# Times sues Brave browser for scraping and paywall bypass

> The New York Times and three other publishers allege Brave Software stole their content to train AI and help users dodge paywalls.
- Title: Times sues Brave browser for scraping and paywall bypass
- Summary: The New York Times and three other publishers allege Brave Software stole their content to train AI and help users dodge paywalls. The New York Times, New…
- Keywords: new york times, brave software, ai scraping, copyright, paywalls, anthropic, perplexity, mistral, cohere, xai, technology, culture
- Source: The Verge — https://theverge.com/tech/1024588/brave-lawsuit-ai-scraping-new-york-times
- Author: Jay Peters
- Published: 2026-11-02T17:51:19+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: new york times, brave software, ai scraping, copyright, paywalls, anthropic, perplexity, mistral, cohere, xai, technology, culture
## Times and three publishers sue Brave
The New York Times, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel filed lawsuits against Brave Software over alleged unlawful scraping to train AI and letting users bypass paywalls.
## Brave sold content to AI firms
According to the complaint, Brave monetized its index of scraped websites by providing AI companies with paid access to real-time online content from the Brave Index to train their models.
## Multiple AI companies named
Brave allegedly provided stolen copyrighted content to many AI companies including Anthropic, Perplexity, Mistral, xAI and Cohere without permission or compensation to the publishers.
## Paywall blocker feature alleged
Brave promotes hundreds of top publishers as accessible through its Paywall blocker feature in its browser, allowing users to bypass paywalls without the publishers' consent.
## Times accuses Brave of theft
Graham James, an NYT spokesperson, said Brave flouted copyright law and ignored repeated requests to stop. The Times filed the lawsuit to hold Brave accountable for stealing content.

> Brave has flouted established copyright law and ignored repeated requests by The Times to stop its infringing conduct.
## Attorney calls it content laundering
Steven Lieberman, attorney for the other three publications, said Brave Software is selling AI companies a back door to journalism they have no right to, laundering pirated reporting.

> Brave must be held responsible for laundering pirated reporting for the AI industry.
## Key takeaway

The New York Times, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel sued Brave Software for allegedly scraping their content to sell to AI companies and letting users bypass paywalls without permission.