Streamer's 'Lazy Reaction' Video May Be Fair Use, Judge Says

By Ivan Moreno

A California federal judge said Friday he is inclined to toss a YouTube creator's copyright suit over a Twitch user's livestreamed response to a documentary, finding that what the plaintiff characterized as "lazy reaction" content that siphoned views from the original work is covered by fair use because of the defendant's real-time criticism, commentary and mockery.

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NM Jury Awards $13M To 'Star Trek' Star's Family In Death Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A New Mexico jury has awarded $13 million to the family of Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura on "Star Trek," in a medical malpractice suit accusing a hospital of causing the trailblazing actress's death in 2022, according to news reports.

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7th Circ. Says Ind. Can Bar Press From Attending Executions

By Parker Quinlan

A divided Seventh Circuit panel on Friday ruled that an Indiana prison rule restricting journalists' access to inmate executions does not violate the First Amendment, as reporters are not actually prevented from covering executions.

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Paramount Told To Produce Skydance Deal Board Materials

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has recommended that Paramount Global turn over additional board-level documents to stockholders investigating whether controlling shareholder Shari Redstone improperly influenced the company's $8 billion sale to Skydance Media, finding there is a credible basis to suspect potential wrongdoing in the merger process.

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Marilyn Manson Fails To Nix Ex-Assistant's Sex Assault Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Goth rocker Marilyn Manson failed to convince a Los Angeles judge on Friday to permanently toss his former personal assistant's latest amended complaint that accuses him of having sexually assaulted her in 2010, with the judge saying it wouldn't be right to resolve the case at the pleading stage.

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WWE Merger Trial To Test McMahon's Grip On Sale Process

By Jarek Rutz

The trial over WWE's $21.4 billion merger with UFC's parent company will test how much a larger-than-life corporate controller like Vince McMahon can shape a sale process when his identity is nearly inseparable from the company itself — and when stockholders say his personal need for protection and continued influence tainted the deal.

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Judge Rejects Objectors' Bid For More Equity In NIL Proposal

By David Steele

A California federal magistrate judge has turned down a group of athletes' objection to a proposed addition to the $2.78 billion settlement with the NCAA that the group said would disproportionately benefit men in major revenue college sports.

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Musicians Say UMG, Warner Stiffed Them On AI Licensing

By Lauren Berg

The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada claims Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group violated its members' collective bargaining agreement by licensing sound recordings to two artificial intelligence companies without compensating the musicians involved, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in New York federal court.

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TelevisaUnivision Sues To Stop Pirated World Cup Streams

By Carolina Bolado

TelevisaUnivision sued several online streaming services Thursday, asking a Florida federal court to shut down plans to pirate the Spanish-language media company's exclusive broadcasts of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen the U.K.'s oldest Indian restaurant launch an appeal against King Charles III's property company in an effort to stop its eviction, trustees of a bankrupt former EY tax partner file a claim against his wife, and 37 leading insurers bring a lawsuit against agrichemical company Syngenta over an insurance dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Spotify Lawsuit Says Algorithms Squeeze Small Artists

By Aaron Keller

Spotify USA Inc. has been accused of unfairly reducing payments to small creators by implementing a 1,000-stream royalty threshold and changing the way it counts streams, saves and other engagement metrics, according to a lawsuit alleging violations of Connecticut trade laws.

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Epic Fights Apple's Bid For High Court Sanctions Review

By Bryan Koenig

Epic Games told the U.S. Supreme Court there's no need for high court review of a California federal court's contempt order against Apple for violating a ban on company policies that barred app developers from steering users to outside payment options.

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Paramount Criticizes Consumers' Antitrust Suit As Unserious

By Bonnie Eslinger

Paramount Skydance has asked a California federal judge to toss a consumer antitrust challenge to its pending $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the lawsuit lacks essential elements to state a claim and criticizing the opposition for treating the litigation like a "sport" rather than a "serious matter."

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Ex-Mich. Hockey Team Exec Loses Appeal In Team Sale Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan appeals court panel has declined to revive former Muskegon Lumberjacks executive Michael McCall's lawsuit seeking a cut of the minor league hockey team's sale, reasoning that McCall did not actually broker the deal. 

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Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission heard from lobbyists more than 100 times in May on issues ranging from 5G wireless in the C-band airwaves to a new foreign-made router ban, satellite spectrum, efforts to cut the volume on TV ads, next-gen 911 and more.

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FCC's Trusty Says Network Vandalism Is Getting Worse

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Infrastructure vandalism damaging high-speed networks is getting worse despite warnings about the problem, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, Commissioner Olivia Trusty, said during remarks addressing critical communications infrastructure.

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FCC Grants Amazon Leo's Waiver For Deployment Milestones

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission has granted Amazon some leniency in meeting the deployment milestones of its Leo satellite system, which is meant to provide high-speed internet.

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Baba Social Gambling Class Action Sent To Arbitration

By Joyce Hanson

A Utah federal judge has ordered into arbitration a proposed class action accusing Baba Entertainment of operating an illegal online gambling platform, pausing the case while citing the lead plaintiff's decision not to oppose the company's motion to compel arbitration.

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How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

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Gibson Dunn, PE Firm Pay Charity $1M For Knicks VIP Seats

By Dorothy Atkins

Gibson Dunn and private equity firm Veritas Capital split the $1 million winning bid for two "Celebrity Row" seats in a Knicks fundraiser ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the team's parent company announced Monday.

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Groom Law Joins Firms Matching New Milbank Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

Washington, D.C.-based Groom Law Group is the latest firm to match a new pay scale for associates that was set earlier this month by Milbank LLP, according to media reports Monday.

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9th Circ. Judge Faces Inquiry, Charges After Idaho Altercation

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Monday identified a judicial misconduct complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson after he was charged with misdemeanor battery stemming from an argument in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended with him allegedly stomping a man's eyeglasses on the asphalt.

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Analysis

How A Texas Pastor Beat Mark Zuckerberg In Landmark Trial

By Craig Clough

Jurors who reached a landmark $6 million verdict in March finding Meta Platforms Inc. and Google liable for harming a teen's mental health didn't find Mark Zuckerberg credible, an impression that the plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier credited to putting the well-prepared executive off his guard.

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King & Spalding May Be Sanctioned In $300M Fraud Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

Two King & Spalding LLP partners face a sanctions hearing in a $300 million fraud lawsuit to determine whether they violated a rule requiring candor to the tribunal by falsely claiming attorneys for other parties were copied on letters to two Connecticut jurists, according to two state court orders.

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Another Lawmaker Joins Impeachment Push For Ga. Judge

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican House member on Monday introduced articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia after she was reprimanded for having sex with a police officer in her chambers within earshot of staff.

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Colorado Gov. Signs Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Non-Attys

By Emma Cueto

Colorado has enacted a ban on lawyers sharing fees with nonlawyer-owned firms, such as alternative businesses in Arizona, as well as a prohibition on deals with managed services organizations that involve paying a percentage of firm income.

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Brief

Todd Blanche Officially Nominated To Be AG

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday officially nominated Todd Blanche to be attorney general.

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Trump Taps DC Appeals Court Picks To Fill Final Vacancies

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has announced two picks for the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will fill the remaining vacancies on the District of Columbia's top court.

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Mich. Dems Back Trump Judicial Pick After Blue-Slip Review

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's Democratic U.S. senators, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, announced on Monday they've returned their blue slips for the nomination of Michael Martin, a veteran career prosecutor, to be a judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Chapman Law School Dean Says He Was Fired For Being Gay

By Hailey Konnath

The former dean of Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law says the university unlawfully fired him because he's gay and married to a man, according to a complaint filed in California state court.

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NJ Senators Advance Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey state senators on Monday advanced legislation that would require disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements over the objections of trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives, who warned that the bill could discourage funding for plaintiffs involved in costly cases.

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Law Student's Kirk Comment Discipline Stays During Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Monday kept intact a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk during an appeal, saying that the student "again seeks the wrong remedy" in her request.

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100+ Ex-Prosecutors Question Chicago US Atty's Leadership

By Celeste Bott

More than 100 former Illinois federal prosecutors issued a statement Monday saying there's been a "failure of leadership" in the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago and that "once-forbidden political considerations are infecting prosecutorial decisions" in the wake of an Illinois federal judge accusing the office of mishandling grand jury proceedings in a case against six immigration activists.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein's Sentencing Delayed To July

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge has agreed to push SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's sentencing to July, after federal prosecutors speculated that his defense attorneys might come to the previously scheduled June hearing and declare that they aren't ready to proceed.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Elizabeth Cabraser

By Emily Field

When Elizabeth Cabraser began working with Robert Lieff as a clerk at his small practice in Northern California in the late 1970s, fresh out of law school, her job was to help him dispose of his remaining cases so he could retire early and become a winemaker.

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