Westlaw AI Fight Warrants Full Court Review, 3rd Circ. Told

By Theresa Schliep

Ross Intelligence urged the full Third Circuit to revisit a copyright decision concluding that it wasn't protected by fair use when it trained its artificial intelligence legal research platform on Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes, arguing that "at every turn, the panel asked the wrong question."

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Anthropic And CEO Beat Lyric Infringement Claims, For Now

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed music publishers' claims against artificial intelligence behemoth Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei alleging they ripped off lyrics from over 20,000 songs, but said the publishers can amend their complaint and try again.

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5th Circ. Backs 'Geek Therapy' Co. In Roleplay Game IP Battle

By Adam Lidgett

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday sided with a "geek therapy" company in a suit claiming it infringed the intellectual property rights of a role-playing game developer after their partnership soured, saying a licensing agreement allowed the company to use the content of the game.

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Goldstein Ordered To Pay Trimmed $1M Forfeiture

By Nadia Dreid

Former SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein was hit with a $1 million forfeiture order Wednesday by a Maryland federal judge in the wake of his tax and mortgage fraud trial, where the appellate advocate was convicted on a dozen charges.

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Gov't To Probe Sky's £1.6B ITV Buy Over Public Interest

By Najiyya Budaly

The culture secretary said Wednesday that she will intervene in Sky Group's proposed £1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) purchase of the broadcast and streaming division of ITV to safeguard media plurality in the U.K.

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MVP: Gibson Dunn's Ted Boutrous

By Theresa Schliep

Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP worked numerous high-profile cases involving the media and public figures this year, including The New York Times in its challenge to the Pentagon's restrictions on journalists and NPR in its funding fight, earning him a spot as one of the 2026 Law360 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

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Sony Must Face Trimmed Suit Over Smart TV Data Collection

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge has tossed the bulk of a proposed class action accusing Sony of collecting and selling smart TV users' viewing data without consent, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead more than a dozen wiretap and privacy allegations while leaving two common law claims intact.

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Brief

State AGs Tell Congress $17B Meta Deal Didn't Go Far Enough

By David Aaro

A bipartisan coalition that includes nearly every state attorney general is urging Congress to pass legislation designed to further improve online protections for minors, just two months after a $17 billion multistate settlement was reached with Meta.

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Brands Urge 5th Circ. Not To Revive X's Ad Boycott Suit

By Matthew Perlman

Mars, CVS, Nestlé and other brands have told the Fifth Circuit a lower court was right to toss X Corp.'s advertising boycott case, arguing the social media platform sued only because it lost customers to competitors after being acquired by Elon Musk.

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Turner Sports, Ex-HR Director Reach Deal In Severance Suit

By David Aaro

A one-time Warner Bros. subsidiary has struck a deal to end a race bias suit from a former human resources director who claimed she was denied severance benefits after she quit following Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia's 2022 merger, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

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Meta Share Plan Fight Gets January Injunction Hearing

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Wednesday that stockholders challenging Meta Platforms Inc.'s plan to create nonvoting shares will get a preliminary injunction hearing in early January, rejecting the company's push for a full trial before the transaction takes effect Jan. 19, 2027.

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Strand Bookstore To Pay $1.5 Million Over Improper PPP Loan

By Katryna Perera

New York's Strand Bookstore has agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to resolve claims that it improperly applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan that it was not eligible for, while under the control of the wife of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

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Feds' Prop Bet Case Based On Lies, MLB Pitchers Tell Jury

By Stewart Bishop

A pair of Cleveland Guardians pitchers accused of feeding inside information about their planned gameplay to allied prop bettors laid bare their central defense to jurors on Wednesday, saying the government's case rests on a deceptive cooperator who may not even take the stand, but who has admitted to deceiving other members of the purported conspiracy.

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Fake Sony Agent Who Stole $1M Gets 6½ Years In Prison

By Pete Brush

A New York federal judge sentenced a film production worker from Brooklyn with a lengthy criminal history to 6.5 years in prison Wednesday, after he admitted posing as a sports and music agent from Sony and taking $1 million from victims.

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AT&T Seeks OK To Suspend LA Services Amid Copper Theft

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

AT&T has asked the Federal Communications Commission to again extend its emergency authorization to suspend phone services in parts of Los Angeles amid "repeated and pervasive" copper theft and vandalism incidents.

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SpaceX Says Data Shows Need To Sunset High-Cost Program

By Christopher Cole

SpaceX has urged a Federal Communications Commission member to consider a phaseout of a high-cost program that serves rural areas, pointing to new data it says shows increasing overlap between subsidized and competing services.

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NM Broadband Officials Say State Still Needs E-Rate

By Nadia Dreid

As the Federal Communications Commission considers the future of the E-Rate program, which subsidizes the cost of internet for schools and libraries, including whether to sunset it entirely, New Mexico has told the agency that ending the program would be a mistake.

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Zula Casino Gambling Suit Returned To Georgia State Court

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge has remanded a lawsuit filed against the operator of Zula Casino alleging illegal gambling to state court, finding an arbitration clause in Zula's terms and conditions does not confer federal court jurisdiction.

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Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

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Faegre Drinker Hires Morgan Lewis Tax Specialist In Philly

By Jack Rodgers

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has hired a Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP tax associate to join its Philadelphia office as a partner working on federal income tax and other tax matters, according to a Wednesday announcement.

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Controversial DOJ Civil Rights Division Leader Steps Down

By Alison Knezevich

Harmeet K. Dhillon, a U.S. Department of Justice official who instituted dramatic changes as leader of the Civil Rights Division, has stepped down from her role.

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Analysis

Racing Against Whistleblowers Could Cost Companies

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud threatens to ramp up the pressure on companies to hurry internal investigations and quickly report suspected misconduct to the government before whistleblowers do, which could backfire in some cases, according to experts.

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Which GCs Sold Stock In Oct.? Chevron, Micron & More

By Sue Reisinger

If Halloween threw a scare into legal chiefs, it didn't keep them from selling company stock in October. Chevron's R. Hewitt Pate and United Therapeutics' Paul Mahon each sold nearly $10 million worth, while Michael Ray of Micron was a distant third with $5.88 million in sales last month.

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Maynard Nexsen Adds 9 Constangy Attys Across 3 States

By Christine DeRosa

Maynard Nexsen PC said Thursday the firm has added nine labor and employment attorneys from Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP, expanding its presence in New York, New Jersey and Missouri.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Brings On Weil Capital Markets Leader

By Isaac Monterose

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has hired the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's capital markets team for a capital markets partner role in its New York City office, the firm announced Thursday.

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Toshiba, DTE Are Worlds Apart On Bond For $394M Judgment

By Melanie Dorsey

Toshiba Corp. urged a Michigan federal judge Thursday to limit its appeal bond to $37 million rather than the $549 million sought by two Michigan utilities, arguing that a state law capping appeal bonds should apply as the company challenges a $394 million judgment over a botched power plant overhaul.

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Trump's Hush Money Conviction Examined By Wary NY Panel

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York State appellate court Thursday quizzed attorneys for President Donald Trump and state prosecutors over his hush-money conviction, exploring defense counsel's claims that the district attorney trespassed into federal jurisdiction by charging election violations and trampled on presidential immunity in a case "infected with multiple fatal errors."

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