# OpenAI Imperils the Market for the Content It Copies by Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster > “OpenAI imperils the very market for the high-quality content that it copies and reproduces.” > **— Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster**, *complaint against OpenAI, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, March 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Source:** Complaint filed by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Inc. against OpenAI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, March 2026, as quoted in [*Fortune*](https://fortune.com/2026/03/18/dictionaries-suing-openai-chatgpt-copyright-infringement/) (March 18, 2026); filing also reported by [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/16/merriam-webster-openai-encyclopedia-brittanica-lawsuit/) (March 16, 2026). Press reports give filing dates between March 16 and March 17, 2026; the complaint itself has not been independently inspected. - **Exact wording as quoted:** “OpenAI imperils the very market for the high-quality content that it copies and reproduces.” No editorial change. - **Context:** The complaint reports that ChatGPT, asked for Merriam-Webster's definition of “plagiarize,” returned language identical to the dictionary's entry, and alleges that ChatGPT's responses substitute for and compete with the publishers' content. Britannica and Merriam-Webster had sued Perplexity on the same theory on September 11, 2025. - **Attribution:** The language belongs to the plaintiffs' complaint, so the two companies are the attributed author; the allegations are unadjudicated. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/War With Empire|War With Empire]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/war with empire/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Encyclopaedia Britannica|Encyclopaedia Britannica]] - [[wiki/Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster]] - [[wiki/Generative Canon|Generative Canon]] - [[wiki/Lexicographic Succession|Lexicographic Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “OpenAI imperils the very market for the high-quality content that it copies and reproduces.” — Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, complaint against OpenAI, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, March 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-britannica-merriam-webster-openai-imperils-market ```