Meta Nears Beating Cert. Bid By Artist Suing Over IP In Ads

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday that she's inclined to deny certification to a putative class of artists who say Meta illegally allowed third parties to use their copyrighted works in advertisements, saying she's concerned about meeting the commonality and typicality requirements for classwide treatment.

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DC Circ. Says It Won't Block FCC OK Of Nexstar-Tegna Deal

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit said Thursday it is not going to block the Federal Communications Commission's approval of Nexstar's $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna while everyone from satellite companies to cable groups to state enforcers sue to stop the merger they say will harm competition.

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OpenAI Accused Of Hiding Evidence In NYT Copyright Fight

By Ivan Moreno

The New York Times and other news organizations suing OpenAI Inc. for copyright infringement asked a New York federal judge on Thursday to sanction the company, accusing it of deleting ChatGPT conversation logs and concealing for two years that it possessed tools to search for plaintiffs' content in training data and ChatGPT outputs.

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Tesla Keeps Part Of Arbitration Award In Battery IP Feud

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge has backed part of an arbitration award blocking a Tesla supplier from selling certain electric vehicle battery equipment to anyone other than Tesla, but said the arbitrator needs to take another look at other parts of the injunction.

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Minn. Says Social Media Giants Are Emulating Big Tobacco

By Jonathan Capriel

Minnesota officials are looking to shut down a social media trade group's bid to block a state law requiring mental health warnings at the login page, telling a federal court that such a notice is constitutionally permitted commercial speech regulation, not that different from tobacco warnings.

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NY Courts Ban 'Smart' Glasses Over Secret Recording Abilities

By Lauren Berg

"Smart" glasses containing cameras and other recording devices will be banned from all state courts in New York beginning later this month, making it the apparent first in the nation to implement a statewide blanket ban on the wearable technology.

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Interview

6 Questions For NGSO Satellite Advocate David Redl

By Christopher Cole

Non-geostationary orbit satellites are at the forefront of the new space race, and David Redl, the executive director of the new SpaceConnect Association, wants to make sure decision-makers on the national and global scenes craft policies that match the industry's frenetic pace.

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NHTSA Says AVs Must Stop Interfering With First Responders

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Transportation has urged autonomous vehicle developers to come up with fixes to driverless vehicles interfering with police, fire trucks and ambulances on roadways, saying an autonomous vehicle that "cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public."

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Photographers Group Rebuts Judiciary On Court Cameras

By Courtney Bublé

The National Press Photographers Association pushed back on the federal judiciary's claims that allowing cameras in courtrooms would be problematic.

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FCC, IHeart Reach Deal Over 'Showola' Investigation

By Rae Ann Varona

The Federal Communications Commission and iHeartMedia have reached a deal resolving the commission's investigation into whether the radio station giant gave musicians additional airplay on its stations in exchange for them performing at its live concerts or festivals, the FCC announced Thursday.

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FCC Doesn't Need New Tools To Curb Robocalls, Org. Says

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission should cut down on robocalls not by making it harder for service providers to obtain new numbers, but by leveraging its control of the phone number assigning system to force them to use the anti-spoofing tools the agency already provides.

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Orbital Data Centers Pose Environmental Risks, FCC Warned

By Ganesh Setty

Groups aimed at combatting pollution have urged the Federal Communications Commission to assess the environmental effects of low-orbit, satellite-based data centers before issuing any licenses for such projects, saying existing proposals "describe their plans in grandiose, civilization-changing terms."

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Brief

FCC Puts Voice Provider On Robocall Compliance Plan

By Nadia Dreid

A company that provides cloud-based call center software and voice services is in hot water with the Federal Communications Commission over its robocall database paperwork, but it has worked out a deal with the agency that will allow it to avoid a fine.

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Brief

WTO, IMF, World Bank, IEA Cite Uneven Iran War Toll

By Dylan Moroses

The ongoing war in Iran sharply raised energy and fertilizer prices when it began, and although those prices have dropped, the conflict continues to fuel significant trade volatility, according to a joint statement issued by the leaders of four global economic rule-setting bodies.

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Brief

EU, South Africa Meet To Discuss Clean Energy Trade Deal

By Dylan Moroses

South African and European officials began an intergovernmental dialogue Thursday to continue implementation efforts on the green energy trade deal signed last year, with particular focus on the kinds of businesses and investment projects the deal should encourage, according to a news release by the European Commission.

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9th Circ. Spurns Doxo's Bid To Arbitrate Class Action

By Sydney Price

The Ninth Circuit backed a Washington district court's decision to deny online bill-pay service Doxo Inc.'s bid to arbitrate class claims that it deceived customers by not disclosing fees upfront, saying the company waited too long and litigated too much before pushing for arbitration.

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Judge Shreds Instrument Tuning Patent In Suit Against Roland

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge has thrown out a suit accusing Japanese audio tech giant Roland Corp. of infringing a patent on a device used to tune guitars and other musical instruments, finding the claims aren't patent eligible.

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Wash. Judge Grants Amazon Win In Audible Auto-Enroll Suit

By Ben Adlin

A Washington federal judge handed a win to Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, dismissing a shopper's proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant and its subsidiary Audible Inc. of deceptively enrolling customers in audiobook service subscriptions.

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Accellion Defeats Bid To Expand Classes In Data Breach Suit

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge rejected a bid by plaintiffs suing software vendor Accellion over a sprawling data breach to broaden a previous order that limited class certification to allow only for the recovery of nominal damages, finding the introduction of a new damages expert wasn't enough to change the outcome.

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Judge Urged To Deny Transfer Of SpaceX Land-Swap Suit

By Madeline Lyskawa

Environmental groups urged a D.C. federal judge to reject an attempt by SpaceX and the federal government to transfer the groups' lawsuit challenging a land-exchange deal to Texas, saying the deal was reviewed and approved by officials and lawmakers in D.C.

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MSN, Daily Mail Say Atty's Vacation Photos Suit Lacks Pa. Ties

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Counsel for British tabloid The Daily Mail and the Microsoft Network asked a Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday to dismiss a lawyer's privacy lawsuit over publication of his vacation photos, arguing that the pictures were public and that his lawsuit had nothing substantial tying it to the Keystone State.

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Google Says Accessories Co. Sells Counterfeit Pixel Chargers

By Gina Kim

Google filed a trademark infringement suit in Florida federal court Thursday alleging an electronics accessories company is selling counterfeit charging devices bearing its "Google" mark and had gone so far as to unsuccessfully apply for a "blatant imitation of Google's G logo" trademark at one point, before abandoning it.

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Hologic Faces Class Action Over Ransomware Attack

By Carolyn Muyskens

Hologic Inc., a medical technology company focused on women's health, has been hit with a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court alleging sensitive personal data it held was exposed in a recent cyberattack.

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Mass. Justices Affirm Posttrial Forensic Exam Of Cellphones

By Elizabeth Daley

Massachusetts' highest court said Thursday that a man convicted of murder may seek posttrial access to cellphones to look for potential evidence in support of a new trial, explaining that a 2012 statute expanding access to forensic testing for biological material also applies to digital and electronic evidence.

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Brief

Google Sued Again Over Nest 'Harvesting' Passersby Data

By Hailey Konnath

Google has been sued once again over its Nest security cameras' artificial intelligence-powered "harvesting" of biometric data of millions of passersby without their consent, an "intrusion" that the latest suit says "goes beyond scanning faces."

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5 Firms Guide As Oxylabs Lands $130M From Warburg Pincus

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Data infrastructure platform Oxylabs on Thursday revealed that it reached a $3.6 billion valuation after securing a $130 million investment from private equity shop Warburg Pincus in a deal steered by five law firms.

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Blue Origin's Valuation Soars To $130B, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Blue Origin's valuation hit $130 billion after a $10 billion funding round; state lawyers are finalizing an antitrust lawsuit related to Paramount's planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery; and Fiserv is considering selling its payments infrastructure business to U.S. banking giants.

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3rd Circ. Unsure DHS Can Deny Virtual Access For Detainees

By Matthew Santoni

The Third Circuit seemed skeptical of the federal government's argument Thursday that it had no obligation to offer immigrant detainees virtual access to state criminal courts, questioning whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was denying detainees' rights to a speedy trial or access to evidence.

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Lessons From The DOJ's 1st Enforcement Policy Declination

The first U.S. Department of Justice declination to prosecute alleged export control violations and national security offenses offers a window into the operation of the administration’s recently implemented corporate enforcement and voluntary self‑disclosure policy, and how companies' compliance and cooperation efforts should be targeted, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

The year's second quarter brought several notable banking law developments to New York, including a proposal to align state stablecoin rules with the federal Genius Act, fresh fair lending and cybersecurity guidance from state regulators, and a significant Second Circuit holding on preemption, say attorneys at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

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Series

Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

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Ex-Associate Says Jackson Lewis Pushed Her Out After Leave

By MJ Koo

A former associate attorney who was on the partnership track at Jackson Lewis PC has brought suit against the employment law firm in California state court, alleging that it refused to accommodate her temporary medical restrictions after she returned from leave and pressured her to accept a demotion or resign.

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Woodward Running DOJ Antitrust Division Alarms Observers

By Bryan Koenig

When Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. quietly took over direct oversight late last month of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, there was no formal announcement, no White House action or U.S. Senate consultation, and little to signal what lies ahead.

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Arizona Atty Faces Possible Sanctions Over Bogus Quotes

By Emily Sawicki

An Arizona federal judge is mulling fee sanctions against an attorney found to have included erroneous quotations in a brief she filed in her client's employment discrimination case, amid what he called her history of "improper litigation conduct" in the pending matter and previous cases.

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Chicago US Atty Faces Ill. Judge For Discussing Sealed Case

By Lauraann Wood

Chicago's U.S. attorney stood silent for nearly 30 minutes Thursday as an Illinois magistrate judge sternly criticized him for publicly discussing a gang-related kidnapping case before it was officially unsealed, though she stopped short of finding his conduct constituted a deliberate violation of court orders.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Appeals Conviction In ICE Obstruction Case

By Ganesh Setty

A former Wisconsin state judge convicted of obstructing immigration authorities trying to arrest a defendant after he appeared in her courtroom lodged an appeal before the Seventh Circuit on Thursday, after avoiding a prison sentence but being fined $5,000.

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Grassley Claims Smith's Team Mishandled Classified Docs

By Jack Karp

Individuals working in then-special counsel Jack Smith's office may have mishandled classified information while investigating President Donald Trump, according to messages obtained by the Senate Judiciary Committee, committee Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley has told the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Attys Win $2.5M Fee Award After $63K Native Bias Verdict

By Joyce Hanson

A South Dakota hotel must pay an Indigenous advocacy group about $2.5 million in attorney fees following a trial jury's $63,191 verdict in a civil rights case claiming the business discriminated against Native American tribe members based on race, a federal judge has ruled.

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