Legal Nikkei and Asahi newspapers sue Perplexity AI over copyright

Nikkei Inc. and The Asahi Shimbun Company, two of Japan's most prominent newspaper publishers, said on Tuesday that they have taken legal action against Perplexity AI, accusing the search service of using their news content without permission. The companies claim that Perplexity copies and reuses their articles and are asking the court to stop the practice, while also seeking 2.2 billion yen (approximately $14.97 million) in damages each. Their lawsuit comes not long after The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings filed a similar case, showing how disputes over the use of news content by new digital platforms are now spreading from abroad to Japan.

Perplexity browses websites and compiles written summaries of what it finds. It is argued that this approach makes information easier to access than traditional keyword searches, but publishers contend that it risks exploiting copyrighted journalism without proper approval. The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association has also voiced its unease, as such legal challenges continue to mount both in Japan and overseas.

According to the complaint, Perplexity bypassed technical safeguards against content use and accessed Nikkei and Asahi servers to gather articles. It then created and disseminated summaries in breach of Japan's Copyright Act prohibiting the reproduction, adaptation and public communication of copyrighted works. The filing also charges that the summaries were inaccurate and did not mirror the original articles. But in quoting Nikkei and Asahi as sources, Perplexity damaged the papers' credibility and encroached on their commercial interests, breaking the Unfair Competition Prevention Act. Both companies argue that Perplexity violated their terms of use, which prohibit storing or reproducing data for AI training without permission. Nikkei said the content used without authorization included articles that are available only to subscribers through a paywall. Asahi stated that articles it had supplied to Yahoo News, its partner platform, were also taken without permission.

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Paywall alert:

We're torching the planet just so we can steal peoples' work and put them out of a job. I hope the actual journalists prevail

Here's a summary by Perplexity of the accusations.

Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun have filed a major lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the company of large-scale copyright infringement and unauthorized use of their journalism. The lawsuit, filed in Tokyo District Court, seeks both an injunction to stop Perplexity's practices and damages of 2.2 billion yen (about $15 million) from each publisher, totaling close to $30 million.observer+2

Core Allegations

• Unauthorized Copying and Storage: Nikkei and Asahi allege that Perplexity has been systematically copying, storing, and resurfacing their articles without permission since at least June 2024.nikkei+1
• Circumventing Technical Barriers: The lawsuit claims Perplexity deliberately bypassed technical safeguards (such as blocking crawlers) designed to prevent scraping and unauthorized reproduction of publisher content.wonderhowto+2
• Use of Deceptive Scraping Techniques: According to third-party reports, Perplexity is accused of evading detection by disguising their bots to appear as regular visitors, intentionally subverting website access restrictions.wonderhowto
• Spreading Inaccurate Information: Beyond mere copyright infringement, both publishers say Perplexity's AI sometimes generates inaccurate or misleading information and attributes these errors to Nikkei or Asahi, potentially harming their credibility and reputation.engadget+2

Legal Demands

• Deletion of Stored Content: The publishers are demanding that Perplexity delete all stored articles originating from their reporting.coincentral+2
• Compensation: Each publisher seeks 2.2 billion yen in damages, reflecting both financial loss and reputational harm.nhk+2
• Court Injunction: They seek a court order stopping Perplexity from reproducing, storing, or presenting their content without direct authorization in the future.timesofindia.indiatimes+2

Broader Context

• Impact on Media Business Models: The lawsuit highlights a growing tension between traditional publishers and AI firms, with media companies arguing that generative AI systems are "freeloading" on journalistic work without fair compensation and threatening established business models.fortune+1
• Technical and Legal Precedents: Perplexity has faced similar copyright-related lawsuits elsewhere (e.g., from Dow Jones in the U.S.), intensifying scrutiny over how AI companies collect and present third-party content.coincentral+1

Summary Table

Perplexity has not issued a formal public response to the specific claims in the lawsuit, stating only that it is reviewing the case and asking for understanding while the facts are clarified.nhk

1. Perplexity's Clash with New Publishers Continues Despite Revenue-Sharing Efforts
2. Perplexity AI Faces $30M Lawsuit Over Copyright Theft
3. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250827_13/
4. Japanese newspapers Nikkei and Asahi sue Perplexity AI over copyright
5. Two major Japanese publishers have sued Perplexity AI, here's why - The Times of India
6. Perplexity Accused of Copyright Infringement by Japanese News Groups | PYMNTS.com
7. Perplexity sued by Japanese media giants for stealing information and presenting false information
8. https://coincentral.com/perplexity-tokyo-lawsuit-nikkei-asahi-copyright/
9. https://fortune.com/2025/08/26/perplexity-lawsuits-publishers-ai-search-nikkei-news-corp/
10. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/26/japan/crime-legal/japan-newspapers-sue-ai-startup/
11. https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20250828-277641/
12. https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/techn...aim-it-is-stealing-content-2777567-2025-08-27
13. https://www.mlex.com/mlex/artificia...-sue-perplexity-ai-for-copyright-infringement
14. https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/perplexity_asahi_nikkei_lawsuits/
15. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...tlets-sue-perplexity-for-copyright-violations

mdchachi said:

Here's a summary by Perplexity of the accusations.

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I both laughed and winced at your tongue-in-cheek post, @mdchachi.

I agree, AI shouldn't use the work of others without authorisation; especially not circumventing safeguards to access it. On the other hand, your post shows exactly how useful AI is, especially when gathering data from different outlets. I've been using ChatGPT for something similar, something my brain is really bad at, since I get easily lost chasing after an idea. So I think the help we get from it is incredible and the time saved substantial. But it's important we use it respectfully, and not least legally - even if some would consider it a legal grey area.

dracuella said:

I both laughed and winced at your tongue-in-cheek post, @mdchachi.

I agree, AI shouldn't use the work of others without authorisation; especially not circumventing safeguards to access it. On the other hand, your post shows exactly how useful AI is, especially when gathering data from different outlets. I've been using ChatGPT for something similar, something my brain is really bad at, since I get easily lost chasing after an idea. So I think the help we get from it is incredible and the time saved substantial. But it's important we use it respectfully, and not least legally - even if some would consider it a legal grey area.

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Well I admit I sometimes use it to summarize an article behind a pay wall that I can't access.

It's replaced Google for most of my content searching. Basically it's fulfilled the original idea behind sites like AskJeeves, now you can literally ask a question and get a cogent and usually correct answer.