December 3, 2024

CanLII sues AI legal assistant Caseway AI for copyright infringement

In this article:

CanLII Lawsuit: The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) sued Caseway AI, alleging unauthorized use of its curated legal content for a subscription-based AI-driven legal research platform.
Allegations: CanLII claims Caseway downloaded over 120 GB of its enhanced court data (3.5 million records) in violation of terms of use, infringing copyright.
Defendant’s Response: Caseway founder Alistair Vigier denied using CanLII’s curated records, asserting reliance on public court documents and criticizing the lawsuit as recognition of Caseway’s competitive threat.
Platform Features: Caseway launched in September as an AI-driven chatbot offering access to over three million court documents, with over 200 lawyers subscribing since the lawsuit’s filing.
CanLII’s Accusations: CanLII accused Caseway of systematic data scraping, incorporating the company to evade detection, and ignoring cease-and-desist notices.
Vigier’s Counterclaims: Vigier argued court documents are public records not owned by CanLII and threatened to develop a rival database to render CanLII irrelevant.
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