Reddit keeps its strange DMCA fight over Google search results alive
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. Engelmayer’s decision came less than two weeks
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A judge has largely denied a motion to dismiss in a lawsuit where Reddit accuses a web scraper and an AI company of illegally accessing Reddit's copyrighted content through Google search results. The judge found that Reddit has plausibly shown the two companies conspired to circumvent Google's access controls, though the case is still in early stages and both sides may present additional evidence. Reddit is seeking to force AI scrapers into licensing agreements by arguing that its partnership with Google includes protections for deleted content, which the scrapers bypass. The lawsuit hinges on whether the companies violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing technological protection measures, though legal experts note the outcome remains uncertain.
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