Analysis

FIFA Mural Suit, Other Fights Showcase 'Obscure' Art Law

By Theresa Schliep

As soccer heavyweights and underdogs square off in the FIFA World Cup, the sport's worldwide governing body is staring down a suit claiming the organization destroyed a mural and violated a unique intellectual property protection that has a history of thwarting the removal of public pieces of art.

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'Peanuts' Copyright Gag In Colbert Finale Ends In Donation

By Lauren Berg

The steward of the "Peanuts" television and film music catalog announced Tuesday it will donate the proceeds of a licensing agreement with CBS after Stephen Colbert's band "illegally" played the "Linus and Lucy" tune as a gag in the final broadcast of "The Late Show."

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Midjourney Faces Discovery Limits Into Studios' AI Use

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal magistrate judge Monday ordered Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. to produce some data on their own use of artificial intelligence in the studios' copyright lawsuit against Midjourney, finding that some requested information is appropriate, but Midjourney's broader requests are irrelevant or shielded under work product privileges.

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Florida Judge Blocks Lutnick Deposition In Trump Media Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida judge has denied a second bid to depose U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in the lawsuit over the delayed public offering of President Donald Trump's social media website, ruling that the court has no jurisdiction over the Cabinet official because he's not a party to the action.

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Brazil Says Justice Is Immune From Trump Media's Suit

By Carolina Bolado

Brazil asked Monday to intervene and dismiss a suit by President Donald Trump's media company and online video-sharing platform Rumble Inc. against a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice's gag orders, saying the suit cannot overcome immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

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Book Publishers Want WeLib 'Shadow Library' Dismantled

By Elliot Weld

A group of large book and text publishers is suing to dismantle WeLib, an online "shadow library" that the publishers said was built off the "notorious pirate site" Anna's Archive.

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Amazon Says YouTubers' DMCA Suit Rests On 'Guesswork'

By Rae Ann Varona

Amazon has urged a Seattle federal court to toss three YouTube creators' proposed Digital Millennium Copyright Act class action that accuses the e-commerce giant of scraping millions of copyright-protected videos to train its generative artificial intelligence model Nova Reel, saying the YouTubers' failure to link it to certain datasets makes their allegations "entirely speculative."

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Game-Maker Seeks $13.5M Over Alleged Counterfeits

By Carla Baranauckas

The maker of Fusion skill game platforms has accused a Philadelphia route operator and his company of selling hacked and counterfeit versions of its game systems on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, alleging in a federal lawsuit that the knockoffs duplicate its copyrighted artwork and registered trademarks.

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NJ Launches Push To Crack Down On Consumer 'Junk Fees'

By Jon Hill

New Jersey officials are declaring war on "junk fees" in the state with tighter regulation and enforcement, the latest state-level move to step up consumer protection efforts amid the Trump administration's pullback at agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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2nd Circ. Judge Blasts 'Wrong' Video Privacy Test In NBA Suit

By Allison Grande

The Second Circuit appeared poised Tuesday to uphold the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing the NBA of illegally sharing newsletter subscribers' video-viewing habits with Meta although one judge said prior rulings set the "wrong" circuit precedent for what data disclosures are prohibited by the Video Privacy Protection Act.

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Consumers Call Google Search Damages 'Palpably Obvious'

By Bryan Koenig

Consumers want a California federal judge to preserve their antitrust claims accusing Google of shutting out rival search engines that offer better privacy safeguards and no ads, arguing they don't yet need to articulate damages each has borne because it's "impossible" for them not to have been harmed.

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Brief

Colo. Judge Moots Casino's Bid To Toss Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

A Colorado federal judge shelved a casino operator's bid to dismiss a wage and hour suit after the worker who brought the case filed an updated complaint.

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2 Firms To Lead Target Investor Suit Over Pride Month Merch

By Sydney Price

Grant & Eisenhofer PA and Boyden Gray PLLC will lead a group of shareholders suing Target Corp. over its Pride-themed merchandise that they claim was "exceptionally offensive" and "betrayed" investors.

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GameStop Investor Fights $35B CEO Pay Vote In Chancery

By Jarek Rutz

A GameStop stockholder has filed a class action in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to block shareholder votes tied to CEO Ryan Cohen's potential $35 billion compensation package and a plan to more than double the company's authorized shares, alleging GameStop unlawfully changed voting rules to secure approval.

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Scrap AT&T's Bid To Get Out Of Copper Line Rules, Calif. Says

By Christopher Cole

California officials urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject AT&T's push to escape state rules that the company says are blocking its transition from copper to fiber networks.

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FCC Urged To Revise Test Rule Language

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A trade group representing commercial, scientific and testing laboratories in the U.S. has asked the Federal Communications Commission to narrowly tailor the language of a planned rule that would restrict accreditation for labs that test communications equipment.

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Brief

FCC Lifts Security Ban On Some Foreign-Made Toy Drones

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said that "toy drones" manufactured in foreign countries or using parts from overseas will no longer fall under an FCC ban on most drones produced outside the U.S.

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Illinois Adds Taxes On Digital Ads, Crypto, Prediction Markets

By Maria Koklanaris

Illinois will tax digital advertising, social media platforms, cryptocurrency, prediction markets and more under a nearly $56 billion budget signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.

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Feds Charge 5 With Plotting To Attack Trump's UFC Event

By Lauren Berg

Five men are facing federal charges over allegations that they plotted to attack government officials and other attendees of President Donald Trump's Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House on Sunday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

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Patriots Owner Sues Town Over $1M License Demand

By Julie Manganis

The owner of the New England Patriots says the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, is misusing its authority to extract another $1 million a year in exchange for an entertainment license for Gillette Stadium, according to a suit in state court.

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Guitar Shape Controversy Highlights Nuances Of IP Protection

A recent German case related to Fender's efforts to secure intellectual property protection for its Stratocaster guitar design highlights a structural tension inherent in IP law — the designs that most successfully become embedded in the cultural landscape are the hardest to justify exclusive ownership of, say attorneys at Spencer West.

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AG Watch: Oregon's Strategic Civil Enforcement Approach

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s recent antitrust litigation activity and proposed staffing increase are the latest in a series of structural and policy changes that signal that the state Department of Justice is taking a more aggressive approach to civil enforcement, says Keturah Taylor at Cozen O'Connor.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Maya Kowalski Sues Ex-Atty Over Fees, Funding Loan

By Carolina Bolado

Maya Kowalski, the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," filed a malpractice suit against her former attorney on Wednesday, accusing him of charging excessive fees and improperly orchestrating an advance funding loan after winning a $213 million judgment.

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Sanctioned IP Atty Tells Fed. Circ. 'Integrity' On The Line

By Elliot Weld

An attorney who was sanctioned in a trade dress infringement case due to what a judge said were his repeated misrepresentations has asked the Federal Circuit to lift the penalties against him and his client, saying his "professional and personal integrity, and my family, depends on it."

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Bosch Receives First DOJ Declination Under New Policy

By Sarah Jarvis

German technology company Bosch on Wednesday became the first company to avoid criminal prosecution under a new U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy after it cooperated with the federal government and agreed to pay $36 million to settle allegations it improperly exported technology products to sanctioned Chinese company Huawei.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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