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Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

OpenAI’s attorneys dropped a bombshell brief yesterday informing the court that the allegedly neutral scientific study of market effects submitted by the plaintiffs in their class action suit had actually been funded by the plaintiffs’ law firm, Sussman Godfrey. (Link below)

Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

Plaintiffs tried to get this study in at the last minute by laundering it through another expert witness, and when that witness was asked whether Sussman had funded the study, he said he didn’t think so. The Sussman lawyer defending the deposition didn’t correct him.

Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

As OpenAI’s brief observes, at the same time that the class action attorneys were trying to get the study into court, the authors of the study were getting into the press. Writers for the NYTimes, the Atlantic, and other outlets reported out the study, w/o the funding context.

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Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

If you reported on that study about the alleged market effect of AI use on self-published Amazon books, you may want to update your story. @WillOremus @sashrogel @xanalter

Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

Read the OpenAI brief, and some analysis from @edleeprof, here: chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2026/09/23/...

chatgptiseatingtheworld.comOpenAI moves to strike paper “Generative AI floods and dilutes the market for books” by Prof. Tuhin Chakrabarty based on his webpage CV’s alleged disclosure of $100,000 funding by Susman Godfrey law firm representing PlaintiffsAmidst a tsunami of media coverage of AI doomsday concerns, OpenAI just filed an explosive motion to strike that will return some attention back to the MDL copyright litigation against it. OpenAI s…
Brandon Butler
@bb.usefairuse.com

Reporters revisiting the study in light of this litigation news should also read Cooper’s substantive critiques, as it shows this is not just a gotcha game about money. The study has real flaws that consistently bias its analysis in favor of the funder.