News Corp Lawsuit Against Perplexity: Copyright Infringement Allegations

News Corp Files Lawsuit Against AI Search Engine Perplexity

In a significant legal development, News Corp, the parent company of prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, has initiated a lawsuit against the AI search engine Perplexity. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, accuses Perplexity of infringing on copyrighted content on a massive scale.

The Allegations: Massive Copyright Infringement

According to the lawsuit, Perplexity engages in practices that amount to copying news articles, analyses, and opinions without proper authorization. The claims suggest that Perplexity utilizes content from across the web to train its AI search models, leading to summaries that often violate copyright protections.

Business Model Under Fire

Perplexity markets itself as a platform enabling users to "skip the links" to online articles, a feature that News Corp argues diverts users away from original sources and undermines their critical revenue streams. This approach has raised serious concerns regarding the sustainability of journalistic enterprises and their ability to generate income from digital content.

Concerns Over Attribution and Factual Accuracy

In addition to allegations of reproducing content verbatim, News Corp claims that Perplexity has inaccurately attributed facts and analyses to its outlets. The lawsuit states that Perplexity sometimes cites incorrect sources and, in some instances, fabricates news stories that are credited to their publications.

Prior Communications Ignored

News Corp reported that it reached out to Perplexity in July regarding these unauthorized uses, but the company did not respond to their concerns. This lack of response has prompted News Corp to take legal action, seeking recourse for what it describes as a violation of intellectual property rights.

Perplexity Under Fire from Multiple Outlets

Over the past months, several news outlets, including Wired and Forbes, have accused Perplexity of scraping content without permission and bypassing paywalls. Notably, just last week, The New York Times issued a cease and desist letter to Perplexity, further highlighting the broader industry concerns about AI technologies leveraging proprietary content without authorization.

Steps Towards Compliance

Despite these accusations, Perplexity has begun negotiating with some publishers, such as Time and Fortune, to pay for their content. This move, however, comes after intense scrutiny and indicates the challenges AI companies face when dealing with established media entities.

News Corp's Response

In a statement regarding the lawsuit, Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp, expressed serious concerns over the actions of Perplexity. He stated, "Perplexity perpetrates an abuse of intellectual property that harms journalists, writers, publishers, and News Corp." He lauded companies like OpenAI that have engaged in principled negotiations with various outlets to compensate them for their work.

What’s Next for Perplexity?

Currently, News Corp is demanding that the court compel Perplexity to cease the unauthorized use of its content and destroy any databases containing News Corp's works. As the case develops, it will be vital to monitor how it impacts the wider landscape of AI content usage and intellectual property considerations.

Conclusion

The legal battle between News Corp and Perplexity underscores a critical moment in the relationship between traditional media and emerging AI technologies. With ongoing discussions regarding content rights and usage, the outcome of this lawsuit may set important precedents for the future of digital journalism and artificial intelligence.