Context: The number of copyright infringement complaints by media outlets targeting AI companies is exponentially growing across the world. There are many in the U.S., including the high-profile case by the New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft (March 27, 2025 ai fray article) and another by ThomsonReuters against Ross Intelligence (April 16, 2025 ai fray article), which the former won, but also the EU (May 26, 2025 ai fray article), India (November 18, 2024 ai fray article), and Canada (December 3, 2024 ai fray article). In another high-profile U.S. case yesterday, the world saw its first-ever AI copyright infringement settlement between Anthropic and a class of book authors, which could amount to millions (August 26, 2025 ai fray article).
What’s new: Japanese media outlets Nikkei Inc. and The Asahi Shimbun Company (Asahi: one of Japan’s top five newspapers) have sued Perplexity AI in the Tokyo District Court over copyright infringement, accusing the U.S. firm of large-scale “free riding” on article content (August 26, 2025 Nikkei press release). Perplexity AI has copied and stored article content from Nikkei and Asahi’s servers, repeatedly displaying responses containing these articles on users’ devices since at least June 2024, they state. The media outlets are seeking an injunction, as well as 2.2 billion yen (USD 14.8 million) each, and have alleged that, if left unchecked, the “situation could undermine the foundation of journalism”.
Direct impact: The outlets allege in their complaint that they implemented a technical measure called “robots.txt” on their websites to indicate that unauthorized use of their content is prohibited, but that Perplexity AI “ignored this measure”. The GenAI-powered search engine has been accused of this in cases before, including in a dispute with the New York Times (NYT: June 15, 2024 ai fray article), in which the paper then had to issue a cease and desist notice late last year (October 16, 2024 Reuters article). So far, however, it seems Perplexity has not yet succumbed to the mounting legal pressure.
Wider ramifications: This case marks the second-ever suit by a major Japanese media outlet over AI copyright concerns, coming three weeks after Yomiuri Shimbun (also one of Japan’s top five newspapers) sued Perplexity AI over the same issues in the Tokyo District Court. The media outlet, which is also seeking an injunction, alleged that approximately 119,467 online articles were obtained and reproduced without permission between February and June 2025, and that this has resulted in a decrease in visitors to its website and a major loss in advertising revenue. These cases come amid growing frustration among the Japanese media industry, with the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association also issuing renewed demands that generative AI obtain permission from copyright holders before using news content without permission (June 5, 2025 Asahi Shimbun article). The lawsuits could also accelerate discussions on legal reform relating to the national Copyright Act.
The alleged unauthorized content includes articles behind Nikkei’s paywall, accessible only to paid subscribers, and articles distributed by Asahi to its partner platforms. The plaintiffs allege that these actions constitute copyright infringement against both companies, specifically the right of reproduction (Article 21 of the Copyright Act), the adaptation right (Article 27), and the right to transmit to the public (Article 23).
As well as copyright infringement, the outlets are seeking damages (as part of the 2 billion yen each) for anticompetitive conduct, alleging:
“Perplexity has displayed the names of both companies or their articles as sources in its responses, while simultaneously presenting as fact a large amount of incorrect information that differs from the actual article content. This action severely damages the credibility of newspaper companies, which are expected to provide accurate information, and constitutes unfair competition (Article 2(1)(xxi) of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act).”
In a statement yesterday, Nikkei said:
“Unauthorized use of articles created through significant time and effort by journalists cannot be overlooked, and there are cases where false information differing from the content of the articles is being displayed. Through this lawsuit, we aim to show conclusively that our articles are being used without permission and to put a stop to unchecked copyright infringement by generative AI providers. We will continue to appeal to society about the importance of protecting sound journalism, which supports the foundation of democracy.”
In a separate statement yesterday, Asahi said:
“As the unauthorized use continues without improvement, we find the situation to be unacceptable. We will continue to demand accountability from any provider that persists in illegal use without obtaining proper authorization.”
Counsel
Nikkei and Asahi are being represented by Mimura Komatsu‘s Ryoichi Mimura, Tomoji Yamada, Minako Tahara, Kotaro Tanabe, and Kosuke Sugawara, as well as Tokei Partners‘s Haruaki Murao, and Kotto Dori Law‘s Hajime Idei.