Thomson Reuters Balks At AI Co.'s Fair Use Appeal

By Adam Lidgett

Thomson Reuters wants the Third Circuit to back a district court's decision that an artificial intelligence-powered legal search engine's use of Westlaw headnotes did not constitute fair use, saying the AI company "pilfered" copyrightable content to make a competing business.

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Fugees' Pras Gets 14 Years For Illegal Political Donation

By Rae Ann Varona

Former Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison for illegally funneling money from a Malaysian billionaire into former President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign and later lobbying the first Trump administration on behalf of China.

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Ramey Ordered To Pay $95K For Sharing Netflix Info

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has ordered patent firm Ramey LLP and its founder to pay Netflix $95,000 in attorney fees for violating a court protective order by sharing confidential documents with a third-party litigation funder.

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Ye Avoids Sanctions For Violating Depo Order In Bias Suit

By Craig Clough

A California judge denied a request Thursday from a former employee accusing Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, of discrimination to sanction the rapper for failing to sit for a deposition, but warned his attorney not to take "any comfort" in the order because he will need to reach an agreement soon or face "undesirable outcomes."

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Warner Music, Udio Settle AI Music Copyright Suit

By Elliot Weld

Warner Music Group and artificial intelligence music generator Udio said they settled claims that Udio had used copyrighted music to train its AI models and announced a collaboration to create a licensed AI music service.

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Firm Cites Error In Default Judgment Motion's 2-Year Delay

By Elaine Briseño

Counsel for a broadcast licensing company urged a Texas federal judge on Thursday not to toss a lawsuit accusing a Houston establishment of illegally showing a soccer match after the firm let two years lapse between requesting and applying for a default judgment.

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Analysis

Meta Loss Shows Time Not On Enforcers' Side In Tech Cases

By Bryan Koenig

Meta's triumph over a Federal Trade Commission antitrust case Tuesday hinged on a D.C. federal judge's finding that the company lacks a monopoly in the present day, highlighting some of the challenges of using slow-moving litigation to challenge fast-moving markets.

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Turning Point Loses Fee Bid In Trump Campaign Music Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge refused to grant Turning Point Action's request for attorney fees after it beat copyright claims tied to music played at President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign events, finding the lawsuit wasn't frivolous or filed in bad faith.

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Meta Will Pay $190M, Change Policies To End $8B Privacy Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to pay $190 million, as well as enhance its whistleblower program and implement a new code of conduct and insider trading policy, as part of a proposed settlement in an $8 billion privacy suit tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to several new filings Thursday.

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Renewed Federal Push To Block State AI Laws Faces Backlash

By Allison Grande

The Trump administration is pushing to revive a failed effort to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence systems, drawing opposition from California's data privacy regulator, consumer advocates and others that argue it's crucial for states to retain their ability to put guardrails on the emerging technology in the wake of continued federal inaction.

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Adidas Must Face Claim It Shared Info With Microsoft, TikTok

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge has denied a motion from Adidas to toss a proposed class action alleging the apparel company violated a California privacy statute by placing tracking pixels from TikTok Pixel and Microsoft Bing on its website, finding the trackers plausibly constitute a "pen register" under state law. 

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Roblox Can't Get Teen Grooming Suit Arbitrated

By Emily Field

A California state judge said Roblox couldn't compel a minor to arbitrate his claims that he was targeted and exploited by a sexual predator on the online gaming platform, saying that a recent federal law aimed at ending forced arbitration in sexual assault and harassment cases isn't limited to workplaces.

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Journalist Jailed For Contempt, Fined For Stealing Court Mug

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge ordered U.S. marshals Thursday to haul a onetime conservative journalist to a nearby jail for contempt of court and separately fined him $1,000 for stealing a court coffee mug, saying he had had it with the defendant's "shenanigans."

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9th Circ. Urged To Revive Google Maps Antitrust Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

App makers urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to revive a proposed class action targeting Google's Maps product, arguing that the lower court erred in failing to accept at the pleading stage their antitrust arguments that Google's terms suppressed competition, allowing Google to increase developer costs up to 1,400%.

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Unlockd Is Latest Google Foe To Seek Judge's Recusal

By Andrea Keckley

Unlockd Media has become at least the second Google antitrust foe to seek the recusal of U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. over his close relationship with Google's vice president for litigation and discovery.

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Pa. Paper Asks 3rd Circ. To Stay Healthcare Restoration

By Braden Campbell

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette urged the Third Circuit to pause its obligation to restore workers' union healthcare plan while it challenges a recent ruling that its shift to a company plan violated federal labor law, saying the order threatens to impose costs it can't recover if it wins its challenge.

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Deal To End Twitter Ex-Workers' $500M Severance Suit Falters

By Kellie Mejdrich

A tentative deal to end a proposed class action against X Corp. and Elon Musk alleging Twitter Inc. ex-workers are owed some $500 million in severance has hit a stumbling block, with attorneys representing individual ex-employees disputing how to proceed in federal court in dueling briefs.

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FCC Pushes Upper C-Band Spectrum Auction Forward

By Christopher Cole

A prime piece of midband spectrum will likely go on the auction block soon after the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday kicked off new rules opening a portion of upper C-band airwaves for flexible wireless use.

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FCC Rescinds Contested Biden-Era Cybersecurity Ruling

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday reversed a ruling made late in the Biden administration that required new steps from telecoms to beef up cybersecurity, even as an FCC Democrat decried the move as gutting the agency's response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack.

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Conn. Safari Co. Wins Bid To Arbitrate Hippo Attack Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

A Connecticut-based tour operator can force into arbitration a wrongful-death lawsuit involving a hippopotamus attack that killed a New Jersey woman while she and her husband were on safari in Zambia, a state judge ruled.

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Pa. Justices Suspect 'Skill Games' Are Gambling Devices

By Matthew Santoni

In a case poised to determine the legality of the Pennsylvania Skill games proliferating in gas stations and storefronts, at least four justices on the state Supreme Court seemed ready on Thursday to consider them gambling devices, given that the skill element could be skipped or may have already been contemplated in the state's gaming code.

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Cyber Ruling Illustrates Risks Of Overlapping Coverages

A Minnesota federal court recently held that insurer Illinois Casualty had to defend a suit alleging personal and advertising injury under both cyber protection coverage and the general liability coverage, highlighting complications that can arise when a single claim triggers multiple coverages, says Andrea Martinez at Wiley.

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Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

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Series

My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

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Bonus Spotlight

Law Firms Begin Upping The Ante For Associate Bonuses

By Tracey Read

Trial boutique Wilkinson Stekloff LLP is exceeding the year-end associate bonus scale set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, announcing bonuses late Wednesday that are 150% of market.

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CFPB Will Shift Remaining Lawsuits Over To DOJ

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be handing off its enforcement lawsuits and other litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice as the Trump administration prepares for the consumer agency to run out of money, Law360 has learned.

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Analysis

Trump's Epstein Directive Puts SDNY Prosecutor In A 'Pickle'

By Phillip Bantz

Manhattan chief federal prosecutor Jay Clayton appears to have been backed into a "horrible" corner with a "no-win" outcome as a result of a directive from President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, experts say.

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Comey Says DOJ's Conduct 'Shocks The Conscience'

By Hailey Konnath

James Comey on Thursday reiterated his request that the U.S. Department of Justice be forced to disclose all grand jury materials related to his indictment, noting the government has conceded that the grand jury never saw the operative indictment and saying the purported misconduct "shocks the conscience."

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NJ Panel Expands Scope Of Ex-Reed Smith Atty's Bias Claims

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a former Reed Smith LLP attorney is entitled to pursue more damages and obtain expanded wage data in her gender discrimination suit against the firm, saying a trial court incorrectly applied certain statutes when it limited the damages and data she could seek.

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X Corp. Ends $90M Fee Suit Against Wachtell

By James Mills

X Corp. has ended its California state lawsuit against Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz over $90 million in legal fees tied to the fight over Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to a court filing.

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Senate Panel OKs Miss. Judge, US Atty Nominees After Delay

By Courtney Bublé

After weeks of holdup, nominees for Mississippi federal courts and U.S. attorneys were voted out of committee on Thursday, following an impasse between Republican senators.

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Brief

Senate Passes Bill To Protect State Judges From Threats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to beef up security for state and local judges.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Agriculture A 'Top Priority'

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice's top antitrust official said enforcers have already opened several investigations in the agriculture sector, including into meatpackers at the direction of President Donald Trump, and called the industry a "top priority" for the agency.

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