have a significant impact on how AI businesses manage Indian internet content. In its legal response, OpenAI has insisted that it does not rely on information from the Indian media groups involved in this lawsuit and that it trains its AI models using publicly available data.
Open AI Navigating to Troubled Waters
Since November 2022, when OpenAI began making ChatGPT accessible to the public, the company has been the subject of allegations from a variety of sources that the AI chatbot was trained using copyrighted content. Eight American newspapers, including The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, and others, are suing Microsoft and OpenAI, claiming that ChatGPT trained the chatbot on copyrighted news stories without authorisation or payment.
Five of Canada’s most well-known news organisations also brought a similar copyright infringement action against OpenAI, according to a media report. OpenAI OpenAI has defended its conduct by asserting that it is “impossible” to develop practical AI models like ChatGPT without using copyrighted material and that its usage of copyrighted materials is in accordance with “fair use” rules. Please check Indiatimes News for other global news and current events.
Television, Radio, Cinema, Newspapers, Magazines and internet-based Websites and Portals are all various arms of the Indian Media – among the oldest in the world. Out of the 880 satellite TV channels, more than 380 are news channels, several among them relaying current affairs 24×7.
However, a large number of media outlets and the country’s rich culture and ethnicity do not translate into a variety of news supply. Ironically, the media ownership concentration indicates the opposite and a significant trend towards the control of content and public opinion.
Value of Media and Entertainment Industry in India (2019-2024)
There is a strong connection between media, business and politics. Most of the leading media companies are owned by large conglomerates which are controlled by founding families with a vast array of business interests other than media.
The last few weeks’ news headlines have been bursting with consistent news of the hostile take-over of NDTV by the Adani Group. It seems to be a good place to begin delving into this seemingly bottomless pool of secretive allegiance of the media to its various counterparts.
New Delhi Television (NDTV)
Adani Group to Acquire a Majority Stake in NDTV
The news channel has been openly biased towards the Congress and notoriously anti-BJP in the recent past. It was a majorly held company between a few individuals and corporate groups – Radhika Roy, Prannoy Roy, RRPR Private Holding Ltd. and Oswal Greentech Ltd. The murky ownership of NDTV goes deeper with Radhika Roy being the sister of Brinda Karat, a Rajya Sabha MP from CPI(M). Abhay Kumar Oswal, the owner of Oswal Greentech Ltd., is the father-in-law of Congress MP Naveen Jindal. Prannoy Roy is the first cousin of Arundhati Roy – erstwhile winner of the Booker Prize for her book ‘The God of Small Things.’
A little over a decade ago, Prannoy and Radhika Roy, borrowed approximately INR 403 crore from Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. (VCPL), in exchange for warrants allowing them to acquire approximately 29% stake in the news group. The Adani Group acquired VCPL and exercised those rights. In accordance with Indian Regulations, the group put forth an open offer to purchase 26% more from existing shareholders, giving them an opportunity to exit. Adani Group stands to acquire more than a 55% stake in the popular news network, NDTV if the two-pronged strategy succeeds.
Network18 Media and Investments Limited
Formerly known as SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited, passed ownership a couple of times and also went through a restructuring and founded a subsidiary called Global Broadcast News (GBN). A series of losses between the years 2008 and 2010 with existing debts drained the company’s funds. In an effort to mitigate its financial losses, the company began restructuring and consolidating its assets. Their efforts proved futile as, after 2011, it faced possible financial collapse and loss of control for its managing director Raghav Bahl. By September 2011, the company had accumulated a debt of INR 1400 crores and was on the lookout for external financing to bail itself out. Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) entered into a partnership with Network18 and infused funds through Independent Media Trust.
Over the next couple of years, through a series of business dealings and manoeuvring, RIL succeeded in gaining total control over Network18 Media and Investments Ltd.
Network18 Owned by Reliance Industries Limited
It is assumed, that the main reason behind RIL gaining control over Network18 was the network’s incessant coverage of Arvind Kejriwal and his allegations against RIL supremo, Mukesh Ambani over the irregularities in the pricing of natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. No charges were filed, however, and RIL denied the allegations vehemently.
Today, Reliance Industries Ltd., through Network18 Media and Investments Ltd., owns TV18 Broadcast, Web18 Software Services, Network18 Publishing and Capital18. Through subsidiaries and franchise licensing agreements, the Network18 group owns and operates news broadcasting networks of News18, ETV and CNBC India channels, Forbes India and Overdrive magazines, Moneycontrol and Firstpost websites.
Contrary to popular belief, Republic TV and Republic Bharat are both owned and run by ARG Outlier Media Pvt. Ltd, allegedly funded by Rajeev Chandrashekhar. He is the Bhartiya Janta Party member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha and the vice-chairman of the Kerala Wing of the National Democratic Alliance. The general belief is that Republic TV and Republic Bharat are both owned by anchor Arnab Goswami.
India News
This media news channel is owned by former Congress leader Venod Sharma’s son Karthikeya Sharma. Karthikeya Sharma is the brother of Manu Sharma who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Jessica Lal. Karthikeya Sharma is the owner of ITV Media group operating many news channels including News X.
Times Now
The giant Times Group, owned by Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, is one of the most powerful and influential media houses in the country. It owns Times of India, Navbharat Times, Mid-Day, Stardust, Femina, Vijaya Times, Vijaya Kannada and Times Now News Channel. A major share in the company is owned by an Italian Robertio Mindo, who is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
The reason for the foray into the news space by large conglomerates is for the edge that it gives their companies. The acquisition of Network18 by RIL was one of the first corporate takeovers of a news media channel. With RIL’s deep interest in the energy sector, this move was considered a part of a trend of growing commodification of information, detrimental to the treatment of journalism as a public service.
The reason for these flourishing monopolies can be fairly laid at the door of non-existent laws and regulations that prevent:
Horizontal monopolies specific to the media industry
Cross-media ownership and vertical integration in the media
Disclosure norms for media ownership
Media monopolies not linked with a lack of freedom of speech
In the absence of strict laws, media in India is self-regulated by News Broadcasters Association and Indian Broadcasting Foundation which lays down guidelines, rather than rules.
Conclusion
The political affiliations of media channels prior to corporate takeovers have already travelled the path of misinformation, selective information and commodification of information. As one of the biggest media markets in the world, Indian media ownership and control in the hands of a few reflects its inability to report with objectivity and without bias. Be it political, business, religious or any other type of affiliations, journalism needs to be free and clear of such loyalties or biases to be truly a public service, working only for the public interest at large.
FAQs
Which is the most-watched news channel in India?
According to Reuters Institute at Oxford University’s latest report, NDTV 24X7 is the most-watched news channel in India.
Who is taking over NDTV?
AMG Media Networks, a subsidiary of Adani Group bought Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. (VCPL) in exchange for warrants allowing them to acquire approximately 29% stake in NDTV. Adani Group has also announced an open offer to acquire a 26% additional stake in NDTV.
Nitin Konde
