Analysis

Netflix Merger Raises Theatrical Release Antitrust Fears

By Bryan Koenig

Netflix's $82.7 billion play for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming business drew rebukes Friday from critics and lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum, but antitrust observers offered a cautious assessment on the prospects of any government challenge.

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3 Firms Advise On Netflix's Planned $82.7B Warner Bros Buy

By Al Barbarino

Netflix said Friday it has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming business in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the assets at $82.7 billion, including debt. 

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Justices Take Up Venue Dispute In Twitter Saudi Agent Case

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider an ex-Twitter employee's appeal of his conviction for secretly acting as an agent of the Saudi government, taking up what the petition called a deep circuit split over whether the government can bring charges for certain crimes virtually "anywhere."

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Fla. Judge OKs Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

By Rae Ann Varona

A Florida federal judge on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from an investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing a newly enacted law that the government said overrides a prohibition on disclosing the documents to the public.

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Taylor Swift Wants Poet's 'Frivolous' $25M Suit Tossed

By Carolina Bolado

Taylor Swift on Friday asked a Florida federal court to dismiss a $25 million copyright infringement lawsuit against her, calling it a "frivolous and harassing lawsuit" claiming copyright infringement of concepts and words that cannot be owned by one person.

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Conde Nast Says 'Dogue' Dog Magazine Rips Off 'Vogue' TM

By Gina Kim

Conde Nast sued a dog-centered fashion magazine Dogue in California federal court Friday for trademark infringement, arguing that the defendant purposely chose its style to resemble the famous Vogue logo to confuse consumers into thinking the defendant is associated with Conde Nast.  

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NYT, Chicago Tribune Sue Perplexity Over 'Verbatim' Outputs

By Elliot Weld

Adding to the heap of pending federal court cases launched by publishers against artificial intelligence companies, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune sued Perplexity AI in New York, claiming its search engine illegally scrapes content from their websites and spits out portions verbatim.

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WaPo Accused Of Failing To Protect Employee Info From Hack

By Rae Ann Varona

A former Washington Post employee has accused the newspaper of failing to prevent a targeted cyberattack over the summer, saying in a putative class action filed in D.C. federal court that lax cybersecurity procedures have put thousands of employees' and contractors' sensitive information in the hands of data thieves.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Targeted Ad Patent Suit Against Meta

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit revived an online advertising company's suit accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of infringing its patent covering a targeted advertising technology, finding Friday that a lower court "implicitly construed" an important claim term without letting the plaintiff challenge the construction.

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Atlanta Media Co.'s Lack Of Counsel Can't Get It Out Of IP Row

By Rose Krebs

A Georgia federal judge has ruled that a media company operated by a parent who is defending copyright infringement claims lodged by other parents over their respective children's content on social media and streaming sites cannot escape the lawsuit because it is unable to obtain counsel.

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Skybound Hit With $4M IP Theft Suit Over 'Stray' Videogame

By Gina Kim

Skybound Game Studios stole video game designer iam8bit's trade secrets and confidential information to negotiate a deal behind its back to launch "Stray" for the Nintendo Switch with a publisher while cutting iam8bit out of the profits, according to a $4 million fraud suit filed in California state court.

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Elon Musk's X Fined €120M By EU For Misleading Users

By Sophia Dourou

The European Commission revealed Friday that it has fined social media platform X €120 million ($140 million) for breaching European Union digital transparency rules, including by "deceiving" users through the blue checkmarks for so-called verified accounts.

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg Fights Privacy Suit Depo At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged a Ninth Circuit panel during a hearing Friday to scrap orders requiring him to give a limited deposition in privacy litigation over Facebook's alleged collection of health data, arguing the plaintiffs failed to exhaust alternative methods of getting the information they seek.

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Character.AI Exec Can't Exit Teen's Suicide Suit, Mom Argues

By Jonathan Capriel

The co-founder of Character.AI should not be allowed to escape a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the platform and its creators of building a large language model that encouraged a 14-year-old boy to kill himself, the teen's mother argued in Florida federal court, saying the founder essentially controlled the company, so much so that it was his alter ego.

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Mass. Justices Muse On Swift, 'FOMO' In Meta Addiction Case

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts' highest court appeared divided Friday as it wrestled with whether Meta Platforms Inc. should have to face a suit by the state attorney general claiming that it is illegally getting kids hooked on Instagram.

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Google Search Judge Issues Finalized Antitrust Mandates

By Hailey Konnath

A D.C. federal judge Friday issued the finalized package of remedies in the U.S. Department of Justice's case targeting Google's search monopoly, mostly agreeing with the government's proposals for exactly what Google must do to prop up rivals and restore competition in the search engine market.

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Virtual Asset Fund Sues Game Dev Over Delays, NFT Fraud

By Sydney Price

An investment fund specializing in virtual "real estate" has accused a game developer of violating securities laws and breaching an agreement by failing to timely deliver an unregistered NFT associated with its unreleased game.

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Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

By Christopher Cole

As the Federal Communications Commission returned to full operations in November after a government shutdown, groups lobbying the FCC remained busy on issues ranging from a Global Positioning System backup to spectrum sharing and the upcoming FCC auction of upper C-Band airwaves.

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How Fed. Circ. Shaped Subject Matter Eligibility In 2025

The Federal Circuit's most impactful patent eligibility decisions this year, touching on questions about obviousness and abstractness, provide a toolbox of takeaways that can be utilized during patent preparation and prosecution to guard against potential challenges, says Reilley Keane at Banner Witcoff.

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10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.

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Conservative Justices Probe 'Husk' Of FTC Firing Protections

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority pushed back Monday against the 90-year-old precedent permitting the removal only for cause of Federal Trade Commission members, and perhaps those serving other independent agencies, calling those safeguards a "dried husk" and wondering where to draw the line for protected agencies.

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Opinion

Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

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US Lawyer Numbers Surge With Hefty 2024 Graduating Class

By Tracey Read

The number of U.S. lawyers showed marked growth for the first time since 2020, due to a 2024 graduating class that was nearly 12% larger than any other class since 2012, a study from the American Bar Association released Monday showed.

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Defense Bill Includes Protections For Retired Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 released Sunday night extends U.S. Supreme Court police protection for retired and former justices and their immediate family members.

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Jury Expert Sues Atty For 'Pirating' Her Jan. 6 Venue Report

By Matt Perez

A New Hampshire defense attorney representing a defendant charged for crimes related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sued in D.C. federal court for allegedly stealing a copyrighted study analyzing attitudes in the jury pool of the District of Columbia.

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Brief

Senators Kelly, Slotkin Set Up Legal Defense Funds

By Courtney Bublé

After appearing in a video encouraging members of the military and intelligence community to not follow illegal orders, Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have established legal defense funds.

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Litigation Funder Says Attys Hid Deal To Evade $1.5M Payout

By Christine DeRosa

A Florida-based litigation funder has sued two California attorneys and a law firm, alleging they secretly settled a client's civil dispute and steered the money so they wouldn't have to repay over $1.5 million.

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Habba Resigns As Acting US Atty After DQ Ruling At 3rd Circ.

By Jake Maher

Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling that a trio of officials will take on her responsibilities.

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Ex-Archetype Capital Exec Hit With Trade Secret Injunction

By Theresa Schliep

A Nevada federal court on Friday temporarily blocked the former executive of a litigation finance business from using its trade secrets, finding the evidence indicates that his new law firm employer leveraged its proprietary mass tort review system. 

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