Video Privacy Law Doesn't Hit Movie Theaters, 9th Circ. Says

By Allison Grande

The federal Video Privacy Protection Act doesn't cover companies that offer "a classic in-theater moviegoing experience," the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday in affirming the dismissal of a putative class action accusing Landmark Theatres of violating the law by sharing ticket buyers' information with Facebook.

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Dua Lipa Beats Claim 'Levitating' Ripped Off 1979 Disco Song

By Rae Ann Varona

Grammy-winning singer Dua Lipa's chart-topping song "Levitating" did not infringe a 1979 disco song, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday, saying a combination of a descending chord progression and musical note in the older work wasn't protectable under copyright law.

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Ex-Netflix Exec Urges 9th Circ. To Wipe Bribery Conviction

By Rachel Scharf

Counsel for Netflix's former vice president of information technology urged a Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday to undo his conviction for taking bribes from vendors, saying prosecutors tainted the verdict by improperly intertwining two different fraud theories.

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Disney Seeks $5.7M Atty Fee Award After 'Moana' IP Trial Win

By Gina Kim

The Walt Disney Co. sought $5.7 million in attorney fees Tuesday after beating an animator's trade secret and copyright suit claiming it ripped off his Polynesian adventure story to create "Moana," arguing he engaged in bad-faith tactics like forging evidence, perjuring himself and improperly inflating purported damages.

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Crypto YouTuber Should Face Logan Paul's Suit, Judge Says

By Aislinn Keely

A Texas magistrate judge said media personality Logan Paul should be able to pursue his defamation claims against the YouTuber who called Logan's failed cryptocurrency project a "scam," given that the YouTuber presented the allegations as more fact than opinion.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Meta Gets Stiff-Armed On FuriosaAI Offer, And More Rumors

By Al Barbarino

In a bold move that underscores the growing confidence and independence of artificial intelligence startups, FuriosaAI reportedly rejected an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta. Nvidia is also on the verge of acquiring Lepton AI, and Apollo is mulling a sale of Cox Media. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

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Fed. Circ. Orders New Trial In Roland Drum Kit Patent Dispute

By Andrew Karpan

The Federal Circuit says a jury in Miami will have to take another look at a nearly decadelong fight over electric drumming patents, deciding on Thursday to wipe out the entirety of a $4.6 million verdict ​​the Japanese audio tech giant Roland Corp. won against a U.S.-based rival.

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X Says It Doesn't Owe Rivals 'Free Ride' In Data Scraping Row

By Bonnie Eslinger

X Corp. urged a California federal judge on Thursday to dismiss antitrust counterclaims brought by data-scraping firm Bright Data Ltd. alleging the social media giant improperly imposes unfavorable contract terms to block competitors from taking its data, arguing it doesn't have to let rivals "free ride" on its platform.

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Google, Apple Staff Want Out Of Testifying In FTC-Meta Case

By Bryan Koenig

Current and former employees of Google, Apple, TikTok, X Corp., Snap and Epic Games asked a D.C. federal judge Wednesday to quash subpoenas seeking their live testimony in the Federal Trade Commission's upcoming antitrust trial against Meta Platforms, arguing their taped depositions make the burden of testifying unnecessary.

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Jordan's NASCAR Team Fires Back At League's Cartel Claim

By Ryan Harroff

Michael Jordan's racing team has urged a North Carolina federal judge to toss NASCAR's counterclaim in an antitrust suit against the league, arguing that the stock car racing company has failed to lay out enough detail on the alleged cartel Jordan's team and others purportedly formed to harm its business.

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Apple Says Its Affidavits Are Admissible In Google Case

By Ali Sullivan

After an unsuccessful bid to intervene in the remedies phase of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Google, Apple is urging a D.C. federal judge to consider its affidavits from company executives as the court weighs the proper fix for Google's search monopoly.

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FCC Ready To Explore Earth-Based Backstop For GPS

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday started looking into methods of backing up the satellite-based Global Positioning System, which national security experts say is vulnerable to foreign attacks and signal interference in space.

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Commerce Nominee Demurs On Broadband Fund At Hearing

By Nadia Dreid

Sen. Ted Cruz's top aide, Arielle Roth, skirted the question Thursday when asked how much each state would receive under the $42.5 billion broadband deployment program during her confirmation hearing to be the next head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

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Pa. Court Voids Theme Park's 'Click-Through' Contract

By Matthew Santoni

A Pittsburgh-area amusement park's online season tickets came with a "click-through" agreement to resolve disputes out of court that Pennsylvania appellate courts have said is not binding without including a clear warning, which a judge said justified not sending a proposed class action to arbitration.

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Fla. High Court Widens Anti-SLAPP Rights In Blogger Suit

By David Minsky

A split Florida Supreme Court on Thursday expanded the right of a Miami-area blogger to challenge a defamation lawsuit, allowing state appellate courts to review rulings denying bids to toss such complaints based on strategic lawsuits against public participation provisions, or anti-SLAPP, before those cases have concluded.

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Colo. Picked For Sundance As Tax Break Advances

By Sanjay Talwani

The Sundance Film Festival will relocate to Boulder, Colorado, its organizers announced Thursday, as a bill with a tax break to attract the event advanced to the full state Senate.

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Series

Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

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2 Recent Federal Decisions Affecting State CIPA Cases

Two recent cases may help stem the tide of the ever-increasing number of California Invasion of Privacy Act complaints filed in federal court, but won't prevent plaintiffs from filing in state courts, so companies need to shift their focus from Article III standing to statutory standing, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

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Judges Block Trump's Jenner & Block, WilmerHale Orders

By Lauren Berg, Ali Sullivan and Alison Knezevich

Jenner & Block LLP and WilmerHale both won temporary restraining orders late Friday blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the firms, with two Washington, D.C., federal judges determining the firms have shown the orders are likely retaliation for their representation of certain clients.

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Skadden Offers $100M In Pro Bono Work To Avoid Trump Order

By Aebra Coe

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has reached a deal with President Donald Trump to avert an impending executive order that could have prevented it from taking on work connected to the federal government and its contractors, according to an announcement by the president Friday on social media platform Truth Social.

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Up Next At High Court: Terror Liability, Health Provider Choice

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench this week to consider whether a federal law subjecting Palestinian government organizations to federal jurisdiction violates due process principles and if the Medicaid Act's provider choice provision allows individual benefit recipients to sue states over the disqualification of healthcare providers. 

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Trump Grants Clemency To Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump has granted clemency to former Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson, who was facing nearly a decade in prison for lying to banks and investors to secure funding for his now-shuttered multimedia company, the White House confirmed Friday.

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Trump Pardons BitMEX Crypto Co., Four Ex-Executives

By Aislinn Keely

President Donald Trump has pardoned the business entity behind cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX and four of the firm's former executives years after they copped to Bank Secrecy Act violations and lax anti-money laundering controls, the White House confirmed Friday.

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Tubi Says Keller Postman Breached Deal In Arbitration Fight

By Emily Sawicki

The D.C. federal judge overseeing video streaming service Tubi Inc.'s tortious interference suit against Keller Postman LLC over mass arbitration claims ordered the parties on Friday to schedule a status conference for next month, in light of Tubi's claims that the firm violated an agreement.

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Ex-Paralegal Sues Ga. Personal Injury Firm Over 658 OT Hours

By Irene Spezzamonte

An Atlanta-based personal injury law firm didn't pay a former paralegal for 658 hours of overtime, and it erroneously considered her a salaried-exempt employee, according to a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

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Roundup

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen sparkling winemaker Nyetimber hit a rival distillery with an intellectual property claim, Newcastle United's former owner Mike Ashley target the club's ex-vice president for damages tied to a fraudulent investment, and a real estate agency file a legal claim against law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

As a growing number of companies and their general counsel consider moving their incorporation out of Delaware, the state's governor has quickly signed into law a measure revising its corporation statutes, though there are still critics. And 98% of legal leaders in a recent survey said their budgets are increasing in 2025 to handle the extra work stemming from new diversity risks, tech changes and cybersecurity threats.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

UCLA School of Law's Supreme Court Clinic and Gair Gallo Eberhard LLP head this week's list of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Seventh Circuit ruling that upheld the conviction of a former Chicago alderman for making false statements about loans from a defunct bank.

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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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