News Summary

Perplexity AI, a U.S. search engine startup, is facing multiple lawsuits from major Japanese newspapers, including Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Nikkei, and Asahi. The lawsuits, filed in Tokyo District Court, allege that Perplexity AI infringed on copyrights by accessing and reproducing content from their online platforms without permission. Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings claims that Perplexity accessed over 100,000 articles from its digital edition, Yomiuri Shimbun Online, between February and June, violating the ‘right of reproduction’ under the Copyright Law. The plaintiffs argue that the AI’s generative capabilities allow users to view summarized content without visiting the original source, leading to ‘zero-click searches’ and diminishing traffic to the original sites. The newspapers are seeking an injunction to prevent further copyright violations.