The NY Times and Pearson, two of the most valuable US publishers, each have market caps of about $10 billion.
Let's say Pearson went after OpenAI. They devote an unlimited legal budget to the fight. OpenAI is hoping to IPO as a trillion dollar company. If Pearson went after OpenAI, rather than fight them in court, a deal could be reached first. If that didn't work, if a deal couldn't be reached, OpenAI could bypass the problem completely:
- Spend $5 billion to buy a controlling share of Pearson.
- Fire the entire leadership team and install OpenAI minions in their place.
- Once they control Pearson, sign a long-term licensing deal with OpenAI with very generous licensing terms and huge early cancellation fees.
- Sell the shares back on the market at a (likely slightly reduced) value.
OpenAI would likely have to spend some money on net. The value of Pearson stock would likely be a bit lower after effectively giving away the rights to their works as training data. If signing a durable rights contract the new owners can't escape isn't practical, buying the company and simply holding it indefinitely would also be an option.