Mealey's Copyright : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Copyright

December 01, 2023
AI Music Copyright Defendant Says Tennessee Jurisdiction Strikes Wrong Beat

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a motion to dismiss, artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC told a federal court in Tennessee that a copyright suit was a “negotiating tactic disguised as a federal court complaint” with no connection to the jurisdiction and that at the very least, the action should be transferred to California, where almost all of the parties reside.
November 30, 2023
In California Copyright Case, Decision To Strike Expert Testimony Revisited

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in California on Nov. 29 said his recent decision to strike the expert testimony of a copyright damages expert witness was error, in a blow to infringement defendants that include The Walt Disney Co.
November 30, 2023
In GitHub AI Copyright Suit, Parties Told To Meet, Confer Not Move To Compel

SAN FRANCISCO — While a California federal court mulls a second round of motions from OpenAI Inc., GitHub Inc. and Microsoft Corp. seeking dismissal of claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) related to allegations of improper attribution in the development of an artificial intelligence tool, a magistrate judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery responses in favor of a directive for the parties to meet and confer about discovery disputes.
November 28, 2023
Music Publisher, Licensor Ask High Court To Reject Discovery Rule In Copyright Suits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Section 507(b) of the Copyright Act does not provide for application of the discovery rule to permit claims for retrospective relief for copyright infringement that occurred more than three years prior to filing suit, a music publishing firm and a licensing company tell the U.S. Supreme Court in their Nov. 27 opening merits brief, asking the high court to overturn an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling allowing use of the discovery rule.
November 28, 2023
Biotech Company Can’t Shake Copyright Claim Over Dodo Bird Drawing

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas on Nov. 27 recommended that a company that has raised more than $150 million in its effort to bring the dodo back from extinction face allegations that it infringed an artist’s copyrighted rendering of the legendary flightless bird.
November 21, 2023
Music Publishers Seek To Enjoin ‘Blatant’ AI Copyright Violations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Anthropic PBC built its artificial intelligence model and billion-dollar business on “blatant and widespread copyright infringement,” leading music publishers claim in a motion filed in a federal court in Tennessee seeking a preliminary injunction hoping to prevent “incalculable harm.”
November 21, 2023
Judge Dismisses ‘Nonsensical’ Copyright Claims For Meta’s Use Of Books To Train AI

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Nov. 20 granted a motion to dismiss the bulk of claims brought by authors in two related putative class actions against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement based on its use of their written works to train its artificial intelligence software, calling the plaintiffs’ “derivative works” argument “nonsensical.”
November 17, 2023
Record Labels To 2nd Circuit: Vimeo’s Cite Of ‘Stale’ Ruling Doesn’t Show Fair Use

NEW YORK — A 13-year-old “stale, unpublished” magistrate recommendation does not support the fair use defense of Vimeo Inc. in a copyright infringement dispute over the website operator’s hosting of infringing videos, a group of record labels tell the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, responding to Vimeo’s post-trial letter brief, which it filed at the appeals court’s direction.
November 15, 2023
Defense Bid For Summary Judgment Denied In ‘Squeezamals’ Copyright Case

NEW YORK — A copyright dispute over “Squeezamals” stuffed toys will proceed, a federal judge in New York concluded Nov. 14 in denying a motion for summary judgment by two defendants who say the plaintiff lacks ownership rights.
November 15, 2023
Jury Demand For Claim Seeking Disgorged Profits Stricken In Copyright Row

DAYTON, Ohio — A defendant has prevailed on a challenge to a plaintiff’s jury demand on its claim for profit-based copyright damages, with an Ohio federal judge agreeing that the relief requested is equitable in nature and must be stricken.
November 10, 2023
In IP Litigation Between Pharmacies, Both Sides Lose Daubert Challenges

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California has weighed in on competing motions to exclude expert testimony in a dispute over a compounding pharmacy’s alleged false advertising, unfair competition and copyright infringement, deeming the proposed experts for both sides “duly qualified” to render their opinions, which the judge said are based on “sufficiently reliable” methodologies.
November 09, 2023
Indiana Federal Judge Issues Injunction In Computer Code Theft Row

HAMMOND, Ind. — Allegations by Illinois Central Railroad Co. (IC) that a former employee stole its computer code and then attempted to copyright the code will proceed with a preliminary injunction in place, a federal judge in Indiana has ruled.
November 09, 2023
Illinois Federal Judge Denies Bid To Execute Infringement Judgment

CHICAGO — The owner of various copyrights and trademarks associated with the horror film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” which in December 2022 won a $200,000 default judgment in an infringement action, saw its motion to compel execution of that judgment denied Nov. 8 by a federal judge in Illinois, to whom the case was recently reassigned.
November 07, 2023
9th Circuit Endorses Fees As Sanction For Counsel In Copyright Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An attorney who pursued copyright infringement litigation on behalf of a copyright owner must pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees in connection with the case, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 6, affirming a California federal judge’s finding that the disputed works are “‘not remotely similar.’”
November 07, 2023
AI Company Urges Fair Use Protections, Says Copyright Law Doesn’t Need Overhaul

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC told the Copyright Office that the technology could add trillions of dollars in value to the economy but warned that a fragmented governance system would be costly and unreliable and the worst way to implement regulations.
November 03, 2023
Choreographer Wins Appeal Over Dismissed Copyright Claims Against Epic Games

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reinstated allegations of direct and contributory copyright infringement against the makers of Fortnite, concluding that — with regard to choreography — the selection and arrangement of otherwise unprotectable dance movements can rise to the level of protectable expression, just as they do in the context of musical works.
November 02, 2023
Judge Allows Some Copyright Claims Against AI Apps

SAN FRANCISCO — Where a cartoonist alleges that her protected works were scraped from the internet and used to train artificial intelligence, her copyright claims survive motions to dismiss, but the balance of the California unfair competition law (UCL) and other claims fail, a federal judge in the state said Oct. 30 in granting leave to amend a class action.
November 01, 2023
Panel Orders Transfer Of False Advertising, Copyright Claims Against TikTok

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 31 granted a petition for writ of mandamus by TikTok Inc. and others, agreeing that allegations that the popular video sharing app engages in false advertising and copyright infringement should proceed in California federal court.
October 30, 2023
Former Governor Launches Copyright Suit Against AIs, Training Database

NEW YORK — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and other copyright holders filed a class action against the host of the data set used to train large language models and companies whose artificial intelligences were trained on the information.
October 27, 2023
9th Circuit Upholds Win For Designer Accused Of Copyright Infringement

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California did not err in awarding fashion designer Alexander Wang dismissal of allegations of copyright infringement, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 26, indicating in a footnote that even if it is assumed that the “Jangle Vision Twins” are entitled to broad protection they are not substantially similar to Wang’s accused work.
October 26, 2023
Music Publishers Seek Copyright Shelter From AI’s Industry Changes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Leading music publishers sued Anthropic PBC, claiming that the company unlawfully trained its artificial intelligence on copyrighted lyrics from songs such as “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “Gimme Shelter” and saying that while the technology is new, copyright law remains the same old song governing how AI may use such materials.
October 19, 2023
Google: UCL Plaintiffs Can’t Show Violations, Injury In Bard AI Chatbot Case

SAN FRANCISCO — Class action plaintiffs who complain that Google LLC trained artificial intelligence chatbot Bard on personal and copyrighted information trade “prolixity for precision,” fail to allege a privacy or property interest in material publicly posted on the internet and lack sufficient allegations that they read a privacy policy or can demonstrate an underlying statutory violation, the company says in a motion to dismiss unfair competition law (UCL), copyright and other claims filed in a California federal court.
October 17, 2023
2nd Circuit: No Infringement By YouTube In User’s Posts Of Copyrighted Videos

NEW YORK — In an Oct. 17 summary order, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that a documentary maker did not establish any volitional conduct by YouTube LLC in the posting of purportedly infringing content by a channel owner, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement claims against the video-sharing platform operator.
October 17, 2023
Pro Se Contributory Copyright Claim Against Kiwi Farms Reinstated

DENVER — A 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 16 said an author and songwriter’s allegations that the Kiwi Farms website contributed to infringement of his copyrighted works are adequate enough to withstand a motion to dismiss.
October 17, 2023
Amici To 5th Circuit: ISP Not Contributorily Liable For Customers’ File Sharing

NEW ORLEANS — Two trade organizations for internet service providers (ISPs) filed an amicus curiae brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals supporting an ISP that was hit with a $46.8 million contributory infringement judgment, in which they argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Twitter Inc. v. Taamneh, 598 U.S. 471 (2023), establishes that “a ‘communication provider’ [cannot] be held liable ‘merely for knowing that wrongdoers were using its services and failing to stop them.’”