Chat GPT versus Reddit.

OpenAI uses copyrights to protect its logo.  

I’m constantly telling clients to think creatively about their intellectual property and to think about it as a layered asset. OpenAI’s recent move to enforce copyrights in its logo is a good example of how and why companies need this layered approach. 

There is a subreddit, r/ChatGPT, dedicated to discussions about ChatGPT. It is a popular subreddit with 5.5M members: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/. Recently, it received a copyright complaint from OpenAI through Reddit because the subreddit uses OpenAI’s circular logo, shown to the left.

OpenAI’s decision to enforce a copyright in its logo has gotten some negative press. After all, OpenAI makes free use of copyrighted materials to educate its large language models. Luke Jones, OpenAI and Reddit's r/ChatGPT Subreddit Resolve Trademark Dispute, WinBuzz  (May 13, 2024). Ironically, a company that built a product by, in part, scraping the internet would enforce copyrights against a group simply discussing the product. 

OpenAI’s move begs the question – why did they use a copyright complaint on Reddit instead of a trademark complaint?  OpenAI treats its logo as a trademark because it has a pending trademark application for the graphical logo. See U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 97931225. Even though the trademark registration has not been issued, OpenAI could still assert common law trademark rights in the logo. Also, using OpenAI’s logo for the subreddit is more likely to be trademark infringement than copyright infringement. Using the logo may cause confusion by causing Reddit users to think that the subreddit is endorsed or affiliated with ChatGPT. In contrast, the OpenAI logo is not subject to copyright protection. I cannot find any record of a copyright registration for the logo. Although a registration is not required to establish copyrights, it certainly helps and is required before OpenAI can take enforcement action in court. From a legal perspective, a trademark claim makes more sense than a copyright claim. It certainly makes more sense from a public relations perspective.

The reason OpenAI made such a strange move, however, is probably because of Reddit’s trademark policy. Reddit’s trademark policy states that it will allow the following:

Using a trademark in a subreddit name to help people understand the community’s purpose, such as discussion about the trademark owner’s products or business practices

And it gives the following example as a trademark use it will allow:

A company has a trademark for the name of their software. A Reddit user creates a subreddit named after the software, where people can ask questions about how to use the software and share their own solutions to common issues. The subreddit makes clear that they are not an official company subreddit.

Reddit Trademark Policy. According to the subreddit, it always had a disclaimer on the site stating that it was not affiliated with OpenAI and, therefore, it complied with Reddit’s trademark policy. Reddit Post About Resolution Reddit would have rejected a trademark complaint against the r/ChatGPT subreddit. The subreddit is doing exactly what Reddit says it will allow. 

With respect to copyrights, however, Reddit states that when it “receives a complete and valid copyright infringement notice …, it must expeditiously remove or disable the allegedly infringing content in order to take advantage of [the DMCA] Safe Harbor with respect to that particular content.” Reddit Help Page on DMCA (emphasis added). If Reddit thinks it has to take action on a copyright complaint, then OpenAI has a much better chance of getting Reddit to take action if it makes a copyright claim instead of a trademark claim. OpenAI’s creative use of copyrights enabled it to take advantage of Reddit’s IP Policies and take action against the subreddit.

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