11th Circ. Reverses 2 Live Crew's Copyright Clawback Win

By Rae Ann Varona

The Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that hip hop group 2 Live Crew could not reclaim copyrights to five albums despite most of them agreeing to terminate copyright grants to third parties, saying in a published opinion that one member's termination interests were "swept" in, and remained in, his bankruptcy estate.

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Why License? 5th Circ. Weighs 'Server Test' In News App Fight

By Ivan Moreno

A Fifth Circuit judge on Tuesday asked counsel for a news aggregation app why publishers would ever license their articles if the app can lawfully show readers the same content without paying as long as it's hosted on the publishers' own servers.

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Finalized Trump Order Seeks Early Cyber Tests Of AI Models

By Allison Grande

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to push the developers of advanced artificial intelligence models to voluntarily share their systems with the federal government for pre-release cybersecurity testing, following changes to a previous draft that the president abruptly shelved last month due to concerns about its effect on innovation. 

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11th Circ. Raises Practicality Questions About Fla. Drag Law

By Kelcey Caulder

The full Eleventh Circuit grappled Tuesday with how a Florida law that criminalizes admitting minors to "adult live performances" like drag shows would square with the free speech rights, pressing the state on how to discern what's appropriate for patrons of different ages.

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John Oliver Dodges Defamation Suit Over Medicaid Segment

By Y. Peter Kang

A physician highlighted in a "Last Week Tonight" segment on Medicaid who sued host John Oliver for defamation lost his case Tuesday, after a New York federal judge found the challenged statements were protected speech.

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X Defends Antitrust Claims Against Music Publishers

By Matthew Perlman

X. Corp. is defending its antitrust case accusing music publishers and their trade group of banding together to demand an industrywide license, telling a Texas federal court the publishers agreed not to negotiate with the social media platform individually.

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NOTUS Rebrand Halted As Judge Backs Washington Star

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge Tuesday blocked the impending relaunch of NOTUS as "The Star" one day before it was set to take place, siding with conservative publisher Dovid Efune, who accuses the news organization of trademark infringement.

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Congress Invites NFL's Goodell To Discuss Broadcast Deals

By David Steele

Congress has invited NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to testify about whether the broadcast packages for his league's games sufficiently serve consumers and comply with federal antitrust laws, an issue the U.S. Department of Justice also is investigating.

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Reddit's Reply To Bylaw Protest Likely AI-Made, Investor Says

By Lauren Berg

A Reddit investor sued in Delaware's Chancery Court on Monday alleging that when he challenged a charter provision that he says unlawfully restricts investors from removing board members designated by Reddit's biggest shareholder, the social media company responded with an "absurd" argument that appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence.

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FCC Probes Changes In License Control At TV Network

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission has begun examining whether the licenses for 83 stations owned by Bridge News should be pulled as it pursues an investigation into possible violations of FCC rules requiring disclosure of changes in control.

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FCC Starts New Auction Of Advanced Wireless Licenses

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission Tuesday began a congressionally mandated auction of Advanced Wireless Services spectrum across 48 states and multiple territories, reviving airwaves that have gone unlicensed for years.

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FCC Overstepping Authority In Device Denials, Hikvision Says

By Nadia Dreid

Congress didn't give the Federal Communications Commission the power to pull already authorized equipment off the market by placing it on the so-called covered list of equipment deemed to be a national security risk, Hikvision has told the D.C. Circuit.

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Windstream Looks To Transfer Miss. Rural Broadband Aid

By Nadia Dreid

Windstream is trying to shift its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund obligations in Mississippi to Uplink Internet, a telecom that is already based in the Magnolia State, and has asked for the Federal Communications Commission's blessing.

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Retailer Risk Reduction Tips As Email Marketing Suits Surge

Amid a flood of email marketing lawsuits following last year's Washington Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Old Navy, retailers seeking to avoid high litigation costs can take several steps to reduce risks by focusing on their email subject lines advertising sales, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

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2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

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Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

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BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

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Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

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Feature

'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

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Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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Colo. Firm Accused Of Giving Bad Immigration Filing Advice

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado personal injury law firm gave faulty legal advice to two clients regarding the filing of their immigration documents and caused them to lose their ability to lawfully work in the United States, the former clients alleged in Colorado state court.

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Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At Supreme Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

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