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Mealey's Copyright

  • April 23, 2026

    9th Circuit: Judge Should Have Considered Merits Of New Copyright Trial Motion

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled April 22 that a California federal judge too rigidly applied local rules when denying a new trial motion from defendant entities found liable for willful copyright infringement through their distribution of DVDs of a Christian film; the panel’s opinion resolves three consolidated appeals from the case.

  • April 23, 2026

    Judge: Mosaic, Databricks Will Face Direct Copyright Claims In AI Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — Direct copyright infringement claims in an artificial intelligence case will proceed after a federal judge in California concluded that plaintiffs adequately tied the copying of their protected works to MosaicML Inc.’s and Databricks Inc.’s training of large language models (LLMs).

  • April 22, 2026

    Federal Circuit: Alleged Implant Trade Secrets Disclosed By Prior Art Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In two opinions, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that the evidence did not support a California federal jury’s determination that defendant medical entities in a sprawling dispute over a cosmetic penile implant device had misappropriated trade secrets; the panel found that all alleged trade secrets had been publicly disclosed in prior art patents.

  • April 21, 2026

    High Court Rejects Challenge To 9th Circuit Lamp Photo Infringement Reversal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 20 rejected an artist’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a partly split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opinion that reversed a California federal jury’s finding that Walmart Inc. had infringed copyrighted photos of the artist’s jellyfish-shaped lamps; the high court refused to hear arguments suggesting that the Ninth Circuit improperly considered the sufficiency of trial evidence while weighing a pretrial motion.

  • April 21, 2026

    11th Circuit: Jurisdiction Established In IP Dispute Over Frida Kahlo Exhibit

    ATLANTA — Reversing a Florida federal judge’s dismissal, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that an entity associated with the late Mexican surrealist artist Frida Kahlo established personal jurisdiction for Lanham Act and other claims against the artist’s grandniece because she is alleged to have sent cease-and-desist letters with false claims of trademark ownership into Florida on her own behalf.

  • April 21, 2026

    Perplexity Says ‘Answers Engine’ Doesn’t Trample Trademark, Copyrights

    NEW YORK — A quartet of news providers has not shown that automated outputs of an “answers engine” powered by artificial intelligence and retrieval-augmented generation constitute copyright violations or that using tags identifying the source material violates trademark rights, Perplexity AI Inc. tells a federal judge in New York.

  • April 10, 2026

    3rd Circuit: Copying Of Building Codes Likely Fair Use

    PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with a Pennsylvania federal judge that an online research platform was likely to succeed on its fair use defense against claims accusing it of infringing copyrighted building codes that have been incorporated into the International Building Code; the panel pointed to a 2023 opinion by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appealsinvolving the same plaintiff-appellant that similarly found fair use.

  • 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.