Justices Appear Wary Of Broad Reach For Video Privacy Law

By Allison Grande

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed hesitant Wednesday to take a more expansive view of the online activities protected by the Video Privacy Protection Act, raising concerns that such an approach would buck the statute's original intent and invite a flood of litigation against a wide range of companies.

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Analysis

Paramount, State AGs Chose Certainty Over Merger Trial Risk

By Matthew Perlman

Paramount Skydance closed its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, after reaching a settlement with state enforcers that experts say was driven by both politics and the underlying litigation risk for both sides.

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AGs Say Character.AI Chats Must Be Protected In Ch. 11 Sale

By Rick Archer

A group of state attorneys general told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday that protection of minors and privacy concerns need to be addressed before the company behind artificial intelligence entertainment platform Character.AI is allowed to sell its data in its Chapter 11 case.

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Mich. Jury Awards Televangelist $62M For Network's Racism

By Melanie Dorsey

A Black televangelist was awarded $62.2 million Wednesday by a Michigan federal jury that found that the white owner of a religious television network subjected him to racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation, concluding a trial centered on a meme depicting the network owner as a pimp surrounded by Black ministers.

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Trump Dodging Deposition In Defamation Suit, BBC Says

By David Minsky

The BBC asked a Florida federal court to convene a hearing on whether President Donald Trump should be forced to sit for a deposition, saying he's not following through with obligations in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster over a documentary on the January 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.

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Whoopi Goldberg's Pot Co. Must Take Fraud Claim To Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey state judge tossed a landlord's lawsuit seeking unpaid rent from television personality Whoopi Goldberg's cannabis company, finding that the proposed dispensary lacked required municipal approvals, but said a jury must decide whether the landlord, a former mayor, fraudulently misrepresented the property's licensing status.

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4 Firms Steer $2B Sale Of AT&T's Mexico Wireless Unit

By Al Barbarino

A group of four U.S. and Mexican law firms are guiding AT&T Mexico's agreement to sell itself to a consortium made up of Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings Inc. for $2 billion.

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Fed. Circ. Affirms Toss Of Hulu Digital Advertising Patent Suit

By Elliot Weld

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a California federal judge's decision dismissing a suit brought by a patent-holding company accusing streaming giant Hulu of infringing patents covering advertising in digital media, finding the patent claims cover an abstract idea and lack an inventive concept.

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Samsung Says Rival Leans On Fabricated 'Mini LED' Definition

By Gina Kim

Samsung moved to dismiss a competitor's suit alleging it falsely markets some of its TVs as having Mini LED technology that provides a higher-quality picture, telling a California federal judge Tuesday the plaintiff wants her to adopt a "fabricated three-part definition" for Mini LED that only exists in the complaint. 

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11th Circ. Says Fla. Can Enforce Social Media Teen Ban

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that Florida can enforce its restrictions on social media for children, vacating and reversing a preliminary injunction that blocked the state's enforcement.

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Roblox, Epic Say Minor Can't Buck Arbitration, Keep Gaming

By Mike Curley

Roblox Corp., Epic Games Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are each asking a Pennsylvania federal judge to reconsider an order denying their bids to arbitrate a suit alleging their platforms addicted a minor to gaming, saying the minor can't disaffirm the arbitration agreement and keep using the platforms.

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Live Nation Says FTC Twists BOTS Act To Target Ticketmaster

By Bonnie Eslinger

Live Nation and Ticketmaster fought back against the Federal Trade Commission's case accusing the companies of ignoring ticket scalpers and failing to disclose significant Ticketmaster fees upfront, telling a California federal judge the agency is targeting the companies "for not perfectly blocking all ticket purchase abuse on Ticketmaster's platform."

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Challenges To VOA Cuts Moot After Policy Shift, Agency Says

By Benjamin Morse

The U.S. Agency for Global Media told a D.C. federal judge that consolidated suits by a coalition of journalists, federal employees and labor unions seeking to overturn cuts that slashed staffing at Voice of America are moot because the agency has changed the policy at issue.

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No Jail For Coach Who Testified Against Jordan Card Con Man

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday allowed a Washington state youth sports coach to avoid prison, after he admitted bankrolling a $2 million Michael Jordan trading-card scam and testified against the main perpetrator who recently was arrested in Canada.

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Utah Broadband Settles FCC Probe Over Lost Huawei Gear

By Christopher Cole

A broadband provider serving Utah admitted it could not confirm that it properly destroyed foreign gear under a network security program and agreed to pay $11,000 to resolve the matter, the Federal Communications Commission said.

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Sens. Probe Meta For Claiming Tax Credits On AI Data Centers

By Gina Kim

Democratic senators called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to explain why he's justifying the use of billions in federal research tax credits to pay for building the company's AI data centers, warning that doing so is a possible misapplication of federal tax law that could prompt further investigation.

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Athletes Must Consider PR Risks Surrounding IP Enforcement

NFL player Jayden Daniels' demand for Louisiana State University to cease using his name, image and likeness, and the flurry of social media memes that ensued from this incident, highlight the challenges of navigating the balance between intellectual property legal strategy and public relations, say attorneys at McAndrews Held.

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What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

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Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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