National Newspaper Association joins News/Media Alliance to push back against Open AI

Nov 2, 2026

Contact: Lynne Lance, lynne@nna.org

Federal courts must build a firewall between artificial intelligence programs and local news organizations, National Newspaper Association Chair Jeremy Gulban, CEO, CherryRoad Media of Parsippany, New Jersey, said Friday.

NNA today joined an amicus brief filed by News/Media Alliance on behalf of local news organizations in the federal Southern District of New York, where multiple newspapers are suing to block Open AI from taking local news content for free.

The National Newspaper Association is a 141-year-old organization representing local community newspapers. It represents members in every state. Its members publish in print and in all digital formats, including websites, mobile applications and commercial platforms. Its typical member is a 3,000 to 5,000 circulation nondaily newspaper with staff based in communities they serve.

“Huge AI enterprises like Open AI cannot be allowed to hide behind the fair use doctrine or any other legal defense,” Gulban said. “If the courts allow them to do so, the first loss will be to local news reporting.”

The New York case is in a summary judgment phase, where the court is urged to resolve key legal issues about copyright infringement and fair use.

Gulban said the AI programs threaten the jobs of local reporters and editors and are likely to deprive local communities of reporters on the scene to cover city governments, civic affairs, youth sports and the activities of churches and nonprofit groups.

“Open AI and its colleagues in the AI space should not be able to lift local journalism content, neither for training, nor remarketing nor for any other purpose," Gulban said. "Publishers depend upon copyright laws to protect the work of journalists, as well as the messages of many local businesses that count on our publications to promote their products and services.”

News/Media Alliance, the National Press Photographers Association and ProPublica were signatories on the brief, which is available at the link below. Gulban said he appreciated the work of N/MA to express the industry’s views.

Gulban also said community newspapers had a growing concern about all types of digital producers that see newspaper content as a free service, available for their own use to repackage and sell for profit.

“We’ve had enough,” he said. “It’s time for public policy to shore up traditional protections for copyrights.”

View Amicus Brief: https://nna.org/pub/doc/2026-10-30-2373-1-news-media-alliance-amicus-brief.pdf