News Corp’s Dow Jones and New York Post sue Perplexity for copyright violations

In a significant legal development, News Corp’s Dow Jones and the New York Post have initiated legal proceedings against the burgeoning AI startup Perplexity, accusing the company of operating a “content kleptocracy.” The lawsuit, filed in New York on Monday, outlines allegations of extensive copyright violations by Perplexity, claiming the startup replicates and distorts original content without consent.

The complaint argues that Perplexity’s AI-driven “answer engine” co-opts substantial amounts of copyrighted news articles, analyses, and opinions to populate its internal databases. These materials are then purportedly utilised to generate responses to user inquiries in a manner that serves as a substitute for accessing the original news sources. The lawsuit criticises Perplexity for encouraging users to “Skip the Links” to original publishers, suggesting this approach undermines traditional media by drawing audiences away and impacting conventional revenue streams.

This legal action emerges amidst a growing discourse about AI technologies’ impact on content ownership and intellectual property. Previous concerns have been similarly raised by other renowned media entities, with an instance this past summer involving a Forbes article allegedly being replicated. Additionally, just last week, The New York Times issued a cease and desist letter to Perplexity, highlighting broader industry apprehensions about AI-induced copyright infringements.

Perplexity has previously defended its practices, indicating that its web scraping technology serves merely to index information, not for AI model training. The company argues this data handling technique is foundational for providing relevant answers to user questions. Perplexity has not yet commented further on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit signifies a pivotal moment as the legal landscape struggles to adapt to the challenges posed by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. Current copyright laws are somewhat uncharted in relation to large-scale AI models and data scraping technologies. Multiple ongoing lawsuits across the industry seek to address these gaps, though none have reached a definitive conclusion. Each case could potentially set a precedent that redefines copyright protections in the era of AI.

In his statement, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson underlined the significance of integrity and creative originality in AI ventures, praising companies like OpenAI for their approach. News Corp has previously inked a multiyear content agreement with OpenAI, suggesting different strategic partnerships are possible.

The lawsuit seeks the statutory maximum of $150,000 per infringement in damages, alongside the profits Perplexity has allegedly garnered through these practices. Depending on court interpretations of the evidence presented, the financial implications for Perplexity could be monumental.

This legal confrontation underscores escalating tensions between traditional media outlets and AI companies, spotlighting the delicate interplay between innovation and the protection of intellectual property rights in the digital age. As such, it remains pivotal how courts will interpret existing laws in these novel circumstances, potentially setting the course for future interactions between media entities and AI firms.

Source: Noah Wire Services