Brave Software, the developer of the Brave Search engine and the Brave browser, has filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco against the media holding News Corp. The developer is seeking to recognize the legality of indexing web content used in its search engine. In response, News Corp accuses the company of illegally copying and distributing copyrighted materials from The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. The conflict reflects the deepening standoff between media companies and tech corporations in the fight for control of digital content.
Image Source: Wesley Tingey / Unsplash
On February 27, 2025, News Corp sent a formal complaint to Brave, accusing the company of illegally scanning its web resources, indexing content, and then using it. According to the media holding’s statement, Brave derives commercial benefit from unauthorized copying of content by using it in its search engine. News Corp claims that indexed materials are not only displayed in search results, but can also be monetized or transferred to third parties. The letter contains a demand to immediately stop such practices and compensate for the damage caused.
In response, Brave filed a lawsuit, arguing that indexing web pages is a fundamental part of how search engines work, from Google and Bing to Brave Search. The company said its practices are “fair use” because it does not copy content as is, but merely links to the original material. Brave also said News Corp is trying to use its influence to create artificial barriers to entry for new players in the search technology market.
Brave estimates that its Brave Search engine has less than 1% of the global market, while Google controls almost 90%, with the rest divided between Microsoft Bing and other services. The company emphasizes that its search engine does not use Google or Bing APIs, but creates its own index based on analysis of web pages. However, News Corp claims that Brave illegally commercializes other people’s content by using materials without a license, which harms the media industry.
Brave also warned that News Corp’s claims could significantly slow down the development of generative AI. Current AI models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, rely heavily on search indexes to generate answers. If News Corp succeeds in getting its resources banned from being indexed, it would set a dangerous precedent that could potentially limit the work of not only search engines, but AI technologies in general.
Image source: Brave Software
News Corp has joined its UK and Australian divisions, as well as its subsidiary Dow Jones, in the lawsuit against Brave, which highlights the international scale of the conflict. This process is part of the media industry’s strategy to protect copyrights and counter the use of journalistic content by tech corporations. It is worth noting that in October, News Corp filed a similar lawsuit against Perplexity AI, accusing the startup of mass copying its articles and using them in responses to user queries without proper attribution.
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has harshly criticized Brave, saying its business model is based on plagiarizing other people’s content. “Unauthorized scraping and then reselling our content to search engines and AI companies is not ‘fair use’ — it’s blatant abuse,” Thomson said. He also noted that Brave is using other people’s content to make money without creating any original value.
The lawsuit is just one of many conflicts between the media industry and tech corporations. In recent years, major publishers have sought to legislate how their content can be used in the digital environment. In 2023, The New York Times sued OpenAI, accusing the company of training ChatGPT on its articles without permission.
Brave is seeking a ruling in court to rule that its indexing of web content is legal, arguing that its search activity does not violate copyright but rather promotes free access to information. However, if the court rules in favor of News Corp, it could set a precedent for search engines and AI companies to be required to obtain licenses to use news content. Such a scenario could lead to the formation of closed digital ecosystems in which media holdings monetize access to their materials, significantly limiting their distribution.