A Ninth Circuit panel openly struggled this month with a jury's verdict clearing tattoo artist Kat Von D of infringing a photographer's copyrighted photo of Miles Davis, and is now facing the rare proposition of nullifying the verdict based on its own interpretation of the images.
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SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Will 9th Circ. Take 'Rare' Step Of Nixing Kat Von D's IP Win?

By Craig Clough

A Ninth Circuit panel openly struggled this month with a jury's verdict clearing tattoo artist Kat Von D of infringing a photographer's copyrighted photo of Miles Davis, and is now facing the rare proposition of nullifying the verdict based on its own interpretation of the images.

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Jay-Z Defends Extortion Claims Against Buzbee, Other Attys

By Rose Krebs

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is urging an Alabama federal court to send toward trial his extortion lawsuit against attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm, a New York City lawyer and her firm, and a client of theirs who accused him of rape and then dropped her case.

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Pandora Should Beat Comedians' IP Suit, Special Master Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A special master has recommended that a California federal judge hand Pandora Media a summary-judgment win in high-stakes copyright infringement litigation by a group of comedians who allege the streaming service lacked licenses for the underlying jokes in their comedy routines, finding that the comedians waited too long to sue.

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Trump Says AI Needs Free Content For Global Competition

By Ivan Moreno

President Donald Trump has expressed support for letting large language model developers use copyrighted material for training their systems without payment, saying during the unveiling of his artificial intelligence action plan that licensing requirements would impede the technology's progress and give China an unfair advantage.

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Jeanine Pirro's Nomination Advances To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted out seven U.S. attorney nominations Thursday, which include Jeanine Pirro, former Fox News host and New York state judge, and four others who had to be revoted on after Democrats walked out of last week's meeting over objections to how the consideration of controversial Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove was being handled.

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FCC Signs Off On Skydance's $8B Acquisition Of Paramount

By Hailey Konnath

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave the green light to Skydance Media's controversial $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including CBS' parent company, setting aside concerns that the deal will hurt competition.

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Q&A

'Tiger King' Atty Talks Building A Firm Through Social Media

By Parker Quinlan

Hours after a federal jury in Manhattan returned a mixed verdict in a sex trafficking case against Sean "Diddy" Combs, Molly Parmer, a Georgia defense attorney and TikTok content creator with more than 94,200 followers, posted a video outlining what he could expect in terms of sentencing. Law360 spoke with Parmer about her practice and how she turned her solo firm, Parmer Law, into a space for online court observers.

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LEGAL ETHICS & MALPRACTICE

Brief

ACLU Can Fight For Amicus Protections In Conn. Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

In a seeming reversal of a Tuesday order, the Connecticut Appellate Court on Wednesday allowed the ACLU's Connecticut litigation arm and five other legal advocacy groups to file friend-of-the-court briefs in a case questioning whether an unapproved amicus brief in a separate case defamed an acquitted ex-Yale student.

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DEALS

Deals Rumor Mill

CapVest Seeks $11.7B Stake In Stada, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

British private equity firm CapVest Partners is looking to take a major stake in German drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel in a roughly $11.7 billion deal, Comedy Central's "South Park" creators have nabbed a $1.5 billion five-year streaming rights deal with Paramount, and ExxonMobil wants to explore deepwater blocks in Trinidad and Tobago for oil and gas. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other deal rumors from the past week.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Miami Van Gogh Cafe, Museum Exhibitor Settle TM Suit

By Elliot Weld

A company that runs an immersive Vincent van Gogh-themed exhibit has reached a deal to settle trademark infringement claims it brought against Miami's Van Gogh Cafe.

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PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION

'May The Flow Be With You': Meta Team Made Menstrual Jokes

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Meta legal vice president defending the company in a California federal trial over allegations it illegally gathers users' data from menstrual-tracking app Flo acknowledged Thursday that members of Meta's communications team made "inappropriate" menstruation-related jokes while discussing the issue, with one employee telling another: "May the flow be with you."

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Roblox Wants To Escape Suit Alleging It Tracked Kids' Data

By Joyce Hanson

A lawsuit accusing Roblox of harvesting users' personal data despite knowing many of them are under the age of 13 is an attempt to distort and weaponize privacy statutes, the online gaming platform has told a California federal judge in a bid to have the case dismissed.

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COMPETITION

EU Probes If KKR Gave 'Incorrect Or Misleading' Merger Info

By Bryan Koenig

European Union antitrust enforcers announced an investigation Thursday into whether KKR & Co. Inc. provided "incorrect or misleading information" as part of the review of its $23.7 billion acquisition of NetCo that received unconditional approval last year.

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EMPLOYMENT

Encore Series, Philadelphia Orchestra End Antitrust Spat

By Gina Kim

Encore Series, formerly the Philly Pops, and the Philadelphia Orchestra ended their two-year-old litigation centered on allegations of anticompetitive conduct and breach of contract over live symphony concerts in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, according to a notice Thursday in federal court. 

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Post-Gazette Says Union Attys Can't Get 'Market Rate' Fees

By Matthew Santoni

The law firm of Jubelirer Pass & Intrieri PC should not be able to recover "market rate" attorney fees when it charged several unions at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "low bono" prices to defend pickets, the newspaper publisher told a state court.

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Talent Exec Says Firm Took OnlyFans Clients, Ousted Her

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts talent management agency is facing a lawsuit in state court alleging it convinced a smaller competitor to bring her clients, including multiple OnlyFans performers, to the firm, then sidelined her and later broke an agreement to continue paying her commissions after she quit in frustration over her treatment.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Glass Lewis Sues Texas Over Proxy Advisory Restrictions Law

By Sarah Jarvis

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. LLC sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday over a recently passed state law that it argues requires the firm to "publicly condemn itself" when its advice for clients reflects certain viewpoints the government disfavors.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS

FCC Sheds Rules For Older Tech As Axing Other Regs Proceed

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday jettisoned some older rules applying to technologies that have fallen out of general use and asserted the power to wield an expedited procedure in the future to get rid of other rules it deems outdated.

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More Sinclair Stations Reach Consent Decrees On Kid TV Ads

By Carolina Bolado

Broadcasters in three states reached consent decrees with the Federal Communications Commission following a wider enforcement action against Sinclair Broadcast Group over Hot Wheels commercials aired during a children's Hot Wheels program in violation of FCC rules.

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New FCC Auction Criticized For Lack Of Tribal Window

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission pushed ahead with a new auction of the airwaves Thursday, but its rejection of a tribal "priority" window led to criticism from one FCC member.

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COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS

Ex-Astros CEO Says He Fully Trusted Owner During 2011 Sale

By Catherine Marfin

A former Houston Astros CEO testified Thursday in state court that the baseball team fully trusted owner Drayton McLane Jr. during his 2011 sale of the team when he said Comcast Corp. could deliver on a plan estimated to be worth $700 million over eight years.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Anthropic Ruling Creates Fair Use Framework For AI Training

A California federal court’s recent ruling that Anthropic’s use of copyrighted books to train its large language model qualified as fair use provides important guidance for both artificial intelligence developers and copyright holders because it distinguishes between transformative uses and unauthorized uses involving pirated or format-shifted works, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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Series

Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Courts 'Turning Up The Heat' On AI Fake Citation Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

As the volume of sanctions orders resulting from attorneys' use of faulty citations blamed on artificial intelligence continues to rise, federal judges are beginning to pivot from financial sanctions to more creative means of disciplining lawyers, including targeting their professional reputations in ways that could really hurt.

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Trump Admin Making Another EO Appeal, Targeting WilmerHale

By Jack Karp

The Trump administration is appealing a D.C. federal judge's ruling that President Donald Trump's executive order targeting WilmerHale amounts to a "staggering" assault on the First Amendment, according to a notice filed Friday.

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Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

By Craig Clough

When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

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Former Jan. 6 Prosecutor, 2 Other Ex-DOJ Employees File Suit

By Rose Krebs

A former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has filed a federal lawsuit along with two other ex-Department of Justice employees alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Epic Defends Apple Antitrust Injunction After Birthright Ruling

By Dorothy Atkins

Epic Games has told the Ninth Circuit the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order should not affect a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order issued in its antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies, arguing Apple misread the high court's precedent.

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Judge Keeps Nationwide Block On Birthright Citizenship EO

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge Friday refused to narrow a nationwide injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, saying any narrower alternative would not be enough to protect a group of states from their asserted harms.

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Trump Admin Loses Sanctuary Fight With Ill., For Now

By Hailey Konnath

An Illinois federal judge Friday threw out the Trump administration's first suit challenging local sanctuary policies, ruling that it's within Illinois', Cook County's and Chicago's rights to opt out of helping the federal government with immigration enforcement efforts.

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11th Circ. Calls Dismissal Of Ga. Bar Bias Suit 'Indefensible'

By Chart Riggall

An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared all but certain Friday that it would revive a Georgia attorney's race bias suit against the state's bar association, calling a federal district court's dismissal of her claims that the bar has a two-tiered disciplinary system "indefensible."

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Podcaster At Fees Hearing Blames His Atty For Sanctions

By Zach Dupont

A podcaster accused of spreading lies that a former Dominion Voting Systems Inc. executive rigged the 2020 election blamed his lawyer Friday for his noncompliance with the Colorado federal court, accusing the attorney of "malpractice" and "negligence."

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Dentons Stalling Discovery In Terraform Ch. 11, Court Told

By Alex Wittenberg

The bankruptcy plan administrator for failed cryptocurrency platform Terraform Labs has accused Dentons US LLP of blocking his discovery requests in an attempt to secure final approval of some $25 million in fees, saying the law firm is seeking to "run out the clock" to dodge an investigation into its role in Terraform's collapse.

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Veteran CFPB Enforcement Atty Heads For The Exit

By Jon Hill

A longtime Consumer Financial Protection Bureau litigator told a Virginia federal court on Friday that she is leaving after more than a decade at the agency, becoming the latest departure at the regulator as its future under the Trump administration remains in limbo.

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Legal Org Urges DC Circ. To Reject Trump's Tariff Powers

By Anna Scott Farrell

The D.C. Circuit should affirm a ruling that sided with toy makers and blocked President Donald Trump from using an international economic law to impose emergency tariffs because the law does not give the president the authority he claims, a legal organization argued.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the owner of a £6 million ($8 million) mansion once rented by Adele sue real estate consultants Strutt & Parker, Romanian-Australian mining investor Vasile Frank Timis bring a claim against reputation and privacy firm Schillings, and a Chinese businessman bring a legal action against his former lawyer over an alleged £12.5 million mortgage fraud.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Glass Lewis brought a lawsuit against Texas over a measure it claims requires the proxy advisory firm to "publicly condemn itself" when its advice for clients reflects certain viewpoints the government disfavors. Meanwhile, a new proposed class action alleges Boeing employees on long-term disability leave missed out on a $12,000 bonus distributed after workers ratified a union contract. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Jones Day and DLA Piper lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit overturned a more than $125 million judgment against Medtronic's CoreValve unit for infringing a Colibri Heart Valve LLC patent.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Promo that reads 2025 Rising Stars Promo that reads Meet Law360’s Newest Section: Criminal Practice with a photo of a bronze Lady Justice statue in the foreground and gavel in the background

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

ABP Corp.

Allergan PLC

Allianz SE

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Federation of Musicians

Anthropic PBC

Apollo Global Management LLC

Apple Inc.

Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists

Atlanta Hawks

BNP Paribas SA

BTI Consulting Group Inc.

Barclays PLC

Bloomberg LP

Boston University

British Broadcasting Corp.

ByteDance Ltd.

Capital One Financial Corp.

Cargill Inc.

Center for Appellate Litigation

Chevron Corp.

Cinven Ltd.

Comcast Corp.

Comedy Central

CorMedix Inc.

Credit Suisse Group AG

Datadog Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Epic Games Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Fastweb SpA

Fifth Third Bancorp

Fort Point Capital

Glass Lewis & Co. LLC

Google LLC

Gunvor

H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB

HSBC Holdings PLC

Hobsons Inc.

Houston Astros

Houston Regional Sports Network LP

Instagram Inc.

International Longshoremen's Association

Investments Ltd.

Johnson & Johnson

KKR & Co. Inc.

Kestra Medical Technologies Inc.

Kimmel Center Inc.

Learning Resources Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Los Angeles Times

MS Amlin PLC

Major League Baseball Inc.

Medtronic PLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

National Amusements Inc

National Basketball Association Inc.

Netflix Inc.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

Pandora Media Inc.

Paramount Global

Pinnacle Financial Partners

PowerSchool Group LLC

RedBird Capital Partners

Roblox Corp.

SIG Susquehanna

San Diego Padres

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television & Radio Artists

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.

Sirius XM Radio Inc.

Skydance Media LLC

Spotify Technology SA

State Bar of Georgia

Synovus Financial Corp.

Texas Rangers

The Boeing Co.

TikTok Inc.

Twitter Inc.

University of Miami

Verizon Communications Inc.

WNBA Enterprises LLC

Washington Legal Foundation

Yale University

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Adams & Reese

Adamski Moroski

Advisors LLC

Arnold & Porter

Baker Donelson

Baker McKenzie

Bass Berry

Beck Redden

Burakiewicz & DePriest

Cain & Skarnulis

Carr Allison

City of Chicago Department of Law

Clement & Murphy

Clyde & Co

Cole Schotz

Connor Weber

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

Crowell & Moring

Curis Law

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

DWF LLP

David G. Hill & Associates

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Diserio Martin

Dobrowski Stafford

Enyo Law

Faegre Drinker

Finnegan

FisherBroyles

Fried Frank

Friedland Cianfrani

Gateley PLC

Geldards

Gibson Dunn

Glaser Weil

Green LLP

Hamilton Brook

Harris Karstaedt

Harrison LLP

Hilgers Graben

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Holman Fenwick

Holwell Shuster

Irwin Mitchell

Jackson Walker LLP

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Jubelirer Pass

K&L Gates

Kennedys Law LLP

King & Ballow

Kirkland & Ellis

Labaton Keller

Lana Sullivan Law

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of P.B. Tufariello

Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron

Leason Ellis

Leech Tishman

Lerner David

Littler Mendelson

Lowey Dannenberg

MILS Legal Ltd

Mark S. Zaid PC

Mayer Brown

McDermott Will & Emery

McDowell Knight

McGuireWoods

Mignott Law Group

Miller Fair

Mills & Reeve

Mishcon de Reya

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Morrison & Foerster

Nall & Miller

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Procopio Cory

Quinn Emanuel

Reid Collins

Richards Layton

Robinson Stewart Montgomery

Ropes & Gray

Russ August

Seila Law

Shipman & Goodwin

Sidley Austin

Siri & Glimstad

Skadden Arps

Spector Roseman

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Swift Currie

TLT LLP

Troutman

Trowers & Hamlins

Wachtell Lipton

Ward Hadaway

Wedlake Bell

Weightmans LLP

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Wofsey Rosen

Yetter Coleman

gunnercooke LLP

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

European Commission

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Georgia Supreme Court

Illinois Attorney General's Office

National Credit Union Administration

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Superior Court of Massachusetts

Texas Attorney General's Office

The Crown Prosecution Service

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Navy

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama