Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Copyright

  • August 21, 2025

    Federal Judge Denies Injunction Pending Appeal In Fired Register Of Copyrights’ Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Aug. 20 denied a motion for an injunction pending appeal filed by the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office who sued after she was purportedly fired in May by President Donald J. Trump and was denied a preliminary injunction in her case; a similar motion remains pending before the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • August 21, 2025

    Judge Sees No Similarity Between Novels And Netflix Film, Tosses IP Claims

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice copyright, false advertising and related claims brought by a novelist against Netflix Inc. and related entities, finding that the novelist failed to show that the 2021 Netflix disaster comedy “Don’t Look Up” copied any protectible element of his books.

  • August 20, 2025

    No Fees For Publisher That Overcame Copyright Judgment Before 5th Circuit

    AUSTIN, Texas — Adopting a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, a Texas federal judge denied attorney fees to a publishing company that saw the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacate a summary judgment of copyright infringement against it after a panel held that the Canadian civil codes it was accused of illegally copying were effectively uncopyrightable “law” in the country.

  • August 18, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Quashing Of Subpoena For ISP Customers In Piracy Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — On a matter of first impression, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Aug. 15 that an internet service provider (ISP) acting only as a “conduit” for the infringement of copyrighted materials cannot be forced by a clerk-issued subpoena to provide the identities of subscribers who used torrenting software under a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

  • August 18, 2025

    Class Responds To Anthropic, Amici’s Attempt At Immediate Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — A class of copyright holders told the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in opposition to artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC’s petition for an immediate appeal of a class certification ruling that summary judgment in the case left only allegations that Anthropic PBC pirated and retained works en masse and that any claim that a verdict would be a death knell for the company is undercut by an agreement to cap the appellate bond at $5 billion.

  • August 15, 2025

    Getty Images Dismisses AI Copyright Suit With Intent To Refile In California

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Getty Images (US) Inc. on Aug. 14 notified a federal judge in Delaware that it was seeking voluntary dismissal of its artificial intelligence copyright suit without prejudice so that it may refile the action in a California federal court where Stability AI Ltd. argued the case properly belonged.

  • August 15, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Co-Ownership Of ‘Zioness’ Mark, Vacates Fee Denial

    NEW YORK — A panel in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal jury’s finding that two pro-Zionist advocacy groups were the co-owners of the trademark “Zioness,” holding that sufficient evidence supported a finding that there was overlap of use of the mark before its registration.

  • August 13, 2025

    Anthropic, Amici Ask 9th Circuit For Review Of Class, Fair Use Rulings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A ruling denying summary judgment on claims that Anthropic PBC pirated and kept copyrighted works and a second one certifying a class of potentially impacted copyright holders is replete with individuality issues and notice manageability problems and the rushed class ruling prematurely forces the company to grapple with the possibility of billions of dollars in business-ruining damages, the company and various amici curiae tell a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in seeking immediate appeal.

  • August 12, 2025

    Judge Won’t Stay AI Case While Anthropic Appeals Class Cert, Fair Use Rulings

    SAN FRANCISCO — Any appeal by Anthropic PBC of a ruling rejecting fair use defenses for pirating copyrighted works or granting class certification should involve a full record, and to the extent going to trial financially threatens the artificial intelligence company, that reality would be the outcome of its own conduct, a federal judge in California said Aug. 11 in declining to stay the case pending appeal.

  • August 11, 2025

    Split 5th Circuit Affirms Fee Denial To Game Makers In Wrestler’s Copyright Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel disagreed on whether a retired professional wrestler’s copyright infringement suit against several video game companies was objectively unreasonable, with the majority ultimately determining that a Texas federal judge did not abuse discretion in denying attorney fees to the gaming entities after a jury found no infringement of the wrestler’s comic book character by the game makers.

  • August 08, 2025

    Kanye West Says More Sanctions Not Needed In Copyright Infringement Suit

    LOS ANGELES — Kanye West tells a California federal court that further sanctions are unnecessary in a copyright infringement suit involving accusations he lifted samples for songs on his album “Donda,” disagreeing with an artist revenue entity’s assertion that a deposition shows that West and business entities associated with him had made false statements about discovery to the court.

  • August 07, 2025

    Judge Says Plaintiff Entity Can’t Show It Used Indian Political Mark First

    DALLAS — A Texas federal judge held that a plaintiff organization based in Texas that supports a political party in India cannot show that it claims priority to its name, agreeing that the defendant entity used its “nearly identical” name before the plaintiff entity came into existence.

  • August 01, 2025

    9th Circuit: Advertiser Failed To Show Infringement In Supplement Ad Row

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said it saw no errors in a Washington federal judge’s finding that a dietary supplement company did not infringe copyrights held by an advertising company with which it worked or violate the terms of their contract, affirming a grant of summary judgment in the supplement company’s favor.

  • August 01, 2025

    Meta Stole, Distributed Porn To Train AI, Companies Allege

    SAN FRANCISCO — Meta Platforms Inc. torrented thousands of adult films that provide unique human interactions and facial expressions during the training of the large language models behind artificial intelligence that output video, two companies say in a copyright infringement suit filed in a federal court in California.

  • August 01, 2025

    Microsoft, GitHub Respond To Coders’ AI Appeal; Amici Warn Of ‘Super-Copyright’

    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.  Meanwhile, in a quartet of amicus curiae briefs, the court heard that reading the identicality requirement broadly would undermine the purpose of copyright law and threaten create a “super-copyright” and encourage dubious litigation.

  • July 31, 2025

    Fired Copyrights Register Denied Preliminary Injunction For No Irreparable Harm

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office who was purportedly fired in May by President Donald J. Trump failed to show that she will be irreparably harmed without a preliminary injunction, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled July 30, denying a motion for that relief.

  • July 31, 2025

    Judge Allows Briefing On Surviving Distribution Claim After AI Copyright Rulings

    SAN FRANCISCO — A fair use ruling in an artificial intelligence copyright case left alive a “leeching and seeding” claim involving Meta Platforms Inc.’s alleged distribution of protected works through torrenting and the parties can work out a schedule for summary judgment briefing on the issue, a federal judge in California said.

  • July 31, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Adapter’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Rights Fully Terminated By Author

    NEW YORK — A panel in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a New York federal judge that a publishing company’s rights to develop a stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” were fully terminated when Lee served the company with a notice of termination in 2011, rejecting the argument that the company still had rights to stage an adaptation created under an agreement.

  • July 30, 2025

    Judge Certifies AI Class; Plaintiffs Say No Reason For Immediate Fair Use Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — After a judge certified a class in an artificial intelligence copyright suit, the plaintiffs pushed back on Anthropic PBC’s request for immediate appeal of a fair use ruling, saying an interlocutory appeal will prevent the company from having to go to trial.

  • July 30, 2025

    ‘Shadow Library’ Allegations Suffice In AI Copyright Action, Authors Say

    SAN FRANCISCO — Allegations of direct copyright infringement and artificial intelligence companies’ decision to hide the sources of their training data suffice at the motion to dismiss stage, authors in a pair of consolidated cases told a federal court in California.

  • July 29, 2025

    11th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Russian Pop Band Copyright Complaint

    ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 28 affirmed a Florida federal judge’s dismissal of a Florida company’s copyright infringement claims against a French digital music company for allegedly infringing on rights associated with a Soviet-era Russian pop group, agreeing that the Florida company failed to establish jurisdiction under the state’s long-arm statute.

  • 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.