2 days ago
Japanese Yomiuri newspaper sues US AI startup over copyright infringement
The holding company of a Japanese daily newspaper has filed a lawsuit against a US startup for damages caused by unauthorized use of the daily's articles.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings announced on Thursday that Perplexity, which provides search services using generative AI technology, has made copies of its articles and images for use in providing answers to its users.
Yomiuri said the US startup had accessed about 120,000 of its articles from February to June this year, infringing on its copyright.
Yomiuri filed the complaint with the Tokyo District Court on Thursday, seeking suspension of use of its articles and compensation of more than 2.1 billion yen, or about 14.2 million dollars.
The lawyer for Yomiuri says the lawsuit is the first filed by a major Japanese media company over copyright infringement involving generative AI.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings said in a statement that allowing such a 'free ride' would negatively impact accurate reporting backed by research.
It added that such conduct could undermine the foundation of democracy.
