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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Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

By Ryan Boysen

BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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Fox Rothschild Atty Censured Over $2.7M In Unapproved Fees

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey-based bankruptcy partner at Fox Rothschild LLP has been censured by the Supreme Court of New Jersey after she was found to have wrongfully disbursed over $2.7 million in fees to her former firms without approval.

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Chicago US Atty Report Denies Grand Jury Misconduct Claim

By Lauraann Wood

The Northern District of Illinois' top prosecutor sought to offer clarity Tuesday surrounding accusations of his possible interference with grand jury proceedings that preceded a criminal conspiracy indictment against six protesters, releasing a special report one defendant's attorney says raises more questions than it answers.

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7th Circ. Fines Deported Migrant's Atty For ChatGPT Misuse

By Emily Sawicki

The Seventh Circuit has rejected a Mexican citizen's petition challenging an immigration court's removal order on the merits, while sanctioning his attorney $5,000 for filing two legal briefs "riddled with" fabricated quotes and case citations hallucinated by ChatGPT.

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Exclusive

Cooley Launches Global Hearings Practice As Scrutiny Rises

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Cooley LLP has established a global hearings and inquiries practice to help companies prepare comprehensive strategies as they face increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, the firm exclusively told Law360 on Tuesday.

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Ex-McDermott, Venable Attys Sued Over Estate's $40M Tax Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

The estate of a successful dentist who died in 2017 sued McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, Venable LLP and two attorneys in California state court Monday, alleging they gave negligent legal advice in planning the dentist's estate causing it to owe the IRS $40 million in taxes and penalties.

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Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Modernize Court Records Systems

By Matt Perez

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday jointly introduced the Open Courts Act, which they said would modernize the court records systems PACER and CM/ECF.

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Feature

AI Software Contracts Need Careful Review, Attys Are Warned

By Aaron Keller

Attorneys considering adopting artificial intelligence tools must ensure software contracts comply with data privacy laws, and firms should not be afraid to quiz software sales representatives, including by asking how long the software retains data, representatives from two law firms told Connecticut lawyers Tuesday.

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Analysis

Attys Worried Where ICE Will Draw Line In Asylum Crackdown

By Britain Eakin

Immigration attorneys are bracing for heightened scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would crack down on attorneys filing fraudulent asylum claims, expressing fears that the agency could blur the line between fraud and legitimate advocacy.

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DOJ Won't Move Forward With $1.8B Fund, Blanche Confirms

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday, "we're not moving forward" with the controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund.

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Senate Confirms Montana, Kansas Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed judges Tuesday for Montana and Kansas, one of whom was the first judicial nominee of the second Trump administration to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Arias Sanguinetti's Mike Arias

By Joyce Hanson

When she was team captain with a track and field scholarship at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, Nicole Haynes was in good health and rarely had to see a doctor. So when she got a bad stomachache and her friends encouraged her to visit the USC health center, Haynes said she didn't have the right words to explain why her experience with Dr. George Tyndall had felt so invasive and wrong.

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