Introduction
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) has filed a lawsuit against Caseway [1] [2], an AI-driven legal research platform [1], alleging copyright infringement due to unauthorized data scraping. This legal action highlights the ongoing tension between traditional legal information providers and emerging technology companies.
Description
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) has initiated a lawsuit against the AI-powered legal research platform Caseway for allegedly infringing its copyright by unlawfully scraping approximately 3.5 million records from CanLII’s content to train its AI models without permission. CanLII claims that it holds copyright over its cases due to enhancements made for improved searchability and accuses Caseway of violating its terms of use by systematically downloading content from its website. The organization asserts that it identified its cases in an open-source search engine linked to an IP address associated with Caseway [1], alleging that over 120 gigabytes of data were copied.
Caseway’s founder [1], Alistair Vigier [1], refutes these allegations [1], asserting that his company did not use any data owned or enhanced by CanLII [1]. He suggests that the lawsuit stems from a misunderstanding regarding his comments about Caseway providing links to CanLII cases for verification [1]. Vigier also denies that any copies of CanLII’s cases were found at a location tied to Caseway’s IP address [1].
This legal action parallels the previous case of Thomson Reuters v [2]. ROSS Intelligence but is particularly notable for involving a prominent advocate for free access to legal materials [1]. Established in 2001 [1], CanLII aims to provide efficient online access to judicial decisions and legislative documents and is a founding member of the Free Access to Law Movement [1].
Despite the ongoing legal dispute, Vigier emphasizes that Caseway is committed to enhancing public access to legal information and has sought collaboration with CanLII and law societies [1]. However, unlike CanLII [1], Caseway operates on a subscription model [1], charging $49.99 per month [1]. Interestingly, the lawsuit has reportedly led to an increase in business for Caseway [1], with over 200 lawyers subscribing to the service since the legal action was filed [1].
Conclusion
The lawsuit between CanLII and Caseway underscores the challenges faced by traditional legal information providers in the digital age, as they navigate issues of copyright and data usage with new technology platforms. The case also highlights the potential for legal disputes to impact business dynamics, as evidenced by the reported increase in Caseway’s subscriptions following the lawsuit. This situation may prompt further discussions on the balance between free access to legal information and the protection of intellectual property rights.
References
[1] https://legalink.in/major-canadian-legal-research-service-sues-ai-startup-claiming-wrongful-use-of-its-court-decisions.html
[2] https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2024/11/27/canadian-legal-information-institute-canlii-sues-caseway-ai-in-canada/
