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Mealey's Copyright

  • April 07, 2026

    Nvidia, Authors Debate Contributory Infringement After Supreme Court Ruling

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Nvidia Corp. and authors squared off in supplemental briefing over the impact a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has on contributory infringement claims involving the training of artificial intelligence.

  • April 06, 2026

    Supreme Court Grants ISP’s Cert Request, Vacates 5th Circuit Ruling In Wake Of Cox

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 granted an internet service provider’s (ISP) petition for a writ of certiorari and then immediately vacated a ruling by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that held that the ISP was vicariously liable for copyright infringement through its internet customers’ behavior.  The high court pointed to its recent opinion that reversed a similar ruling by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals against a different ISP.

  • April 06, 2026

    8th Circuit Affirms Fees Against Plaintiff Firm In Floor Plan Fair Use Case

    ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Missouri federal judge’s holding that a design company owed two real estate agents and affiliated entities a combined total of more than $230,000 in attorney fees, noting the lack of evidentiary support for many of the design company’s claims that the realtors had infringed copyrighted floor plans in resale listings.

  • April 01, 2026

    Lack Of Valid Copyright Sinks Claims Against Government, Federal Circuit Agrees

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An electronic health records company failed to show that it held valid copyright registrations related to software it accused the U.S. government and another entity of infringing, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ grant of summary judgment in the government’s favor on the plaintiff-appellant’s copyright infringement claim.

  • March 30, 2026

    Judge Blocks Enforcement Of Copyright Deposit Copy Requirement In Lawsuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia held that a publisher of rare and out-of-print books is entitled only to limited relief based on a 2023 ruling by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the U.S. Copyright Office’s demand that the publisher deposit physical copies was an unconstitutional uncompensated taking of property; while the publisher is entitled to see the demand letter be declared null and void, it is not entitled to injunctive relief as to hypothetical future demands, the judge determined.

  • March 27, 2026

    Judge: Copyright Act Preempts Certain Arguments In Ancestry Photo-Use Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge held that plaintiffs in a putative class complaint plausibly allege misappropriation-based injuries because of Ancestry.com Operations Inc. and related entities using their yearbook photos without their permission, but the judge held that certain theories of misappropriation are preempted by federal copyright law.

  • March 25, 2026

    Supreme Court Reverses Finding That ISP Is Liable For Users’ Infringement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 held that an internet service provider (ISP) could not be found contributorily liable for users’ piracy of material from a group of record labels and music publishers without a showing of intent through inducement of infringement or providing of a service designed for infringement, reversing a finding by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that drew warnings from the U.S. government of potential negative impacts to widely available internet access.

  • March 25, 2026

    Supreme Court Won’t Consider Revival Of Antitrust Claims To Copyright Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a real estate entity’s petition for a writ of certiorari, declining to hear arguments that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly revived antitrust counterclaims filed against the entity in response to copyright claims it brought against another real estate entity; the petitioner had also argued that the Ninth Circuit wrongly created a novel theory of exclusive dealing based on customer misunderstanding.

  • March 19, 2026

    2nd Circuit Hears Media Companies’ Attempt To Revive AI Copyright Suit

    NEW YORK — Whether media companies’ allegation that OpenAI entities downloaded content and removed copyright management information from works used to train artificial intelligence suffices as an injury or whether copyright law requires something more came before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals during oral arguments on March 18.

  • March 18, 2026

    Judge: Similarities In Romance Novels Boil Down To Unprotectable Tropes

    NEW YORK — A romance author who claimed that another author and publishing industry entities copied the premise of her unpublished “romantasy” novel to form the basis of a bestselling novel series cannot show substantial similarity between the works, a New York federal judge found.

  • March 17, 2026

    Judge Won’t Dismiss Founder’s IP Claims Against Ohio Motherhood Nonprofit

    CLEVELAND — An Ohio federal judge denied a nonprofit birthing advocacy group’s motion to dismiss its founder’s complaint that the organization used copyrights and trademarks created by the founder without authorization; the judge held that the plaintiff adequately alleged copyright and trademark infringement for the purpose of surviving dismissal.

  • March 16, 2026

    Judge Grants TRO For Cancer Nonprofit On IP Claims Against Former Board President

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal judge in Alabama on March 13 granted a cancer advocacy group’s motion for a temporary restraining order against the former president of its board of directors and the company she controls, enjoining the defendants from using trademarks related to the phrase “Women in Blue” in connection with a fundraising initiative.

  • March 12, 2026

    Judge Will Consider MosaicML Dismissal Motion On The Briefs

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California vacated a scheduled hearing on a motion to dismiss direct copyright infringement claims against MosaicML Inc. and Databricks Inc. and will decide the motion on the briefs in litigation over the alleged use of copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence models (In re Mosaic LLM Litigation, No. 24-1451, N.D. Calif.).

  • March 09, 2026

    Supreme Court Won’t Consider Co-Ownership Of ‘Zioness’ Trademark

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a pro-Zionist advocacy group’s petition for a writ of certiorari in a March 9 order list, declining to hear the advocacy group’s contention that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals violated the core principles of trademark law when a panel determined that the group and another with similar aims are co-owners of the trademark “Zioness.”

  • March 06, 2026

    Plaintiffs Seek Discovery Of Microsoft AI Revenue, 88M More AI Conversations

    NEW YORK — Revenue and profits Microsoft Corp. acquired as a result of artificial intelligence offerings are relevant and discoverable in a suit over the alleged use of copyrighted works to train the technology, a proposed class told a federal judge in New York.  Meanwhile, the plaintiffs and OpenAI entities filed letter briefs over the availability and relevance of 88 million ChatGPT conversations.

  • March 06, 2026

    Jury Orders $75M In Damages For Removal Of University’s CMI

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A federal jury in Connecticut found that the owner of an online platform that allows users to share educational resources with each other owes more than $75 million to a private university in the state after the jury agreed with claims that the web platform violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) thousands of times in its distribution of university contents.

  • March 03, 2026

    Supreme Court Won’t Hear Copyright Arguments Over Lil Nas X Photos

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 rejected an artist’s petition for a writ of certiorari, declining to hear the artist’s argument that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly held that copyrightability is a pure question of law when it upheld a California federal judge’s dismissal of infringement claims brought against singer and rapper Lil Nas X.

  • March 03, 2026

    Supreme Court Denies Petition In AI Art Copyright Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An artist’s attempt to copyright an artificial intelligence-generated piece of art appears doomed after the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 denied his petition for a writ of certiorari in which he argued that the Copyright Act does not impose a human authorship requirement.

  • March 02, 2026

    Nvidia Says YouTube Copying For AI Training Didn’t Evade Technical Measures

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nvidia Corp. told a federal judge in California in a motion to dismiss that its copying of YouTube content for use in training its artificial intelligence didn’t evade technical measures designed to prevent access as required for a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claim.

  • February 26, 2026

    Hayes Estate And Trump Settle Copyright Claims Over Campaign Use Of Soul Song

    ATLANTA — The estate of soul musician Isaac Hayes and other associated entities have settled their dispute with President Donald J. Trump and his 2024 election campaign over the alleged infringement of the Hayes-written song “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” and the parties stipulated to the dismissal of the complaint in a Georgia federal court with prejudice.

  • February 25, 2026

    Judge Says Nvidia May Not Avoid Discovery While Court Considers Stay

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Nvidia Corp. must engage in written discovery stemming from an amended complaint expanding the universe of copyright material it allegedly used in the training of its artificial intelligence while the court considers both a motion to dismiss and a motion to stay discovery pending the resolution of the first motion.

  • February 24, 2026

    5th Circuit: Texas Federal Judge Failed To Explain Fees In Copyright Case

    NEW ORLEANS — While a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected plaintiff-appellants’ arguments that a Texas federal judge lacked jurisdiction to enter attorney fees in a copyright row after the Fifth Circuit had already affirmed an earlier finding that the parties would bear their own fees and costs, the panel also found that the judge failed to provide a lodestar analysis to explain the $500,000 awarded in attorney fees.

  • February 23, 2026

    2nd Circuit Revives Photographer’s Shutterstock Suit For DMCA Safe Harbor Questions

    NEW YORK — While a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with a New York federal judge’s dismissal of a photographer’s copyright management information (CMI) claims against Shutterstock Inc., the panel also held that factual disputes remain as to whether Shutterstock is protected from infringement claims by the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

  • February 20, 2026

    2nd Circuit Affirms Fees To Be Paid By Plaintiff In Tossed Rap Copyright Fight

    NEW YORK — In a summary order issued Feb. 19, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel saw no abuse of discretion in a New York federal judge’s holding that a musician who sued rapper Donald Glover, who performs as Childish Gambino, of copying elements of his song in Glover’s 2018 hit “This Is America” owes the rapper and other defendant entities more than $286,000.

  • February 19, 2026

    9th Circuit: Dances In Workout Videos Not Protectible Under Copyright

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of defendant entities accused of copying dance routines seen in workout videos; the panel held that the dances represent a functional fitness method and not a copyrightable expression of choreography.