The parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Co., has recently filed a lawsuit against two artificial intelligence (AI) companies, claiming that they have been using the newspaper’s content without permission.
According to the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, the two companies, RAPPLER Inc. and Cision Ltd., have been using headlines and excerpts from WSJ articles in their news aggregation services without obtaining proper licenses. Dow Jones & Co. is seeking monetary damages and an injunction to stop the unauthorized use of their content.
In addition to the lawsuit, Dow Jones & Co. has also announced a partnership with AI company NewsGuard, which provides a tool for publishers to monitor and protect their content from unauthorized use. The tool uses AI and human analysts to identify and flag websites that may be using content without permission.
This move by Dow Jones & Co. highlights the growing concern among media companies about the use of their content by AI companies. With the rise of AI technology, news aggregation services have become more prevalent, often using content from various sources without proper licensing.
In a statement, Dow Jones & Co. stated that they “believe that the unauthorized use of our content by AI companies is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.” They also emphasized the importance of protecting the integrity and value of their content, which is the result of hard work and investment by their journalists.
On the other hand, RAPPLER Inc. and Cision Ltd. have not yet responded to the lawsuit. However, both companies have previously stated that they only use headlines and excerpts from WSJ articles, which they believe falls under fair use.
This lawsuit and partnership with NewsGuard serve as a reminder to AI companies and news aggregators to respect the intellectual property rights of media companies. As the use of AI technology continues to grow in the media industry, it is crucial for companies to find a balance between innovation and respecting the work of journalists.
