TLDR: Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have initiated a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, alleging widespread copyright infringement and unauthorized content scraping that diverts web traffic and revenue. This legal action, filed in a New York federal court, claims Perplexity’s AI-powered “answer engine” unlawfully copies and misattributes content, following similar recent suits by Japanese news outlets Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun.
Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. and Merriam-Webster Inc. have jointly filed a significant lawsuit against Perplexity AI Inc., accusing the artificial intelligence company of “massive copying” of their copyrighted content without permission or compensation. The complaint, lodged in the US District for the Southern District of New York on September 10, 2025, highlights a growing legal battle between content creators and AI developers over intellectual property rights.
The lawsuit alleges that Perplexity AI’s “answer engine” product, which functions as a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) based search engine combining AI chatbots with real-time internet data, unlawfully scrapes and reproduces content from the plaintiffs’ websites. This practice, according to Britannica and Merriam-Webster, constitutes copyright infringement and trademark dilution. They contend that Perplexity’s AI not only copies their materials but also generates false or inaccurate information, known as ‘hallucinations,’ which it then wrongly attributes to their reputable brands.
A central claim in the lawsuit is that Perplexity’s AI-powered service “cannibalizes traffic” and “eliminates users’ clicks” that would otherwise direct visitors to the plaintiffs’ websites. This diversion of traffic, the publishers argue, directly impacts their revenue streams, which rely on subscriptions and advertising generated from web visits. The legal action seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order to prevent Perplexity from further misusing their content.
This is not Perplexity AI’s first encounter with such allegations. The company faced similar accusations of copyright infringement last year from prominent news organizations like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. Furthermore, just last month, two major Japanese media companies, Nikkei and the Asahi Shimbun, also filed lawsuits against Perplexity on similar grounds, underscoring a global concern among publishers regarding AI’s use of their content.
Also Read:
- Judicial Scrutiny Intensifies as Generative AI Errors Plague Legal Filings, Prompting Calls for Stricter Oversight
- FTC Launches Broad Inquiry into AI Chatbot Risks for Minors, Targeting OpenAI, Meta, Snap, and Others
The lawsuit against Perplexity AI is reportedly the 51st copyright infringement case filed against AI companies in the U.S., signaling an accelerating trend of legal challenges as content owners seek to protect their intellectual property in the age of generative AI. The plaintiffs are represented by the law firm Susman Godfrey LLP. The case is officially titled Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. v. Perplexity AI Inc., S.D.N.Y., No. 25-cv-07546.
