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

Mealey's Copyright

July 18, 2024
Split 5th Circuit Panel Says Publisher Can Copy Legal Codes Copyrighted In Canada

NEW ORLEANS — A split panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment against a publishing company accused by a Canadian developer of legal standards and codes of copying and republishing complete versions of the codes, saying that the codes are effectively “law” in Canada and that law is copyable.
July 17, 2024
Media’s AI Copyright Suit Supplemental Briefing Focuses On Prompts, Injury

NEW YORK — The Intercept Media Inc. called artificial intelligence ChatGPT a “serial plagiarist” built on thousands of copyrighted works of journalism while urging a federal judge in New York in supplemental briefing to reject arguments about any lack of injury and timeliness and deny a pair of motions to dismiss its copyright case.
July 17, 2024
Magistrate Judge: Singer Does Not Support Copyright Claims In ‘Shotgun’ Suit

MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended the dismissal of a copyright claim brought by a Venezuelan musician claiming that several music companies illegally uploaded his music to online music streaming platforms, finding both that the musician’s complaint is an impermissible shotgun pleading and that the musician failed to substantiate some of his claims.
July 16, 2024
Magistrate Suggests $14K To Photographer For Paper’s Infringement Of Epstein Photo

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended that a Spanish-language newspaper be ordered to pay $14,478 to a professional photographer for its use of a photo of billionaire financier and convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein after the newspaper failed to respond to the photographer’s claims in federal court.
July 15, 2024
Judge: Songwriter Makes Showing Of Worldwide Ownership; Copyright Claims Survive

BATON ROUGE, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana on July 12 denied a music publication company’s motion to dismiss a copyright dispute over a 1960s hit song, finding that the song’s writer made an adequate showing that foreign use of the song is barred by the songwriters’ renewal of copyright interests.
July 15, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Judgment Against Bar Owner In Boxing Match Copyright Fight

ATLANTA — On its second consideration of an appeal in the case, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Alabama federal judge’s decision to deny a bar owner’s motion to vacate a judgment against him in a case brought by a sports streaming company that said he violated the company’s copyright by showing a boxing match at the bar without a license, holding that the bar owner waived his argument that he should have had a jury trial when he failed to make the argument in response to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation.
July 12, 2024
DMCA Claims In GitHub AI License Dispute Dismissed For 3rd, Final Time

OAKLAND, Calif. — John Doe defendants suing GitHub Inc. and others for a purported lack of attribution of their shared materials in artificial intelligence (AI) products saw their claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) dismissed for a third time, this time with prejudice.
July 11, 2024
Federal Judge: Publisher Fails To State Claim In Copyright Infringement Suit

FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a copyright violation complaint brought by a publication company against an insurance company, finding that the publisher failed to establish whether the insurer had a license to the publisher’s workers’ compensation newsletter that would have allowed the insurer to distribute the newsletter to all employees of the insurer.
July 08, 2024
OpenAI, New York Times Debate Discovery Of Reporters’ Notes In AI Copyright Suit

NEW YORK — In letter briefing, the New York Times Co. (NYT) and OpenAI battle over whether copyright claims linked to artificial intelligence ChatGPT’s alleged reproduction of news articles permit discovery into reporters’ notes and associated materials underlying the stories.
July 05, 2024
Microsoft, OpenAI Defend Need For Consolidation Of Media AI Suits

NEW YORK — Companies at the heart of suits over artificial intelligence urged a federal judge in New York in July 3 reply briefs to consolidate two cases brought by various newspapers and grant additional time for discovery required by the sprawling nature of the allegations.
July 03, 2024
7th Circuit: Lower Court Must Reconsider Copyright Damages In Trade Secrets Suit

CHICAGO — A panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 2 held that an Illinois federal judge incorrectly calculated damages against a mobile communications company for using stolen copyrighted code from another mobile communications company, with the panel finding that without specific proof that the code was stolen from an Illinois server, copyright damages should be lowered.
July 03, 2024
3rd Circuit: Claims Of Copyright Violation Negated By Licensing Agreement

PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a copyright infringement claim brought by a woman and the health company she owns against her brother and his affiliated health company, affirming the finding of a Pennsylvania federal judge that an agreement between the siblings allowed the brother total freedom to create and distribute works related to a hormone therapy system she created.
July 01, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Use Of ‘Server Test’ To Reject Goat Photo Copyright Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A Nevada federal judge correctly applied the “server test” to determine that a photographer’s copyright to a picture of an escaped goat was not infringed by a website operator showing the photo on the website, a panel of judges in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held June 28.
June 28, 2024
High Court Overrules Chevron Deference, Changes Standard For Regulatory Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference as incompatible with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations, changing governing precedent for federal courts reviewing agencies’ regulatory actions.
June 28, 2024
Federal Circuit Transfers Copyright Row Over Russian Band To 11th Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found a that record label should not have appealed to that circuit a Florida federal judge’s finding that the label failed to establish personal jurisdiction against a French company for allegedly infringing on copyrights related to a Soviet-era Russian boy band, ordering that the appeal be transferred to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
June 26, 2024
Music Industry Entities Sue Pair Of AI Companies Over Copying Of Recordings

NEW YORK — Two companies trained artificial intelligence on decades’ worth of copyrighted sound recordings with “rapid and devastating” effect, various music industry entities claim in a pair of June 25 complaints filed in Massachusetts and New York federal courts, warning that the technology presents both “promise and peril.”
June 26, 2024
7th Circuit: Church, Not Founder’s Grandson, Owns Copyright To Photo Of Founder

CHICAGO — The son and grandson of the late founder of a Christian organization cannot bring copyright counterclaims about a photo taken of the founder by his son and used in promotional materials, a panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming an Indiana federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in the company’s favor in part because the photo was a “work made for hire.”
June 26, 2024
1st Circuit: Singer Is ‘Featured Artist,’ Entitled To Royalties From Records

BOSTON — The former lead singer of one of Puerto Rico’s most popular musical acts is a “recording artist . . . featured” on the band’s recordings and not the corporate entity that owns the band or that entity’s owner, a panel of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, reversing a Puerto Rico federal judge’s decision to deny summary judgment to the singer in a royalty dispute over certain of the band’s recordings.
June 25, 2024
Music Industry’s AI Suit Will Play In California After Transfer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music publishers sued a California-based artificial intelligence company in Tennessee and must live with the fact that they have not shown that the fact that the company employs a few individuals who chose to work from home in Tennessee satisfies the jurisdiction hurdle, a federal judge in Tennessee said June 24.
June 19, 2024
Microsoft Joins OpenAI’s Call For Consolidation Of Media AI Suits

NEW YORK — Microsoft Corp. joined in various OpenAI entities’ motion to consolidate a suit brought by eight news organizations challenging outputs from the ChatGPT artificial intelligence and its associated programs with a similar suit filed by The New York Times Co., saying in its joinder brief filed in a federal court in New York that doing so will combine suits that challenge similar technologies.
June 18, 2024
Claims Over Hotel’s Use Of Minors’ Photo On Instagram, Website Dismissed

LOS ANGELES — Citing issues of preemption and shotgun pleadings, a California federal judge dismissed claims of copyright infringement, unfair competition and misappropriation, among others, that were brought against a hotel for its online use of an Instagram picture of two minors that purportedly exceeded any consent granted by the copyright holder.
June 17, 2024
Judge Affirms Jury Verdict, Award Against Creators Of Video Game Cheat

SEATTLE — Affirming a jury’s finding that five defendants infringed copyrights in the popular Destiny 2 video game series by creating a cheat for it that they sold online, a Washington federal judge also entered a permanent injunction and a monetary judgment of $63,210 in favor of the video game developer, per the jury’s recommendation.
June 17, 2024
Plaintiffs Won’t Amend Privacy Action Involving ChatGPT After Dismissal

SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs confronted with a court ruling finding their privacy and California unfair competition law (UCL) action involving artificial intelligence raises policy concerns more appropriate in a town hall than a courtroom told a federal judge in California on June 14 that they will not amend their complaint and asked the court to close the case.
June 17, 2024
Media Company May Update AI Suit With More Specificity, Federal Judge Says

NEW YORK — The Intercept Media Inc. may amend its artificial intelligence copyright complaint to address “seeming lack of specificity” in the action, a federal judge in New York said, noting that he will consider existing briefing on a motion to dismiss as targeted to the amended filing and will rule quickly after the filing of supplemental briefing.
June 14, 2024
New York City Can Intervene In Cannabis Cruise Copyright, Trademark Litigation

NEW YORK — Citing the “undeniable interest” the city of New York has in a trademark and copyright infringement action involving the “NYC NEW YORK CANNABIS” logo, a federal judge in New York has granted the city’s motion to intervene.