Leading music publishers have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm that internet service providers can be contributorily liable for their customers' piracy if they fail to take action, saying a jury verdict against Cox Communications that led to a $1 billion award showed that the company "made a deliberate and egregious decision" to put profits first.
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Music Giants Say Cox Case Isn't About Grandma Losing Wi-Fi

By Ivan Moreno

Leading music publishers have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm that internet service providers can be contributorily liable for their customers' piracy if they fail to take action, saying a jury verdict against Cox Communications that led to a $1 billion award showed that the company "made a deliberate and egregious decision" to put profits first.

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7th Circ. Affirms French Montana's Win In Copyright Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Seventh Circuit on Thursday backed French Montana's win in a copyright case brought by a musician who alleged the rapper sampled his instrumental song to make the hit single "Ain't Worried About Nothin'," saying there wasn't evidence to show Montana duplicated the work "as opposed to merely imitating it."

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Netflix Keeps Win In Documentary IP Suit From Atty's Film Co.

By Jake Maher

A New Jersey federal judge this week declined to reconsider his order throwing out an attorney's copyright infringement suit against Netflix Inc. over his documentary about sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America.

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Songwriters Claim Udio AI Was Trained On Copyrighted Music

By Elliot Weld

A group of songwriters is suing artificial intelligence company Udio AI, claiming its music-generating AI models were trained using copyrighted music scraped from the internet.

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Authors Say Salesforce Used Pirated Books To Train Its AI

By Theresa Schliep

A pair of authors accused Salesforce of improperly training its artificial intelligence models on copyrighted works, telling a California federal court Wednesday that the cloud-based software company used their pirated books in "its acts of massive copyright infringement."

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Privacy Compliance Needs 'Kindergarten Rules,' Atty Says

By Craig Clough

Panelists at a Los Angeles conference on the intersection of technology and entertainment tackled the issue of privacy and data laws Thursday, with one participant telling the crowd that helping clients avoid legal entanglements in those areas involves applying "kindergarten rules."

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

'GirlDad' TM Fight Expands To 'GirlMom,' 'BoyDad,' 'BoyMom'

By Elliot Weld

A trademark battle over the "GirlDad" trademark expanded to the marks "GirlMom," "BoyDad" and "BoyMom" as an apparel company accused a rival of infringing all four in Ohio federal court.

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PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION

NetChoice Fights Colo. 'Cigarette-Style' Social Media Law

By Rachel Konieczny

A lawyer for an internet trade association urged a federal judge Thursday to block a Colorado law set to take effect next year, comparing its requirement for social media platforms to display warnings for minors to the mandated warning labels on tobacco products.

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Consumer Group Seeks Role In Nationals' Hidden Fees Suit

By Elaine Briseño

A national consumers group asked a Washington, D.C., federal court for permission to intervene as a plaintiff in what it called a "copycat" proposed class action against the MLB's Washington Nationals over hidden ticket fees so it can request a stay and protect the progress it has made in its own state court lawsuit.

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Tech Group Aims To Ax Texas' App Store Age Verification Law

By Allison Grande

A new Texas law that requires app store owners to verify users' ages and block minors from downloading apps or making in-app purchases without parental consent unconstitutionally imposes a "broad censorship regime" on the entire mobile app ecosystem, a tech industry trade group argued in a lawsuit Thursday seeking to strike down the measure.

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COMPETITION

Fed. Judge Keeps X's Suit Against Apple, OpenAI In Texas

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge told X Corp, Apple and OpenAI that they ought to move their headquarters to Fort Worth if they like litigating in Cowtown so much, opting Thursday to keep X and xAI's sweeping antitrust suit against Apple and OpenAI in the Lone Star State.

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EMPLOYMENT

Library Services Co. Accused Of Layoff Without Proper Notice

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia company that identifies as the largest supplier of library content, software and services to public and academic libraries in the U.S., terminated at least 300 employees without proper notice as part of a mass layoff without meeting a federal 60-day notice requirement, according to a proposed class action.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Smartmatic Faces FCPA Indictment In Philippine Bribery Case

By Hailey Konnath

A Florida federal grand jury on Thursday returned a superseding indictment that adds charges against Smartmatic, which wasn't previously a party to prosecutors' case accusing former executives at the voting machine company of bribing an elections official in the Philippines to secure contracts.

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Musk, Twitter Investors Denied Early Wins In Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

Elon Musk and investors of X, formerly known as Twitter, are headed toward trial in a class action suit accusing the billionaire of intentionally tanking the social media platform's stock price, after a California federal judge denied the parties' cross-motions for an early win in the case.

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Gabelli, Entwistle Make Lone Paramount Suit Pitch In Del.

By Jeff Montgomery

A fund of Paramount Global Inc. investor Mario Gabelli notified Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday that no other stockholders have sought to lead a suit challenging Paramount Global's $8.4 billion acquisition by David Ellison's Skydance Media, with the fund seeking lead plaintiff status and Entwistle & Cappucci and Farnan LLP to be lead counsel.

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Ga. Tax Worker Seeks Interest On Chrisley Slander Award

By Asha Glover

A Georgia Department of Revenue employee who was awarded $755,000 in her slander case against former reality star and convicted fraudster Todd Chrisley asked a federal judge to grant her post-judgment interest, which she said was mandatory but not spelled out in her judgment.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS

FCC Republican Calls Upper C-Band Rework Critical To 6G

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is wasting no time gearing up for a potential spectrum overhaul in the upper C-Band, with the approach of 6G wireless being a big motivator, according to an agency Republican.

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High Court's FCC Broadcast Rulings Criticized As 'Outdated'

By Christopher Cole

A think tank called for overturning two U.S. Supreme Court rulings from decades ago that gave the Federal Communications Commission authority to regulate broadcast speech, saying the decisions don't match the realities of today's economy.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons

An active Federal Trade Commission against the backdrop of a leashed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be welcomed by most in the consumer finance industry, but the incremental expansion of the FTC's authority via enforcement actions remains a risk, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

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Series

Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Loan Forgiveness Overhaul May Chill Legal Aid Work

By Alison Knezevich

Civil legal services groups and public defenders say the Trump administration's proposed change to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program would politicize the initiative and make it harder to recruit attorneys to jobs that pay less than the private sector.

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Atty Quits Ga. Bar's 'Facade' Committee On Client Solicitation

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia attorney resigned Friday as head of the state bar's committee on attorney-client solicitation, accusing the bar of not even "reaching for a garden hose" while unlawful solicitation of accident victims has spread "like wildfire" across the Peach State.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen Johnson & Johnson hit with a £1 billion ($1.34 billion) claim for allegedly selling contaminated baby powder, Carter-Ruck bring a claim against the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Hewlett Packard file a probate claim against the estate of Mike Lynch.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Exxon was hit with a proposed class action alleging its new program to enable automated proxy voting for retail investors is intended to stifle shareholder dissent. Meanwhile, a new survey found that nearly two-thirds of in-house legal departments think they will rely less on outside legal service providers because of generative artificial intelligence. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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NY Court Orders Hearing On Counsel Conflict In Drug Case

By Elizabeth Daley

A man who pled guilty to gun and drug charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison can argue for a new trial due to ineffective counsel after a similarly culpable co-defendant got a light sentence allegedly due to cooperation between their attorneys, a New York state appeals court said in a reversal.

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Utah Fires Motley Rice From Opioid Case

By Jack Karp

The state of Utah has fired Motley Rice LLC from representing it in long-running litigation over the opioid crisis, a spokesperson for the Utah attorney general's office confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Friday.

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Ga. Judge Resigns After DUI Arrest Outside Fla. Strip Club

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia Superior Court jurist who led the state's Council of Superior Court Judges stepped down from the bench Thursday after his driving under the influence arrest last week outside a Jacksonville, Florida, strip club.

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UC Law School Can Drop Hastings Name, Appeals Court Says

By Andrea Keckley

California is allowed to drop Serranus Clinton Hastings' name from the University of California's San Francisco-based law school, a state appeals court has ruled, backing a trial judge's decision to toss a lawsuit filed by the former chief state Supreme Court justice's descendants and various school alumni.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Caldwell Cassady & Curry PC and Miller Fair Henry PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury found Samsung must pay nearly $445.5 million for infringing four wireless communication patents.

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Liberty Mutual Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over Citation Errors

By Emily Sawicki

A St. Louis federal court is weighing whether to sanction Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Company's lawyers after they submitted a motion containing citation errors and then, after a warning, "somehow" submitted a second motion with the same types of mistakes.

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Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

By Ryan Boysen

The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

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Robbins Geller To Steer REIT Investors' Suit Over $787M Deal

By Sydney Price

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP will lead a proposed class of investors in real estate investment trust Broadmark Realty Capital Inc. who claim they were misled by executives from the REIT ahead of a $787 million merger with Ready Capital Corp. in 2023.

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Promo that reads Law360 Pulse Summer Associates Survey: Part 2 Promo that reads 2025 Regional Powerhouses

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aerospace Industries Association

Air Transport Association of America

Aldi GmbH & Co. KG

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

Anglo American PLC

Anthropic PBC

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Balfour Beatty PLC

Barclays PLC

BlackRock Inc.

Boy Scouts of America

Burford Capital LLC

CTIA

Chegg Inc.

Co-operative Group Ltd.

Computer & Communications Industry Association

Concord Music Group Inc.

Consumer Watchdog

Cox Communications Inc.

Duolingo Inc.

ESPN Inc.

Express Scripts Holding Co.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

FedEx Corp.

FirstEnergy Corp.

Fort Point Capital

Global Infrastructure Partners

Global Logistic Properties Ltd.

Google LLC

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Iceland Foods Ltd.

Instagram Inc.

Investments Ltd.

Johnson & Johnson

L'Oreal SA

L.A. Fitness International LLC

Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

Lloyds Bank PLC

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Major League Baseball Inc.

Marks & Spencer

Match Group LLC

Match.com Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NBCUniversal Media LLC

NRG Energy Inc.

National Amusements Inc

National Association for Law Placement Inc.

National Consumer Law Center Inc.

National Legal Aid & Defender Association

National Westminster Bank PLC

Netflix Inc.

Ocado Ltd.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

OptumRx Inc.

Paramount Global

Ready Capital Corp.

Reddit Inc.

Ritz-Carlton Company LLC

Salesforce.com Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Skydance Media LLC

Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd.

Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Spotify Technology SA

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Tesla Inc.

The New York Times Co.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd.

Twitter Inc.

UC Hastings Law

Visa Europe

Volcano Corporation

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Washington Nationals

Waterfall Asset Management LLC

Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC

X Corp.

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Akin & Tate

Alston & Bird

Armstrong Teasdale

Axinn Veltrop

BCL Solicitors

Barnes & Thornburg

Brett Wilson LLP

Burges Salmon

Caldwell Cassady

Cambre & Associates

Capsticks Solicitors LLP

Carrington Coleman

Carter-Ruck

Clement & Murphy

CohenMalad

Colson Hicks

Cooley LLP

Cotchett Pitre

Covington & Burling

Cox Byington

Cravath Swaine

Dhillon Law Group

Dickinson Wright

Edmonds Marshall McMahon

Ellis Jones Solicitors

Emerson Thomson

Entwistle & Cappucci

Faegre Drinker

Farnan LLP

Florida Justice Institute

Foley & Lardner

Fountain Court Chambers

Freshfields

Garvey Adam LLP

Gibson Dunn

Goldblatt & Singer

Greenberg Traurig

Haynes Boone

Hill Dickinson

Hillis Clark

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Hudson Cook

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Joseph Saveri Law Firm

Keller Rohrback

Kellogg Hansen

Kelly Hart

Kennedys Law LLP

Kirkland & Ellis

Landis Rath

Latham & Watkins

Laytons LLP

Lehotsky Keller

Leigh Day

Loevy & Loevy

Lynn Pinker

Matrix Chambers

McKool Smith

Michael Yamamoto LLP

Miller Fair

Mitchell Silberberg

Morgan Lewis

Motley Rice

Nagel Rice

Oppenheim & Zebrak

Orrick Herrington

Parr Brown

Perkins Coie

Pinsent Masons

Quinn Emanuel

RWK Goodman

Rezvani Law Firm

Richards Layton

Robbins Geller

Ross Aronstam

Rule Garza

Rynearson Suess

Sand Sebolt

Sidley Austin

Signature Litigation LLP

Singleton Schreiber

Skadden Arps

Spencer Fane

Stephenson Harwood

Sterlington PLLC

Stewarts Law LLP

Stranch Jennings

Strauss Borrelli

Summerville Firm LLC

Taylor Wessing

Travers Smith

Troutman

Trowers & Hamlins

Tycko & Zavareei

Wachtell Lipton

Wade Grunberg

Watson LLP

White & Case

Wilson Sonsini

Wood Craig & Avery

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Competition Appeal Tribunal

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Georgia Department of Revenue

Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission

Georgia Supreme Court

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

New York Attorney General's Office

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Secretary of State for Health and Others

Texas Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Utah

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio