OpenAI, Microsoft Accused Of Scraping Local News Sites

By Elliot Weld

A group of local news publishers has sued OpenAI and Microsoft claiming their copyrighted news content was improperly scraped from the internet to train the artificial intelligence models ChatGPT and Copilot, adding to a heap of lawsuits accusing tech firms of making illegal use of journalistic work.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Blasts 'Inflated' DOJ Tax Math

By Jared Foretek

Convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and federal prosecutors are clashing again over their dramatically divergent sentencing recommendations, with the defense accusing the government of presenting a "one-dimensional caricature" of the famed lawyer in seeking an eight-year sentence, and prosecutors accusing him of potentially deleting "secret chats" with his gambling backers.

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Zillow, Redfin Tell Court Their Partnership Is Not Illegal

By Isaac Monterose

Property listing companies Zillow and Redfin urged a Virginia federal court not to presume that their $100 million partnership agreement, which is being challenged by the Federal Trade Commission and multiple states, is illegal before it holds an August trial for a consolidated antitrust suit.

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Yelp Denied 'Improper Tactical Boost' Via Google Expert Docs

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal magistrate judge refused Thursday to let Yelp get a peek, at least for now, at expert reports prepared in the U.S. Justice Department's monopolization case against Google's search business, concluding that the "overbroad and premature" request could provide an unfair early advantage for Yelp's own antitrust lawsuit.

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Brad Pitt Gets OK To Sue Oligarch In Calif. Over Winery Sale

By Hailey Konnath

A California appellate court has vacated a lower court's jurisdictional ruling, holding that Brad Pitt could indeed sue the new part-owner of the French winery he once owned with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie in California court because the owner has sufficient ties to the Golden State.

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NY Prosecutors Drop Weinstein Rape Charge After Mistrial

By Frank G. Runyeon

Prosecutors told a New York judge Thursday that they will drop a third-degree rape charge against Harvey Weinstein after two consecutive juries deadlocked on the allegation by actor Jessica Mann.

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Epstein Files Don't Warrant Maxwell Retrial, Feds Say

By Cara Salvatore

Ghislaine Maxwell's claim that the Epstein Files Transparency Act has unearthed new evidence requiring that she receive a new trial has no merit, New York federal prosecutors have told a judge.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Paramount Preps JV Divestiture, Bumble Eyes Sale, And More

By Al Barbarino

Paramount is preparing to divest its film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures as part of an effort to appease European regulators, as the company looks to close its planned $110 billion of acquisition of Warner Bros. following U.S. approvals, according to a Reuters report. Among other notable reports, Abu Dhabi's MGX has raised nearly $50 billion for an AI-investment venture, apparel company Reformation is said to be preparing for an IPO, and the dating app Bumble may be mulling a sale. 

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AGs, Cable Orgs., Newsmax Back Nexstar Block At 9th Circ.

By Bryan Koenig

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general have filed one of three amicus briefs urging the Ninth Circuit to fully preserve a preliminary injunction blocking Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, arguing the states challenging the deal have standing to sue and that only a broad block is appropriate.

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Verizon Buy Shows Need For FCC Support, Trade Org. Says

By Nadia Dreid

Rural telecom carriers are going to keep disappearing if the Federal Communications Commission doesn't step in and provide more support for companies operating in rural areas, a trade group has said in the wake of Verizon's purchase of Carolina West.

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Judge Tosses Most Of Patent Suit Against Comcast, Peacock

By Adam Lidgett

A Delaware federal court has tossed most of a suit accusing Comcast and its subsidiaries, NBCUniversal and Peacock TV, of offering video streaming and network monitoring services that infringe four patents, allowing one direct infringement claim over one patent to survive.

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'Wemby' TM Bid Falsely Suggests NBA Star Link, TTAB Rules

By Ivan Moreno

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has rejected an apparel company's bid to register "Wemby," ruling in a precedential opinion that the term falsely suggests a connection with San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and, as his nickname, identifies him without his written consent.

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Webinar Site Accused Of Recording, Posting Private Meetings

By Nadia Dreid

A website that touts itself as a platform providing the "world's best webinars" is actually sneaking into private videoconferences, secretly recording them and then posting them online for profit, according to a new lawsuit.

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Meta Fails To Knock Out BIPA Voiceprint Privacy Claims

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge has refused to let Meta Platforms Inc. escape an Illinois woman's proposed class claims that Meta collects "voiceprints" in violation of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, saying in a ruling unsealed Thursday that whether Meta obtained her voice recordings in a way capable of identifying her was still up for dispute.

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Apple's Safari Doesn't Protect Data As Advertised, Suit Says

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Apple allows third parties to track customers using its web browser Safari despite promises that it protects user privacy, according to a recent proposed class action filed in California.

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Netflix Urges Justices Not To Disturb 9th Circ. ERISA Docs Ruling

By Kellie Mejdrich

Netflix urged the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday not to take up a petition from an employee health plan participant who alleged the company failed to provide him access to plan documents in violation of federal benefits law, arguing the Ninth Circuit's ruling in the case should remain in place.

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Facebook's Ex-Policy Director Sues Meta Over Gag Order

By Lauren Berg

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams says Meta Platforms has trampled her First Amendment rights by running to an arbitrator to prevent her from disclosing the social media company's "illegal and indefensible workplace conditions and corporate misconduct," in a lawsuit filed Thursday in California federal court.

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FCC Floats Rules To Preempt States On Wireline Approvals

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission moved ahead Thursday on a proposal to preempt reviews of wireline deployments if the agency finds that state and local authorities are unfairly delaying or denying permits.

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FCC Crafts New License Rules For Undersea Cable Lines

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday adopted new rules covering industry deployment of undersea communications cables, including the first licensing regime of its kind for submarine line terminal equipment.

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Spanish Broadcasting Gets Green Light For Ch. 11 Plan

By Emlyn Cameron

A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Thursday he will confirm Spanish-language radio station operator Spanish Broadcasting System's Chapter 11 plan once he gets the final draft of its plan documents, largely overruling an outstanding objection.

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Series

Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

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Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

By Kevin Penton

Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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Attys Urged To Challenge Clients Who Demand AI Research

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge urged attorneys during a Thursday sanctions hearing to push back against clients who demand lawyers use generative artificial intelligence tools to conduct legal research, saying the technology is no substitute for professional judgment and discretion because it "aims to please" and can misstate the law.

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Lack Of Evidence Sinks Insurance Fraud Case, Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A Louisiana law firm and lawyer found guilty of criminal conspiracy and wire fraud for staging vehicle crashes as part of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers and trucking companies are seeking acquittal or a new trial, arguing that federal prosecutors failed to support their claims with evidence.

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Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

By Nadia Dreid

Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

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Quinn Emanuel Says 3M Fee Proposal Undervalues Its Work

By Carolina Bolado

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has objected to a special master's recommendation on the allocation of common benefit fees in the $6 billion settlement that ended multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty combat earplugs, saying the amount doesn't value the "length, extent and impact" of the firm's work.

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