Reddit keeps its strange DMCA fight over Google search results alive

A federal judge has allowed Reddit's lawsuit against a web scraper to proceed, finding it plausible that the scraper conspired with Perplexity AI to bypass access controls. This ruling marks a development in the ongoing legal battle over how AI companies scrape copyrighted content from the web.
Why it matters
The outcome of this case could set a significant legal precedent for how AI developers access and use data from platforms like Reddit.
AI scraping battle heats up Reddit keeps its strange DMCA fight over Google search results alive Reddit advances lawsuit accusing Perplexity AI of conspiring with web scraper.
4 Credit: picture alliance / Contributor | picture alliance Credit: picture alliance / Contributor | picture alliance Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only Learn more Minimize to nav On Friday, a judge largely denied a motion to dismiss from a web scraper, SerpApi, which is accused of conspiring with Perplexity AI to illegally scrape copyrighted Reddit content from Google search results.
In his opinion , US District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said that at this early stage, Reddit has plausibly pleaded that there was a conspiracy, with SerpApi providing a product to circumvent Google access controls and Perplexity AI paying for it.
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