Canadian Legal Information Database Sues Company Behind AI Chatbot

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) has filed a lawsuit against Caseway AI in the B.C. Supreme Court, alleging that the AI chatbot violated its terms of service and copyright by systematically scraping CanLII's database of legal records. CanLII, funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, offers public access to case law, legislation, and legal commentary.

The suit claims that Caseway downloaded around 3.5 million records from CanLII without authorization, infringing on copyrighted enhancements like hyperlinks and corrected errors. Despite a cease-and-desist letter last month, Caseway allegedly continued bulk downloading, leading CanLII to seek injunctive relief and damages for losses due to the unauthorized scraping.

Caseway, which launched this fall, aims to improve legal research access, especially for non-lawyers. In a response to the allegations, Caseway argues that CanLII’s information is public and accessible from other sources and that its service has not suffered due to Caseway’s actions. Caseway expressed openness to collaboration with CanLII, citing a shared mission of improving public access to legal information.

The lawsuit is part of a broader trend where organizations seek to protect intellectual property from bulk data extraction by AI tools.