• by Ray Schultz , Yesterday

Perplexity is facing additional legal problems in Japan.  

Barely one month after being sued for alleged copyright infringement by the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Perplexity has now been hit with copyright litigation in Tokyo District Court by Nikkei Inc. and the Asahi Shimbun Co.

The joint suit brings together The Nikkei, reportedly Japan’s largest financial newspaper, and Asahi, a left-leaning publisher, according to The Straits Times. 

The suit asks for 2.2 billion yen (an estimated $14.7 million) in damages for each publisher, plus an injunction. 

The alleged scraping and use of content without licenses amounts to "continuous and large-scale freeloading on journalists’ time and effort,” the newspapers said in a statement, according to The Straits Times. “If left unchecked, this could undermine all media outlets trying to accurately report the facts and ultimately shake the very foundations of democracy.”

Meanwhile, Perplexity has announced a subscription program that it says will generate revenue for publishers. The plan, called Comet Plus, is an extension of Perplexity’s Comet browser. Subscription revenue will be distributed to participating publishers “minus a small portion for Perplexity’s compute costs,” the firm promises. 

In another international action, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the firm has used its content without payment.