Kyodo News, Sankei Shimbun lodge similar protests

TOKYO -- The Mainichi Newspapers Co. sent a letter of protest on Dec. 1 to U.S.-based generative AI company Perplexity AI Inc. asserting that articles distributed on its news site were used without permission.

The Mainichi Newspapers argues that Perplexity AI creates responses to users based on articles obtained without permission on the generative AI search service it operates, and asserts this constitutes copyright infringement. Kyodo News and Sankei Shimbun Co. also sent similar letters of protest the same day.

Regarding Perplexity AI, three other Japanese newspaper companies, The Yomiuri Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun Co. and Nikkei Inc., earlier filed suit at the Tokyo District Court seeking damages.

48 member newspapers of Kyodo News issue protest statements

The Mainichi Newspapers, Kyodo News and Sankei Shimbun demand an immediate halt to the unauthorized use of their content, with a view to potentially taking legal action. On Dec. 1, 48 local and other newspapers with membership in Kyodo News' wire service also released a statement of protest. The moves clarify the media industry's firm stance against generative AI companies using articles without permission.

In its protest letter, The Mainichi Newspapers Co. states that Perplexity AI used an automated program to collect at least several hundred thousand articles from Mainichi Shimbun Digital without permission between July 2024 at the latest and August 2025. It alleges that Perplexity AI's search services generated responses based on data from these articles obtained without authorization.

The Mainichi Newspapers argues that the unauthorized collection of articles and the generation of responses constitute violations of the right of reproduction and the right to transmit to the public protected under the Copyright Act. It also claims that some responses, while citing The Mainichi Newspapers Co. and other such names as the source, contain false information that differs from the original articles, which it says constitutes a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (making or circulating false allegations).

Perplexity AI was founded in 2022 by former members of U.S. company OpenAI. The firm is headquartered in California, and its investors include Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and American technology company Nvidia Corp. Its generative AI search service has over 15 million monthly users worldwide, and in Japan, SoftBank Corp. has partnered with Perplexity AI to offer the service to its subscribers.

According to news agency Reuters, Perplexity AI has argued in ongoing U.S. lawsuits with media companies that its search function relies on "publicly available factual information that is not protected by copyright law."

Mainichi Public Relations Unit: We condemn illegal acts by generative AI operators

The Mainichi Newspapers Co. and the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association have sounded the alarm over a series of illegal acts by generative AI companies, recognizing them as a serious issue for the entire industry. In no way can we tolerate copyright infringement of articles that our reporters have spent vast amounts of time and effort researching and editing. If these illegal acts are left unchecked, the trust and economic foundations of news organizations, whose mission is to report facts accurately, will be destroyed. We call for prompt action from business operators that repeatedly engage in such illegal activities. We will continue to call attention to the role of news organizations and the state of rules regarding generative AI.