What Does the NYT Lawsuit Against Brave Browser Allege?

The New York Times and other newspaper companies filed a lawsuit against Brave Software this week, alleging that the browser's built-in paywall blocker and its AI data-licensing business amount to large-scale copyright infringement, according to Ars Technica, which reviewed the complaint filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

What does the lawsuit claim Brave did?

The complaint describes Brave as "the supplier, dealer, and distributor of stolen copyrighted content for its own users and many of the most prominent GenAI companies, including Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere," Ars Technica reported. The suit alleges three forms of copyright infringement — direct, contributory, and vicarious — plus a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for circumventing paywall protections. Filers also say Brave's browser substitutes its own advertising for publisher ads on sites like the Times, then shares that ad revenue with users, according to the outlet's account of the filing.

How much money does the lawsuit say Brave made?

Citing third-party revenue estimates, the plaintiffs claim Brave "has made more than $100 million by copying and reselling publishers' work without consent or permission," while "publishers have received nothing," Ars Technica reported. The figure comes from the lawsuit's own citations rather than Brave's disclosed financials, and the outlet did not report an independent verification of the estimate.

What is Brave's paywall blocker and how does it work?

Brave's desktop browser includes an optional setting, enabled by default, that lets the browser retrieve paywalled content for users, the lawsuit states. Ars Technica said it tested the Mac version of Brave and confirmed the feature made it possible to read a paywalled Times article, with the option available to turn off in settings.

Which AI companies are named in the lawsuit?

The complaint ties Brave's search index and API to five AI firms — Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere — saying those companies pay to pull real-time content from the index for model training and for answering user queries, according to Ars Technica. The outlet noted Brave's own site describes its Search API as used by "some of the biggest names in AI, including Cohere, Mistral, Perplexity, and You.com."

What is Brave being asked to do, and what remains unresolved?

The Times is seeking a permanent injunction barring the alleged conduct, along with statutory and actual damages, restitution of profits tied to the claimed infringement, and disgorgement of revenue from the ad-substitution practice, Ars Technica reported. Brave had not issued a public response captured in the Ars Technica report at the time of filing, and the court has not ruled on the claims. The case does not resolve whether Brave's data deals or browser feature constitute infringement; that determination awaits litigation.

By the numbers

• More than $100 million: alleged Brave revenue from reselling publisher content, per third-party estimates cited in the suit.
• 5 AI companies named as customers of Brave's search index and API: Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI, and Cohere.

For the full filing details and Brave's public API description, see Ars Technica's report.