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Mealey's Copyright

  • July 25, 2025

    Federal Circuit OKs Judgment On Patent, Copyright, Other Claims On Steel Brace

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A steel company failed to show that a construction company infringed its patent describing a type of bracing for preventing seismic damage to buildings, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a Utah federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in the construction company’s favor.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Trump’s Bid For Co-Authorship Of Bob Woodward Audiobook

    NEW YORK — President Donald J. Trump failed to show that he is the joint author or copyright owner of the audiobook version of a book by journalist Bob Woodward that included clips of recordings of interviews with Trump, a New York federal judge ruled, dismissing Trump’s second amended complaint against the reporter, publisher Simon & Schuster Inc. and its parent company.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge: Copyright Claims Not Among Those Surviving In Voice Actors’ AI Suit

    NEW YORK — Two voice actors may proceed with claims that a company breached its contract by using recording to train artificial intelligence and infringement claims stemming from the use of the actual voice in presentations, but copyright and Lanham Act claims and those stemming from AI output fall, a federal judge in New York said in partially granting a motion to dismiss.

  • July 22, 2025

    Microsoft, GitHub Say Coders Lack Injury, Identicality In AI Appeal

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Coders have not shown that artificial intelligences produce code identical to their own, and interpreting federal law to cover works that merely resemble a copyrighted work would produce “staggering” results, Microsoft Corp. and online code platform GitHub told the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a response brief.

  • July 18, 2025

    Media Companies Appeal Whether AI MDL Required Revisiting DMCA Dismissal

    NEW YORK — Two media companies filed a notice that they will ask the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a ruling dismissing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act claim against OpenAI Inc. and others as well as whether creation of a multidistrict litigation governing artificial intelligence copyright suits warranted reconsideration of the opinion.

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Certifies AI Class, Wants Response To Fair Use Appeal Motion

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of developments, a California federal judge on July 17 granted a class certification motion in an artificial intelligence copyright suit involving pirated works, saying “It will be straightforward to prove the classwide wrong done” and the case is the exact type that benefits from representative litigation.  In an earlier ruling the judge asked for a response to Anthropic PBC’s motion for reconsideration or an interlocutory appeal of a ruling on the company’s fair use arguments.

  • July 16, 2025

    Newly Amended MosaicML Copyright Claims Lack Specifics, Companies Say

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in a recently amended action involving artificial intelligence copyright claims make conclusory allegations but never actually link the training of the models to copyrighted works or the plaintiffs’ own works, two companies responsible for training large language models tell a federal judge in California in seeking dismissal of the action.

  • July 15, 2025

    Judge: Fair Use Protects Anthropic’s Use Of Copyrighted Works

    SAN FRANCISCO — The use of authors’ copyrighted works for training the large language models behind Anthropic PBC’s artificial intelligence was transformative and is akin to schooling children and constitutes fair use, leaving only allegations that the company pirated copies for inclusion in a digital library, a federal judge in California said in largely granting summary judgment to Anthropic.

  • July 15, 2025

    Independent Music Artist Sues AI Music Companies Over Copyright

    In a pair of class lawsuits filed in federal courts in Massachusetts and New York, a country music artist and his recording company claim that artificial intelligence companies illegally copied his and other independent artists’ works, bypassing the type of licensing deals on which artists like himself rely.

  • July 15, 2025

    Class Says OpenAI, Others Stole Copyrighted Works To Train AI

    SAN FRANCISCO — Various OpenAI Inc. entities created their artificial intelligence ChatGPT by stealing copyrighted works from the internet rather than obtaining the material legally, plaintiffs allege in a class action filed in California federal court.

  • July 14, 2025

    Judge Won’t Reconsider Ruling Denying Leave To Amend In AI Case

    NEW YORK — News outlets will not get to amend their copyright action involving ChatGPT after a federal judge in New York determined that different rulings by other judges and the case’s inclusion in a recently created multidistrict litigation did not warrant revisiting denying leave to amend.

  • July 11, 2025

    4th Circuit OKs Scrapping Of Manufacturer’s Repeat Copyright, Trade Secret Claims

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a Taiwanese manufacturer’s copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and other claims against a machine distributor failed for being based on conclusory allegations; the panel further found no error in a North Carolina federal judge’s refusal to allow the manufacturer leave to amend its complaint after the company “engaged in pleading practices that approached bad faith.”

  • July 09, 2025

    6th Circuit: Songwriter’s Granddaughter Can’t Void Copyright Terminations

    CINCINNATI — A panel in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Tennessee federal judge’s decision to dismiss a complaint from the granddaughter of the writer of American songbook standards like “Que Sera, Sera” and “Silver Bells” challenging her mother’s terminations of the copyrights for the songs.

  • July 07, 2025

    Federal Judge Tosses Software Company’s IP Claims For Jurisdictional Issues

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on July 3 held that a software company was not the real party in interest in its intellectual property suit involving a software it makes for insurance companies after it assigned all of its intellectual property rights to its parent company, dismissing the complaint.

  • July 03, 2025

    Judge Grants Summary Judgment On FOIA Claim Involving Copyrighted JFK Film

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted the National Archives & Records Administration’s (NARA) motion for summary judgment on allegations by an open records advocacy group that it violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), holding that it was not a violation for NARA to require proof of permission from the holder of copyrights to allow access to a well-known video showing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

  • July 03, 2025

    Judge Finds For Meta On Fair Use, DMCA In AI Copyright Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in a copyright infringement suit over Meta Platforms Inc.’s artificial intelligence could potentially prevail on the theory that the technology threatens to so dilute the market for their works that fair use doesn’t protect the conduct, but the “half-hearted argument” presented by the plaintiffs falls short, a federal judge in California said in granting Meta summary judgment on fair use and Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims.

  • June 30, 2025

    High Court To Consider ISPs’ Liability For Users’ Infringement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from an internet service provider (ISP) that told the court that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to find it liable for contributory infringement for the actions of internet users who infringed on copyrights held by a group of record labels and music publishers; the high court also denied the labels’ cross-petition challenging the Fourth Circuit’s decision to vacate a $1 billion award in their favor for vicarious infringement.

  • June 27, 2025

    Beastie Boys, Chili’s Stipulate To Dismissal Of ‘Sabotage’ Copyright Claims

    NEW YORK — The Beastie Boys and the parent company of Chili’s restaurants on June 26 stipulated to the dismissal of the hip-hop group’s copyright infringement suit against the casual dining chain alleging that it inappropriately used the 1994 single “Sabotage” in a commercial without permission; a New York federal judge signed off on the stipulation on the same day.

  • June 25, 2025

    9th Circuit Won’t Rethink Revival Of Sam Smith Song Copyright Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — Despite arguments from Sam Smith and others that a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s revival of a copyright suit involving the song “Dancing With a Stranger” conflicts with earlier Ninth Circuit copyright precedent, the appeals court denied their petition for rehearing, leaving in place a per curiam opinion that a jury could reasonably see substantial similarity between the song’s chorus and that of a song written by the plaintiffs-appellants.

  • June 24, 2025

    9th Circuit Revives Antitrust Counterclaims In Real Estate IP Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO —A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 23 found that a California federal judge wrongly dismissed antitrust counterclaims brought by a real estate entity in response to copyright claims filed by another real estate entity that says it misappropriated photos; the panel held that the defendant-appellant adequately established that the plaintiff-appellee engaged in anticompetitive practices for the purposes of surviving dismissal.

  • June 23, 2025

    VPPA, UCL Claims Against Online Video Retailers Must Be Arbitrated, Judge Rules

    SAN FRANCISCO — Determining that attempts to settle and dismiss putative class claims against online retailers under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) did not contradict an intent to arbitrate under a totality of the circumstances, a California federal judge granted the defendants’ motion to stay and to compel arbitration.

  • June 20, 2025

    Split 9th Circuit Says Walmart Infringed On Artist’s Lamps, Not Photos

    SAN FRANCISCO — A partially split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a mixed opinion in a copyright dispute between an artist and Walmart Inc., with the majority holding that the company infringed on the artist’s copyrighted lamp designs by selling imitations but reversing a California federal jury’s finding that Walmart infringed on the artist’s copyrighted photos of the lamps.

  • June 20, 2025

    3rd Circuit Accepts Appeal In Legal Summary AI Copyright Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a petition for interlocutory appeal of a Delaware federal judge’s ruling that neither originality nor fair use protected a company from copyright claims stemming from its use of a competitor’s summaries of legal documents in the training of an artificial intelligence product designed to produce similar results.

  • June 17, 2025

    High Court Won’t Hear ‘Let’s Get It On’ Copyright Claims Against Sheeran

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 passed on a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a partial owner of the rights to Marvin Gaye’s song “Let’s Get It On,” leaving in place the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmation of a New York federal judge’s finding that pop singer Ed Sheeran did not infringe on the Gaye classic.

  • June 16, 2025

    9th Circuit Revives IP Dispute Over 1980s Home Computer System

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a Washington federal judge erred in finding that a software company lacked standing to bring a copyright infringement claim, partially reviving an intellectual property dispute involving a 1980s brand of computer that has had what the judge in a March 2023 grant of summary judgment called “a tortured history.”