Ye Use Of Song Was 'Test Drive,' Not Infringement, Jury Told

By Rae Ann Varona

Counsel for Ye defended the rapper during closing arguments in a copyright infringement trial Monday, telling a Los Angeles jury that Ye's alleged unauthorized use of a sound recording in an early version of his Grammy-winning song "Hurricane" was merely a "test drive," and that he ultimately went in a different direction.

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Combs Accuser's Atty Avoids Jail For Overdue AI Fine

By Carla Baranauckas

The attorney for a woman who has accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of rape was found in contempt of court Monday for failing to make payments on a $6,000 fine imposed on the lawyer in December for relying on a hallucinated artificial intelligence case citation in a legal brief.

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Biggie Smalls Trust & Widow Clash Over LLC Stake In Del.

By Jarek Rutz

Counsel for a trustee tied to the late musician Notorious B.I.G.'s mother told the Delaware Court of Chancery on Monday that the rapper's widow, Faith Evans, cannot treat the trust as a member of the company controlling the rapper's intellectual property when it helps close an asset sale, then deny that status when distributions come due.

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Copyright Office Sued Over Rejection Of AI 'Starry Night' Art

By Ivan Moreno

An artist behind a yearslong fight to register his artificial intelligence-generated artwork with the U.S. Copyright Office has sued the agency in California federal court, challenging its refusal to register the image inspired by Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" — the latest action in a closely watched debate over whether copyright protection should extend to works created with AI. 

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Dua Lipa Sues Samsung Over TV Box Images

By Elliot Weld

Pop singer Dua Lipa has hit Samsung with a copyright infringement lawsuit alleging her face appeared on the display of large boxes containing Samsung televisions without her permission.

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Microsoft CEO Defends Role In OpenAI's Rehiring Of Altman

By Dorothy Atkins

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified Monday in a California federal jury trial over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, denying that he demanded OpenAI's board reinstate ousted CEO Sam Altman while acknowledging that he offered to pay up to $29 billion to bring Altman and others to Microsoft.

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Latham, Freshfields Steer Byron Allen's BuzzFeed Purchase

By Hailey Konnath

Lawyers from Latham & Watkins LLP and Freshfields LLP are advising on a transaction in which comedian and media entrepreneur Byron Allen plans to acquire a $120 million majority stake in BuzzFeed Inc., according to a Monday disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Apollo Agrees To Buy Events Businesses Emerald, Questex

By Al Barbarino

Sidley Austin LLP-advised Apollo said Monday it has agreed to acquire trade show operators Emerald Holding and Questex, with plans to combine the companies into a leading North American events and media platform.

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Perplexity Pushes Bid To Toss Reddit Data-Scraping Claims

By Elliot Weld

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI Inc. has told a New York federal court that Reddit Inc.'s amended claims that its content was used illegally to train AI models should be dismissed because they still fail to show that Reddit holds copyrights on the "vast majority" of that content.

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Meta's Algorithm Needs Revamps, Judge Hears In $3.7B Trial

By Cara Salvatore

A computer science expert testified Monday that Meta should be ordered to revise minor users' content recommendation formula to prioritize safety as much as engagement, as part of the New Mexico attorney general's ongoing bench trial over teen mental health.

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FTC Warns Meta, Others To Abide By Anti-Revenge Porn Law

By Allison Grande

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday reminded Meta, Amazon, Apple and a dozen other tech giants of a looming deadline to comply with their obligations under the Take It Down Act to swiftly remove deepfake revenge porn from their platforms, warning that the issue is a "top priority" that the agency is prepared to quickly start enforcing.

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Texas Sues Netflix Over 'Staggering' Data Logging

By Mike Curley

The state of Texas sued Netflix Inc. on Monday, alleging that it misled consumers by promising not to harvest or log their viewing data while quietly doing exactly that and selling that information to advertisers and other outside firms without users' consent.

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Nats Ask DC Circ. To Toss Fee Class Action To Arbitration

By David Steele

The Washington Nationals are looking to arbitrate a suit filed by a fan accusing them of charging hidden "junk fees" on tickets, asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a district judge's ruling that kept the case in court.

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Meta Can't Ax Android User Suit Over Browsing-Profile Links

By Lauren Berg

Meta Platforms must face the bulk of a consolidated set of proposed class actions alleging it exploits an Android communications channel to tie users' browsing data to their Facebook and Instagram profiles, a California federal judge ruled Monday, while Google must face a negligence claim.

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Texas, LG Ink Deal To End Claims Of TV Data Collection

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Office of the Attorney General and LG Electronics USA Inc. on Monday struck a deal to end the state's claims that LG unlawfully spied on consumers, with LG agreeing to obtain consent for certain data collection through smart television technology.

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FTC Says BOTS Act Case Judge Overlooked Its Dismissal Arg

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Maryland federal judge to rethink his decision refusing to end a constitutional challenge to one of its first online ticketing cases, contending the court never dealt with its primary argument for dismissal.

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Red Sox Ticket Buyers Fight Arbitration In 'Junk Fees' Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

Fans leading a proposed class action accusing the Boston Red Sox of deceptive ticket pricing have asked a federal judge not to send the dispute to arbitration, saying online buyers are unlikely to have read the terms and conditions before making the purchases they say were inflated with surprise "junk fees."

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Meta Makes Billions Enabling Scammers, Calif. County Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Silicon Valley county sued Meta in California state court Monday, claiming the social media giant "knowingly" facilitates and profits from billions of scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

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'I Am The Judge,' Atty Facing Apple Sanctions Bid Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing discovery in a consumer antitrust case against Google LLC rebuked the plaintiffs' attorney Monday as he fought a sanctions motion by former defendant Apple Inc., reminding him "I am the judge in this case" and that his requests must "meet the standard that I set forth."

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Fox Renews Bid To Toss Newsmax Antitrust Suit

By Matthew Perlman

Fox Corp. is urging a Florida federal court to toss Newsmax's case accusing the company of pressuring cable and streaming providers into not carrying the rival right-leaning broadcaster, after a court in Wisconsin sent the dispute back to the Sunshine State.

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Real Estate Influencers Indicted Over Alleged Ponzi Scheme

By Matthew Santoni

A pair of Philadelphia-based real estate influencers were indicted by a federal grand jury in Ohio on charges that they defrauded more than a dozen investors, according to court documents unsealed Friday.

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FCC Plans First FM Radio Auction Since Authority Was Renewed

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Monday it will sell off construction permits for 132 FM radio channels, the first auction of its kind in years.

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Television Group Wants Affiliate Ownership Loopholes Closed

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The American Television Alliance asked the Federal Communications Commission on Monday to close loopholes allowing transactions that bring competing network affiliates under common ownership, saying the current rules are being used to evade review.

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No Need To Halt Delayed Nexstar Deal, FCC Tells DC Circ.

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission told the D.C. Circuit on Monday there is no reason to block the FCC's staff approval of Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s planned $6.2 billion deal to buy Tegna Inc. since a California federal judge has already halted the broadcast merger during review.

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Brewery Says Eviction Bid Chases Profit From FIFA World Cup

By José Luis Martínez

A Houston brewery asked a Texas state court on Monday to block its landlord from evicting it ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alleging the landlord manufactured lease defaults to retake the property and profit from its location near Houston's planned tournament fan zone.

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Live Nation Must Face Luke Bryan Concert Fight Suit

By Brian Steele

Live Nation Worldwide Inc. is not entitled to an early win in a negligence lawsuit over a "prolonged" fight at a Luke Bryan concert that seriously injured a concertgoer, a Connecticut federal judge ruled Monday, finding several factual disputes over whether the company failed to provide adequate security for its patrons.

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Ex-Calif. Mayor Will Cop To Being Chinese Agent, Feds Say

By Lauren Berg

The mayor of Arcadia, California, agreed to plead guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China by operating a website that seemingly provided news for the local Chinese American community while spreading the Chinese government's propaganda, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

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Spanish Broadcasting Hits Ch. 11 With $240M Debt-Swap Plan

By Alex Wittenberg

Radio station operator Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday in Delaware bankruptcy court with a plan to hand control of the company to its noteholders and trim $240 million in debt.

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Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

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Analysis

Trading Scheme Is A 'Wake-Up Call' For BigLaw Compliance

By Chris Villani

The breadth of a decade-long insider trading scheme prosecutors say was fueled by stolen BigLaw merger information should jolt firms to reexamine their practices to close gaps in internal security, experts told Law360, even if totally eliminating bad actors is nearly impossible.

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Quinn Emanuel Founder Exiting Executive Chair Role

By Tracey Read

Four decades after high-stakes litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan first opened in Los Angeles, founding partner John B. Quinn is stepping down as executive chairman of the firm effective immediately.

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NY Ethics Panel Finds US Attorney Committed Misconduct

By Courtney Bublé

The New York Attorney Grievance Committee has found that President Donald Trump's pick leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York engaged in "professional misconduct" last summer, according to a letter released on Monday.

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Trump Taps 6 Judges, Including Picks Needing Blue Slips

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced six judicial nominees on Monday, including picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits and two district court picks that needed support from Democrats.

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ChatGPT Suit Points To Ups And Downs Of Pro Se AI Use

By Cara Bayles

A recent lawsuit against OpenAI highlights many of the hopes and anxieties about pro se litigants using generative artificial intelligence to churn out legal arguments. The technology raises concerns about confidentiality, hallucinations and ethical issues, but some access-to-justice advocates worry the lawsuit may hinder technology that might democratize legal services.

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Plaintiffs' Attys Sanctioned In Tylenol MDL, Sparking Appeal

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal court sanctioned a plaintiffs' firm and its co-founder in federal multidistrict litigation by families alleging that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism, saying they improperly shared confidential information from the case in related state court actions.

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Senate Confirms 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to confirm 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package.

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Pa. Law Firm, Doctors Can't Shake Uber, FedEx RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A Pennsylvania federal judge said Monday that Uber and FedEx offered extensive and detailed allegations to press ahead with their racketeering lawsuit accusing a Philadelphia personal injury firm and local healthcare providers of scheming to fabricate medical records to inflate accident claims.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a varied mix of settlement approvals, political office disputes, transaction fights, emergency injunction bids and questions over how far the court can go to preserve records for litigation outside Delaware.

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