This week, media entities owned by Rupert Murdoch, including Dow Jones and NYP Holdings, initiated legal action against Perplexity AI, alleging the AI platform is involved in a significant amount of unauthorized replication of their copyrighted materials.
Submitted in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit asserts, “This action is pursued by news publishers seeking justice for Perplexity AI’s audacious strategy to contend for audiences while simultaneously benefitting from the valuable content produced by these publishers.”
Legal challenges for Perplexity AI’s ‘skip the links’ promise
Perplexity AI is part of an expanding movement of startups utilizing large language models (LLMs) to disrupt traditional search engines, gathering information from sources it considers authoritative to craft succinct summaries tailored to user queries. The company promotes its platform by encouraging users to “skip the links,” promising immediate answers without the necessity of consulting the original articles.
The lawsuit claims that both media organizations are targeting Perplexity AI for allegedly failing to support and promote proper citation practices, unlike other AI search engines that achieve this more effectively.
The legal action alleges that Perplexity AI employs “copyrighted materials to construct responses to users’ inquiries that substitute for news and various information sites.” The media entities contend that their quality journalism and rigorous news gathering are being utilized at no expense by Perplexity AI to improve and create its own system.
“Perplexity commits an infringement on intellectual property that injures journalists, authors, publishers, and News Corp,” remarked News Corp CEO Robert Thomson in a statement released to The Recorder.
In December 2023, The New York Times became the initial major American news company to sue AI firms for similar violations, alleging they have caused “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” through “unauthorized replication and utilization of The Times’s uniquely valuable content.” They argue that Open AI “has endangered the very essence of journalism.”
These latest claims from Murdoch’s media conglomerate highlight an important and evolving discussion regarding AI technologies and copyright infringements. This conversation, characterized by international law firm Ropes and Gray as being “at a critical juncture,” emphasizes a complicated legal environment.
Defendants regularly assert that once AI systems have been trained, they do not retain copies of the “scraped” material or any specific elements from the initial training phase. This claim has emerged as a critical point of defense for AI organizations facing copyright accusations.
This represents a vital conflict zone for online publishers. As revenue sources continue to dwindle and unreliable advertising frameworks shape the imminent future, the emergence of LLMs and their ambiguous legal standing only exacerbates the scenario.
AI partnerships: How media organizations are safeguarding journalism in the current digital landscape
Murdoch’s News Corp may have a viable path ahead, but it necessitates a commitment to work closely with AI services. In May, the organization established a significant content arrangement with OpenAI to safeguard their journalism and adapt to a future where AI platforms may serve as the primary repositories for real-time news.
“The agreement recognizes that there is value in premium journalism,” Thomson stated in a message to staff. “The digital era has been marked by the supremacy of distributors, often to the detriment of creators, and many media outlets have been overwhelmed by an unrelenting technological surge,” he continued.
OpenAI has secured multiple significant publishing contracts, including a three-year agreement with Axel Springer for the use of its content in training and display. The Financial Times has also formed a “strategic alliance” with OpenAI, while The Atlantic and Vox Media have both revealed collaborations with the artificial intelligence organization.
Media organizations are adapting in the digital era by creating arrangements that ensure proper attribution and recognition for their journalism. For instance, The Atlantic is launching Atlantic Labs in collaboration with OpenAI, aiming to explore AI tools that enhance reporting and audience interaction. Similarly, Valuetainment has rolled out an AI-driven news platform, VTNews.ai, designed to filter issues, pinpoint biases, and shed light on distorted narratives—a move they anticipate will be an effective response to the issue of misinformation.
Although AI may appear to pose a threat to copyright within news and publishing, forming strategic partnerships with technological startups might actually provide the solution the industry requires. By safeguarding their content, publishers can also harness the transformative capabilities of AI to elevate their work. This has become an imperative. The future of journalism will be claimed by those who welcome AI—not as a competitor, but as a means to redefine the craft.
