John Grisham

John Grisham (born 1955) practiced law in Mississippi for a decade before A Time to Kill (1989) and The Firm (1991) launched the modern legal thriller. With more than 300 million books sold and a run of consecutive number-one bestsellers stretching across three decades, he is among the most-read living novelists — which made him one of the most valuable names OpenAI could have trained on, and one of the costliest to be sued by.

The lawyer-novelist goes to court

On September 20, 2023, Grisham joined George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, David Baldacci and other writers as named plaintiffs in the The Authors Guild class action against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges the company copied the plaintiffs’ works “wholesale, without permission or consideration” — sourcing many from pirate ebook repositories — and calls the practice “systematic theft on a mass scale.” It seeks damages of up to $150,000 per infringed work.

The suit documents how ChatGPT could produce detailed summaries and derivative outlines of the plaintiffs’ novels. OpenAI responded that it respects authors’ rights and was in “productive conversations” with creators including the Authors Guild. The case was later consolidated with related author suits and continues to move through the courts.

Unlike some co-plaintiffs, Grisham has said little publicly beyond the filing itself — fitting, perhaps, for a lawyer who prefers to let the complaint do the talking.