Britannica and Merriam-Webster Sue Perplexity Over AI 'Answer Engine' (reuters.com)
(Thursday September 11, 2025 @05:30PM (msmash)
from the starting-a-band dept.)
- Reference: 0179169598
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/09/11/2016238/britannica-and-merriam-webster-sue-perplexity-over-ai-answer-engine
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/encyclopedia-britannica-sues-perplexity-over-ai-answer-engine-2025-09-11/
Perplexity AI is the latest AI startup to be hit with a lawsuit by copyright holders, accused by Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster of [1]misusing their content in its "answer engine" for internet searches. From a report:
> The reference companies alleged in New York federal court on Wednesday that Perplexity unlawfully copied their material and diminished their revenue by redirecting their web traffic to its AI-generated summaries.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/encyclopedia-britannica-sues-perplexity-over-ai-answer-engine-2025-09-11/
> The reference companies alleged in New York federal court on Wednesday that Perplexity unlawfully copied their material and diminished their revenue by redirecting their web traffic to its AI-generated summaries.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/encyclopedia-britannica-sues-perplexity-over-ai-answer-engine-2025-09-11/
Crime pays after all... (Score:2)
by devslash0 ( 4203435 )
If you steal someone's property and benefit from it you should be forced to give up every single penny you've earned from it and then you should pay an equal amount in punitive damages.
Otherwise, what good is a 100 million fine if you've earned a billion from the stored content?
The only way to disincentive crime is to stop it from being profitable in the first place.
If only (Score:2)
by xack ( 5304745 )
There was an open source encyclopedia that allowed copying, such a thing certainly doesn't exist...
That's cute (Score:2)
Right, so only Webster and Britannica are allowed to not only define and explain things but also you can only go to them for said definitions and explanations.
Re: (Score:2)
Disney isnt the only company that can own our culture!
Re: (Score:2)
They're not just suing because perplexity is a competitor. They allegation is they are reselling Britannica's content without permission (also sometimes with errors added.)
It doesn't seem to be about the AI being trained on the content, either. It's about the AI searching and summarizing that specific content, without sending any traffic or money their way.
The problem with allowing this is that primary news sources will go broke if only derivative ones get paid.
The problem with not allowing it is an