U.S. AI Company Accused by Yomiuri Shimbun of Copyright Violation
Japanese Newspaper Files Landmark Lawsuit Against AI Company Over Copyright Infringement
In a significant move, The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspaper groups, has filed a lawsuit against U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company Perplexity. The lawsuit, filed at Tokyo District Court in August 2025, alleges copyright infringement due to the unauthorized use of The Yomiuri Shimbun's articles.
The lawsuit highlights the use of AI-powered search engines scraping news articles without permission, a growing concern in the digital age. The Yomiuri Shimbun seeks approximately 2,168 million yen (~$14.7 million) in damages and an injunction to stop Perplexity from using its articles.
The newspaper group believes that the lawsuit is necessary to establish legal precedents for the use of AI in the context of news reporting. They argue that unpermitted use of news articles could negatively affect accurate news reporting, journalistic integrity, and the newspaper’s digital revenue model.
The complaint states that Perplexity collected information from 119,467 online articles without permission between February and June 2025, using them to generate summarized search responses. This is the first lawsuit filed by a major Japanese news organization against a generative AI company over the use of news articles.
The lawsuit underscores the need for clear guidelines and regulations regarding the use of AI in the news industry. The outcome of this case is yet to be determined, but it marks a pivotal step toward clarifying legal and ethical boundaries for AI use of news content in Japan and possibly internationally.
The Yomiuri Shimbun's headquarters in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka have filed the lawsuit against Perplexity. The newspaper group views the lawsuit as an opportunity to establish legal boundaries for AI technology in journalism, signaling increased scrutiny and potential legal challenges to generative AI companies globally regarding unauthorized training on copyrighted journalistic content.
News organizations, AI firms, and regulators are closely watching this case for future implications. The case's outcome could influence ongoing debates and prompt stricter licensing practices for AI training data in news media.
The lawsuit filed by The Yomiuri Shimbun against Perplexity raises questions about the use of AI technology in the context of photo journalism, as the articles in question could potentially include copyrighted photographs. The lawsuit also highlights the need for education and self-development in the realm of technology, particularly in terms of understanding the legal implications of AI's use in general news and journalistic integrity.
