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New York Times Sues Brave Over Paywall Blocker and Alleged AI Copying of Paywalled Story

November 4, 2026 at 04:54 EST

Policy & Regulation

The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against browser maker Brave, alleging that its browser promotes a "Paywall blocker" feature as a way to "Bypass Paywalls" and that Brave's AI copied nearly an entire paywalled Times article word for word.

Lawsuit · Publisher vs. browser maker

A publisher sues Brave over paywall bypass marketing and AI copying of a subscriber-only story

The Times alleges that Brave promotes a "Paywall blocker" feature as a way to "Bypass Paywalls," and that Brave's AI reproduced almost all of one of its paywalled articles word for word.

Core claims: the bypass feature and the AI output

Nearly all

Of one subscriber-only article allegedly reproduced verbatim

Subscription-blocking feature at the center of the marketing claim

How much of the article was allegedly copied

Schematic view. The reporting says "almost all" of the story, without an exact percentage.

Nearly all

Reproduced

Remainder

Not reproduced

One article, one AI product, and a verbatim match is among the clearest fact patterns publishers cite in copyright claims over AI-generated text.

The alleged chain of claims

STEP 1

Feature marketed as "Bypass Paywalls"

→

STEP 2

Subscription prompts blocked for users

→

STEP 3

AI reproduces a full paywalled story

→

STEP 4

Publisher seeks to hold Brave responsible

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