It’s been a hot minute since our last status report. Right now, we are in the doldrums of discovery. We do not expect any other summary judgment decisions on fair use in AI training until summer 2026 at the earliest. So far, 3 judges ruled on fair use, 2 for and 1 against. But their decisions were nuanced. We summarized them in the below post in what we call the Fair Use Triangle.
Highlights in this status report:
3 cases are on appeal: Doe 1 v. Github (DMCA CMI claim) and Thomson Reuters v. ROSS Intelligence (copyrightability of headnotes and fair use in AI training) are on interlocutory appeal in the 9th and 3d Circuit, respectively. Raw Story Media v. OpenAI is already on appeal in the 2d Circuit after dismissal of its DMCA CMI claim for lack of Article III standing. We have now moved these cases on appeal to the top of the chart.
2 cases have settled: Bartz v. Anthropic has a $1.5 class action settlement preliminarily approved by Judge Alsup. Vacker v. Eleven Labs settled in the District of Delaware. We provide a link to the Bartz class action settlement website below.
No court will decide fair use in AI training until summer 2026 at the earliest. Judge Lee and Judge Saylor will have the next opportunity. Court watchers will have to powder their noses.
Today, October 8, 2025, there are two important hearings:
- In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement Litigation: Judge Stein “will hear oral argument on OpenAI’ s motion to dismiss the Consolidated Class Action Complaint (Dkt. No. 324), OpenAI’ s motion to strike portions of the Consolidated Class Action Complaint (Dkt. No. 336), Microsoft’s motion to strike portions of the Consolidated Class Action Complaint (Dkt. No. 326), OpenAI’s motion to dismiss the First Amended Complaint in Ziff Davis, Inc. v. OpenAI, Inc., No. 25-cv4315 (Dkt. No. 405), and OpenAI’s motion to partially stay that action (Dkt. No. 134) in Courtroom 23A of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse on October 8, 2025, at 2:15 p.m.” [UPDATE: After a four-hour hearing, Judge Stein took the motions under advisement and said he’d issue a ruling in the near future.]
- In Concord Music v. Anthropic, Judge Lee will hear argument on Concord Music’s motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint and Modify Scheduling Order, to include a new claim related to Anthropic’s alleged bittorrenting from shadow libraries (as revealed in the Bartz v. Anthropic case). The hearing is today, Oct. 8, 2025, at 11:00 AM in San Jose, Courtroom 7, 4th Floor. [UPDATE: Judge Lee denied the motion for leave to amend.]
UPDATE: On October 9, 2025, two professors sued Apple in a suit similar to the lawsuit filed by Hendrix. We have added Martinez-Conde v. Apple to the the list below. The total now is 52 suits.
We created a new last column to track the dates for summary judgment briefing or hearings.
| Case name | Jurisdiction | Judge | Latest status | |
| COURTS OF APPEAL | ||||
| Doe 1 v. Github, Inc. | 9th Circuit (interlocutory appeal) | TBA | Fully briefed. Waiting oral argument date. | |
| Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH et al v. ROSS Intelligence Inc. | 3d Circuit (interlocutory appeal) | TBA | ROSS (appellant) filed opening brief. 10 Amici filed briefs in support. | |
| Raw Story Media v. OpenAI | 2d Circuit (appeal of DMCA CMI claim) | TBA | Raw Story Media filed opening brief. OpenAI brief due Nov. 10, 2025. Raw Story Media reply due Dec. 8, 2025. | |
| N.D. CALIFORNIA | Summary judgment | |||
| Bartz v. Anthropic | N..D. Cal. | Alsup | CLASS SETTLEMENT The Court granted preliminary approval to the class settlement. Class Website: https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/ Parties notice of compliance (10/1/25) | Order on class certification (7/17/25) Order on fair use (6/23/25) |
| Richard Kadrey v. Meta Platforms, Inc. Consolidated with: Chabon v. Meta Farnsworth v. Meta Huckabee v. Meta | N..D. Cal. | Chhabria | DISCOVERY re torrenting / distribution 2d Cons. Am. Complaint (9/9/24) | Partial Summary Judgment to Meta Order on DMCA CMI claim (6/27/25) Order on fair use (6/25/25) *Summary J. Hearing April 2, 2026 |
| Sarah Andersen v. Stability AI | ND Cal. | Orrick | DISCOVERY Status report (9/9/25) Order denying relief re Dr. Ben Zhao (8/29/25) 2d AMENDED COMPLAINT (Oct. 31, 2024) – REDLINE VERSION | *Summary Judgment hearing (11/4/26) |
| In re Google Generative AI Copyright Litigation Consolidating: Zhang v. Google Leovy v. Google | N.D. Cal. | Lee | DISCOVERY Joint Statement re: datasets (10/3/25) 2d Amended Complaint (9/25/25) | *Summary Judgment hearing last day (5/6/26) |
| Concord Music Group, Inc. et al v. Anthropic PBC | N.D. Cal. | Lee | DISCOVERY Hearing on motion to file 2d amended complaint (10/8/25, 11 AM) Motion for leave to file 2d amended complaint (8/11/2025) Order denying motion to dismiss (10/6/25) 1st am. COMPLAINT (4/25/25) | *Summary judgment hearing last day (6/10/26) |
| Strke 3 Holdings v. Meta | N.D. Cal. | Lee | Case Management Statement due by 1/7/2026. Initial Case Management Conference set for 1/21/2026 at 01:30 PM before Judge Eumi K. Lee. This proceeding will be held via a Zoom meeting.(9/19/25) Complaint filed (7/23/25) | |
| In re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation consolidating Paul Tremblay v. OpenAI, Inc. Sarah Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc. Chabon v. OpenAI | N.D. Cal. transferred to MDL before Judge Stein | Araceli Martinez-Olguin | see MDL | |
| Denial v. OpenAI | N.D. Cal. transferred to MDL before Judge Stein | Chen | see MDL | |
| Millette v. OpenAI (related case) | N.D. Cal. transferred to MDL before Judge Stein | Davila | see MDL | |
| Millette v. Google (related case) | N.D. Cal. | Davila | Voluntarily dismissed | |
| Millette v. NVIDIA (related case) | N.D. Cal. | Davila | Voluntarily dismissed | |
| Abdi Nazemian v. NVIDIA Corp. Consolidated with Dubus v. NVIDIA Corp. | N.D. Cal. | Tigar | DISCOVERY Order clarifying discovery does not apply to LLMs outside the Nemo Megtron family (10/2/25) Order denying discovery of datasets (9/25/25) Class Certification Motion due by 7/31/2026 Complaint filed (Mar. 8, 2024) | *Summary Judgment Motion due by (8/21/26) |
| In In Re Mosaic LLM Litigation consolidating: O’Nan v. Databricks, Mosaic ML Makkai v. Databricks, Inc., Mosaic ML | N.D. Cal. | Breyer | DISCOVERY Answer to 1st am complaint (9/2/25) 1st am. complaint (6/27/25) Order by Judge Charles R. Breyer granting 64 Motion to Appoint Interim Lead Counsel. | *Summary judgment replies due (7/10/26). Hearing to be set by the Court. |
| Getty Image v. Stability AI | N.D. Cal. | Thompson | Complaint filed (8/14/25) | |
| Hendrix v. Apple | N.D. Cal. | Gonzalez Rogers | Initial Case Management Conference will be held by Zoom Webinar. Joint Case Management Statement is due by 12/8/2025. Initial Case Management Conference set for 12/15/2025, at 02:00 PM in Oakland, – Videoconference Only. Complaint filed (8/5/25) | |
| Martinez-Conde v. Apple | N.D. Cal. | Labson Freeman | Case Management Statement due by 1/15/2026. Initial Case Management Conference set for 1/22/2026 11:00 AM in San Jose.Videoconference Only Complaint filed (10/9/25) | |
| Brave Software v. News Corp. | N.D. Cal. | Breyer | Voluntarily dismissed | |
| C.D. CALIFORNIA | ||||
| Alcon Entertainment v. Tesla | C.D. Cal. | Wu | 3d am. Complaint filed (10/2/25) | |
| Disney v. Midjourney (related case) | C.D. Cal. | Kronstadt | Midjourney Answer (8/6/25) Complaint filed (6/11/25) | |
| Warner Brothers v. Midjourney (related case) | C.D. Cal. | Kronstadt | Midjourney NOTICE of Interested Parties identifying David Holz, Landmark American Insurance Company, Lloyds of London, Continental Casualty Company, Starstone Specialty Insurance Company, and Relm Insurance Ltd. via Trisura Specialty Insurance Company. Complaint filed (9/4/25) | |
| Disney v. Minimax | C.D. Cal. | Blumenfeld Jr. | Complaint filed (9/16/25) | |
| MDL CASES v. OpenAI and Microsoft | ||||
| In re OpenAI Copyright Infringement Litigation | MULTI DISTRICT LITIGATION | Stein | Oral argument on OpenAI’ s motion to dismiss the Consolidated Class Action Complaint and other motions before Judge Stein October 8, 2025, at 2:15 p.m. | *Summary judgment replies (10/16/26) |
| CLASS PLAINTIFFS | Consolidated Class Action Complaint (6/13/25) | |||
| Authors Guild v. Open AI Consolidated with Alter v. OpenAI, Microsoft, formerly Julian Sancton v. OpenAI, Microsoft consolidated with Basbanes v. Microsoft | SNDY, now in MDL | Stein | DISCOVERY DISPUTES -many disputes not summarized Answer filed by OpenAI (Feb. 16, 2024) Answer filed by Microsoft (Feb. 16, 2024) CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT filed (Feb. 2, 2024). | |
| Basbanes v. Microsoft consolidated for pretrial purposes with Authors Guild v. OpenAI [stayed pending joint submission within 2 weeks of ruling on class certification] | SDNY, now in MDL | Stein | Stayed: STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING BASBANES LITIGATION. Complaint filed (Jan. 5, 2024) | |
| In re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation consolidating Paul Tremblay v. OpenAI, Inc. Sarah Silverman v. OpenAI, Inc. Chabon v. OpenAI | MDL transferred from ND Cal. | Stein | First consolidated am. Complaint (3/13/24) | |
| Denial v. OpenAI | MDL transferred from ND Cal. | Stein | Complaint filed (6/30/25) | |
| NEWS PLAINTIFFS | ||||
| New York Times v. Microsoft consolidated with Daily News and The Center for Investigative Reporting lawsuits below | SDNY, now in MDL | Stein | 2d amended Complaint (5/28/25) Defendant filed motion to dismiss (Feb. 26, 2024). Complaint filed (Dec. 28, 2023) | |
| Daily News v. Microsoft consolidated with New York Times v. Microsoft above | SDNY, now in MDL | Stein | Complaint filed April 30, 2024 | |
| The Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc. v. OpenAI consolidated with New York Times v. Microsoft above | SDNY, now in MDL | Stein | FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT (Sept. 24, 2024) Order on discovery disputes (Sept. 13, 2024) Complaint filed (Jun. 27, 2024) | |
| Intercept Media Inc. v. OpenAI | SDNY, now in MDL | Stein, transferred from Rakoff | Defendant’s Answer to Amended Complaint (12/5/24) First Amended Complaint (Jun. 21, 2024) Complaint filed (Feb. 28, 2024) | |
| Ziff Davis v. OpenAI | MDL, transferred from Del. | Stein | 1st am. Complaint (7/7/25) Complaint filed (4/24/25) | |
| Millette v. OpenAI | MDL, transferred from ND Cal. | Stein | 2d am. Complaint (4/7/25) | |
| END OF MDL CASES | ||||
| SDNY | ||||
| Bird v. Microsoft | SDNY | Stein | *Stayed until the MDL court has ruled on any dispositive motions filed in the MDL v. OpenAI Complaint filed (6/25/25) | |
| Dow Jones & Co. (WSJ/NY Post) v. Perplexity AI | SDNY | Polk Failla | Perplexity Answer (10/6/25) Second Amended Complaint (1/28/25) | |
| Encyclopaedia Britannica v. Perplexity AI | SDNY | Rochon | Perplexity AI, Inc. answer due 11/3/2025 Judge Polk Failla declined as not related to Dow Jones v. Perplexity (9/15/25) Statement of related cases (9/10/25) Complaint (9/10/25) | |
| UMG Recordings v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a/ Udio | SDNY | Hellerstein | 1st am. Complaint filed (10/6/25) | |
| Justice v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a Udio | SDNY | Hellerstein | Uncharted Labs Answer (9/17/25) Complaint (6/18/25) | |
| Lerhman v. Lovo, Inc. | SDNY | Oetken | Lehrman opp. to motion to dismiss (10/6/25) Lovo motion to dismiss (c) claim (9/15/25) 2d am. Complaint (7/31/25) | |
| Advance Local Media v. Cohere | SDNY | McMahon | Protective Order Cohere reply (7/25/25) Advanced Local Media opp. to motion to dismiss (7/2/25) Cohere motion to dismiss (5/22/25) Complaint (2/13/25) | |
| Huckabee v. Bloomberg | SDNY | Garnett | NOTICE of Supplemental Authority (5/30/25) NOTICE of Supplemental Authority (8/22/24) Bloomberg Reply (May 3, 2024) Huckabee opp. to motion to dismiss (4/19/24) Bloomberg motion to dismiss (4/19/24) | |
| DELAWARE | ||||
| Vacker v. Eleven Labs | Del. | Andrews | SETTLEMENT Stay proceedings (10/6/25) | |
| Ziff Davis v. OpenAI | Del. transfered to MDL before Judge Stein | |||
| MASSACHUSETTS | ||||
| UMG Recordings v. Suno | D. Mass. | Saylor IV | Status Conference set for 10/10/2025 at 12:00 PM Suno opp. to motion to amend complaint (10/3/25) UMG Motion to amend Complaint (sealed) (9/19/25) Answer by Suno (Aug. 1, 2024) Complaint filed (Jun. 24, 2024) | *Summary judgment motions (6/19/26) |
| Justice v. Suno | D. Mass. | Saylor IV | 1st am. Complaint (9/22/25) | |
| COLORADO | ||||
| Pierce v. Photobucket | D. Colo. | Brimmer | Scheduling Conference set for October 10, 2025, 2:00. Photobucket motion to stay denied (9/15/25) Complaint filed (12/11/24) |
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