The New York Times filed a lawsuit against privacy browser Brave on Monday, alleging that the 11-year-old company scraped copyrighted material and supplied it to third-party tech firms. TechCrunch reports that the legal action took place in federal court in Manhattan alongside a similar filing from the Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, and the Orlando Sentinel.
Key takeaways
- The New York Times and other publishers sued Brave in federal court in Manhattan on Monday.
- The suit claims Brave scraped copyrighted material and distributed it to AI companies.
- Brave allegedly built an index of over 30 billion webpages using an unidentified crawler.
- The legal filings also target features that bypass paywalls and block publisher ads.
What did privacy browser Brave do according to the lawsuit?
TechCrunch reports that Brave built an index containing more than 30 billion webpages using an unidentified crawler. Publishers claim this crawler left them unable to block its access. The New York Times lawsuit describes the company as a supplier and distributor of stolen material for firms like Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere.
Also, the legal complaint targets specific browser features. The suit states that Brave bypasses paywalls while also blocking publisher ads in order to sell its own advertisements instead.
How do publishers view the copyright claims?
The New York Times likens the company to a burglar and a fence that sells stolen material to third parties, according to the lawsuit. The publisher has previously taken legal action against OpenAI and Perplexity over similar claims regarding copyrighted content.
Founded in 2015, Brave has raised roughly $250 million to date, as noted by private-market trackers. The current legal action seeks both an injunction and damages from the browser company.
What happens next for Brave and the publishers?
Brave did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the Monday filings. The federal court in Manhattan will now handle the claims brought forward by the New York Times, Daily News, Chicago Tribune, and Orlando Sentinel as the publishers push for financial damages and an official injunction against the browser company.
Frequently asked questions
The New York Times, the Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, and the Orlando Sentinel filed lawsuits against Brave on Monday in federal court in Manhattan.
The lawsuits allege that Brave scraped copyrighted content, built an index of over 30 billion webpages, bypassed paywalls, and distributed material to third-party firms.
According to the lawsuit cited by TechCrunch, the suit names Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere as customers receiving the distributed material.
The New York Times is seeking both an injunction and financial damages against the 11-year-old privacy-focused browser company.
Founded in 2015, Brave has raised roughly $250 million to date according to private-market trackers.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch. Read the original article
