Month: April 2025

Doe 1 v. Github 9th Circuit brief of Doe Appellant on DMCA CMI claims

The interlocutory appeal of the interpretation of Section 1202 of the DMCA is now being briefed. Represented by Joseph Saveri Law Firm and David Boies’s law firm, the Doe Appellants make the following arguments on appeal below. The defendant-appellees’ Answering Brief Due (Appellee) is due 5/12/2025. Optional Reply Brief due 21 days after service of…
Read more: Doe 1 v. Github 9th Circuit brief of Doe Appellant on DMCA CMI claims
Authors Guild seeks to amend complaint v. OpenAI, Microsoft to add vicarious liability v. Microsoft, Microsoft’s alleged copying of hundreds of thousands of works in “notorious pirated dataset Books3.”

The Authors Guild and Alter plaintiffs are seeking leave to amend their complaint against OpenAI and Microsoft to make these additions: OpenAI and Microsoft oppose the motion. I expect this motion to be granted. EXCERPTS FROM MOTION OF AUTHORS GUILD
Read more: Authors Guild seeks to amend complaint v. OpenAI, Microsoft to add vicarious liability v. Microsoft, Microsoft’s alleged copying of hundreds of thousands of works in “notorious pirated dataset Books3.”
Copyright Alliance, American Publishers Assn. file amicus briefs v. Meta, to support Kadrey book authors

Two other organizations filed amicus briefs against Meta to support the Kadrey book authors. Both the Copyright Alliance and American Publishers Association filed briefs, bringing the total on the side of the Kadrey book authors to 4 amici compared to only 2 amici on Meta’s side. If we focus on the total extra pages of…
Read more: Copyright Alliance, American Publishers Assn. file amicus briefs v. Meta, to support Kadrey book authors
GW Law Professor Robert Brauneis & other copyright scholars file amicus brief v. Meta’s fair use defense in Kadrey book case

George Washington University Law School Professor Robert Brauneis and other copyright scholars submitted an amicus brief opposing Meta’s fair use defense. This brief can be read as a response to another copyright law scholars brief filed by Harvard Law Professor Rebecca Tushnet in support of Meta’s fair use defense (see Related Stories below). Here’s the…
Read more: GW Law Professor Robert Brauneis & other copyright scholars file amicus brief v. Meta’s fair use defense in Kadrey book case
Amicus Int’l Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers blasts Meta for file sharing stolen books from notorious “illegal websites”

Ten days ago, Harvard Law Professor Rebecca Tushnet filed an amicus brief on behalf of her and other copyright scholars in support of Meta’s defense of fair use in Kadrey v. Meta. That opened the door to other amicus briefs to be filed. After Tushnet’s motion for leave to file an amicus brief, Judge Chhabria…
Read more: Amicus Int’l Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers blasts Meta for file sharing stolen books from notorious “illegal websites”
Judge McMahon issues scheduling order in Advance Local Media v. Cohere

Judge McMahon issued the scheduling order for the Advanced Local Media v. Cohere case. Fact discovery to close on Feb. 27, 2026. All discovery including expert discovery to close on July 24, 2026. Related Stories
Read more: Judge McMahon issues scheduling order in Advance Local Media v. Cohere
OpenAI gains procedural advantage with transfer of all copyright suits to MDL court. Slows litigation.

OpenAI is taking full advantage of the transfer of all copyright litigation to Judge Stein, who presides as the MDL court over all the cases. Some of the plaintiffs are eager to close discovery on July 31, but OpenAI contends that’s premature under MDL procedure. OpenAI has already scored one victory with Magistrate Judge Wang’s…
Read more: OpenAI gains procedural advantage with transfer of all copyright suits to MDL court. Slows litigation.
Suno seeks same discovery from music labels as Udio: artist-label WMFH agreements and deposit copies of sound recordings. Music labels can’t be happy

Udio just scored a major discovery victory in the case against it filed by UMG Recordings. Judge Hellerstein granted Udio’s motion to compel UMG Recordings’ deposit copies of their sound recordings that underlie their copyright infringement claims against Udio. But, what’s even worse for the music labels, is that the order also grants Udio’s motion…
Read more: Suno seeks same discovery from music labels as Udio: artist-label WMFH agreements and deposit copies of sound recordings. Music labels can’t be happy
Judge Martinez denies Jason Allen’s attorney’s motion to withdraw. Lawsuit challenges U.S. Copyright Office view of AI-generated works and authorship through prompt engineering.

Out in the District of Colorado we finally have some recent news in the declaratory judgment action filed by Jason Allen, whose prompt-engineered visual work was denied copyright registration based on the Copyright Office’s strict view that “prompts alone” cannot generate a work of authorship based on the current AI generators. Allen seeks a federal…
Read more: Judge Martinez denies Jason Allen’s attorney’s motion to withdraw. Lawsuit challenges U.S. Copyright Office view of AI-generated works and authorship through prompt engineering.
Judge Hellerstein orders record labels to produce deposit copies of registered works and artist-label agreements. The latter relevant to ownership. Udio scores major discovery win.

A major discovery victory for Udio, the AI music generator. Judge Hellerstein judge granted Udio’s motion to compel the Plaintiff recording labels to produce not only (1) deposit copies of their sound recordings relevant to their claims, but also (2) all artist-label agreements regarding ownership and work-made-for-hire for the works at issue in the case.
Read more: Judge Hellerstein orders record labels to produce deposit copies of registered works and artist-label agreements. The latter relevant to ownership. Udio scores major discovery win.