- Judges Alsup and Chhabria issued two opinions finding that Anthropic and Meta engaged in fair use in training their AI models on copyrighted books.
- But their decisions were a mixed bag and unfavorable to Anthropic and Meta for different reasons related to Anthropic’s building of a library of pirated books downloaded from shadow libraries or to Meta’s AI’s potential to cause market dilution from non-infringing AI-generated works.
- Judge Eumi Lee presiding over the Concord Music v. Anthropic case is likely to decide fair use next. A decision by the end of 2025 is possible, although not guaranteed.
As the dust is still settling from the two fair use decisions by Judges Alsup and Chhabria in the last week of June, we can turn our attention to the next federal judge who will decide fair use in the AI copyright litigation.
Looking at the schedules in the cases, it looks like Judge Eumi Lee, presiding over Concord Music v. Anthropic, will be the next judge to rule on whether using copyrighted works to train AI models is a fair use.
Here are the current schedules related to summary judgment motions:
- Nov. 12, 2025 – Concord Music v. Anthropic hearing on SJ (Judge Lee)
- March 13, 2026 – UMG Recordings v. Suno SJ motions due (Chief Judge Saylor IV)
- May 6, 2026 – In re Mosaic LLM Litigation replies on SJ due (Judge Breyer)
- May 6, 2026 – In re Google Gen AI Litigation last day for hearing on SJ (Judge Lee)
- Oct. 16, 2026 – In re ChatGPT Infringement Litigation replies on SJ due (Judge Stein)
- Nov. 4, 2026 – Andersen v. Stability AI hearing on SJ (Judge Orrick)
- Nov. 23, 2026 – Nazemian, Dubus v. NVIDIA replies due on SJ (Judge Tigar)
Judge Lee is the only judge with the possibility of issuing a decision on fair use before the end of 2025.
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3 responses to “Which judge will decide fair use next in AI copyright litigation? Judge Eumi Lee, most likely”
I can’t find anything on the Concord Music docket setting a hearing for November 12 on a summary judgment motion on fair use. Do you have the docket number for the motion?
There’s no motion yet. This was gleaned from the scheduling order: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68889092/262/concord-music-group-inc-v-anthropic-pbc/
Thanks!