Netflix, Warner Bros. Get Pepperdine's 'Waves' TM Suit Tossed

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has thrown out a suit brought by Pepperdine University accusing Netflix and Warner Bros. of infringing trademarks via a fictional basketball team in the TV show "Running Point" that the university said is identical to its Waves team, finding the show doesn't mislead a viewer into thinking Pepperdine was involved in its production.

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Analysis

Justices' Cox Decision Fuels Debate Over DMCA's Relevance

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision last week shielding Cox Communications from contributory copyright liability and wiping out a massive piracy verdict against the internet service provider has sparked a debate over how much the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provision still matters.

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9th Circ. OKs Injunction On DHS Protest Conduct, With Limits

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed First Amendment protections for journalists, legal observers and protesters in a case brought by individuals injured by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers during Los Angeles-area immigration raid protests, but said a preliminary injunction issued by a California federal judge had to be narrowed.

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TikToker Challenges Defamation Suit By Immigration Law Firm

By José Luis Martínez

A TikTok creator urged a Texas federal court to toss a defamation suit brought by Houston-based Meneses Law PLLC, arguing that her posts were rhetorical condemnation based on public controversy surrounding the law firm and that the court has no personal jurisdiction over her.

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'Bye Bye Bye' Choreographer Sues Sony For 'Deadpool Dance'

By Lauren Berg

The artist behind NSYNC's iconic "Bye Bye Bye" choreography has accused Sony Music of licensing the dance for use in both Marvel Studios' 2024 film "Deadpool & Wolverine" and Epic Games' Fortnite without his permission or giving him credit.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: April's Most Notable Oral Arguments

By Jeff Overley

April is the coolest month, at least for appellate aficionados, featuring numerous important arguments with famous litigants, including U.S. senators, delivery apps Grubhub and Uber Eats, impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs, prediction platforms Kalshi and Robinhood, and a political giant known as the Velvet Hammer.

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USPTO Spurns Nintendo Pokémon Patent After Reexam

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has found that a patent granted to Nintendo and Pokémon allowing players to summon a character in a video game was not valid in light of prior art, in a case that's raised concerns in the video game industry.

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Roku Defeats Some Of Mich. AG's Data Privacy Claims

By Carolyn Muyskens

A federal judge has narrowed a lawsuit over Roku's handling of children's data, finding Michigan lacked standing to litigate several of the claims on behalf of users while allowing others to proceed. 

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Facebook Users Lose Cert. Bid In Tax-Data Collection Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has refused to certify proposed classes of consumers accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of illegally collecting sensitive financial data from tax preparation websites, finding that the currently proposed classes are "significantly" broad and would likely invite statute-of-limitations defenses that would require "extensive individual inquiries" into each class member.

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Amazon Shakes Bulk Of Alexa Users' Secret Recordings Suit

By Allison Grande

A Washington federal judge significantly narrowed a lawsuit accusing Amazon of surreptitiously recording Alexa device users' personal conversations, finding that the company had clearly disclosed the possibility of accidental device activations and that only some unregistered users had adequately asserted individual wiretap claims. 

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Google Users Seek $147M In Atty Fees After $425M Trial Win

By Bonnie Eslinger

Counsel for Google users who won a $425 million class action trial over claims the company unlawfully collected their information have urged a California federal judge to give them nearly $147 million in legal fees, even as both sides filed motions seeking to unwind aspects of the verdict.

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Perplexity AI Hands User Info To Google And Meta, Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Perplexity shares users of its AI machine's most personal questions and conversational dialogues — which could include mental and physical health issues and legal advice — with Meta and Google, which exploit the information for profit and targeted advertising purposes, alleges a proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court. 

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Meta Loses Bid To Toss Photo App's Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal court has refused to toss a defunct photo-sharing app's antitrust case accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of using its monopoly in personal social networking to drive the app out of business, after the Second Circuit revived the case.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department allowed Live Nation to keep Ticketmaster while state attorneys general continue to sue, a $14 billion Boston Scientific deal drew Federal Trade Commission scrutiny, state enforcers challenged Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, and a threatened FTC challenge forced the abandonment of a laser eye surgery deal.

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Twitter Investors Win Class Cert. In Elon Musk Fraud Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Investors in X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, have been granted class certification in litigation alleging tech billionaire Elon Musk secretly amassed a significant stake in the company while its stock traded at artificially depressed prices.

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FCC Strives For 'Supremacy' In US Drone Manufacturing

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's leadership wants the public to weigh in on how regulators can help the U.S. private sector reach global dominance in drone manufacturing and operations.

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Brief

Stick With Lowest Ad Rates For Candidates, FCC Warns

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission has reminded broadcasters they must charge the lowest rate available to legally qualified political candidates and their advisory committees.

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Wolfgang Puck Gets A Chance To Exit Cookware Injury Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida appellate court on Wednesday reversed dueling trial court rulings in a suit over an allegedly defective Wolfgang Puck-branded pressure cooker, saying an evidentiary hearing is required to determine whether the celebrity chef and his company can be hauled into a Florida court.

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Foley Hoag Launches First Amendment Practice With New Trio

By Tracey Read

Foley Hoag LLP announced Wednesday that it has launched a First Amendment and media practice group with two former Greenberg Traurig shareholders who helped get defamation claims against five Gannett newspapers dismissed after a viral confrontation near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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Bondi Out As Attorney General After Contentious Time At DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday Attorney General Pam Bondi will be leaving her post. 

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Goldstein Allowed To Move Out After Marriage Falls Apart

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge on Thursday allowed SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein to relocate for the duration of his home confinement, after Goldstein's attorneys said his marriage had fallen apart and it no longer "makes sense" for Goldstein and his wife to share a residence.

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Raskin Blasts DOJ Bid To Shield Attys From State Bar Probes

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice's endeavor to preempt state bar investigations of department attorneys is a "get out of jail free" card.

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DLA Piper, Vax Refuser Reach Deal To End Religious Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

DLA Piper has struck a deal to wrap up a Christian former employee's lawsuit claiming he was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of his religious beliefs, an Illinois federal judge said Thursday.

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Feds Say Habeas Ruling Could Spur More 'Illegal Orders'

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration has asked the Fourth Circuit to reverse a district ruling that upheld a standing order from Maryland federal judges barring immediate removal or transfer of immigrant detainees, arguing the ruling sets a dangerous precedent for district court standing orders.

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Schneider Wallace Fights Uphill For Bigger Cut Of $75M Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal magistrate judge appeared skeptical Thursday about Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP's bid to increase its cut of a $75.4 million fee award for representing plaintiffs in a $228.5 million Sutter Health antitrust deal, saying lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP's allocation of $1.4 million to Schneider Wallace seems fair.

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Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Stymies Paul Weiss, ACLU Fee Bids

By Carolyn Muyskens

American Civil Liberties Union and Paul Weiss attorneys who successfully eased restrictions on voting by mail in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot collect fees for their work because they were discharged in Puerto Rico's bankruptcy proceeding, the First Circuit has ruled.

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Process Server ABC Legal Inks $2.5M Deal Over Cyber Breach

By Ben Adlin

Seattle-based ABC Legal Services LLC, which bills itself as the nation's largest network of legal process servers, would pay $2.5 million under a tentative deal to settle workers' putative class action claiming a 2024 cyberattack exposed their personal information, the plaintiffs told a Washington federal court Wednesday.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen data giant Sportrader face action from software company Altenar over alleged market abuse, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Pliego sue a man who allegedly defrauded him out of $415 million, and Warner Bros. bring a copyright claim against a YouTuber who leaked set footage of the upcoming Harry Potter series. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K. 

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