Reddit's DMCA lawsuit against web scraper SerpApi and Perplexity AI survived a motion to dismiss, with the judge finding it plausible that the defendants conspired to circumvent Google's access controls to scrape copyrighted Reddit content. This comes shortly after Google lost a similar case, though Google plans to amend its complaint. The ruling highlights the ongoing legal tension over AI scraping and DMCA anti-circumvention provisions.
Background
Reddit has been aggressively pursuing legal action against AI companies and web scrapers over the unauthorized use of its content, following a major copyright settlement with OpenAI and other tech firms. The DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions (Section 1201) are central to these cases, as plaintiffs argue that bypassing access controls constitutes illegal circumvention regardless of copyright ownership.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Aug 1, 2026 at 05:19 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10