The U.S. copyright lawsuits against AI companies continue unabated. Here are the Top 5 news items:
1. Apple joins the copyright party. Although Apple has been roundly criticized for its slow development of Apple Intelligence, that hasn’t stopped book authors from suing Apple for copyright infringement in proposed class actions. In addition to the earlier filed Hendrix v. Apple, 2 other book author suits were recently filed against Apple: Martinez-Conde v. Apple and Alexander v. Apple, all in the Northern District of California. Because they all allege basically the same thing–i.e., that Apple allegedly downloaded and used pirated copies of books from shadow libraries online–we should expect all 3 cases will be treated as related and therefore get assigned to Judge Gonzalez Rogers. Martinez-Conde is already reassigned to her and Alexander will, too.
The lawsuits against Apple are a part of a much larger strategy of book authors suing nearly all the major AI companies in the United States for alleged use of pirated copies of books in online shadow libraries. Indeed, it looks like the only 3 US big tech companies (that have their own models) to avoid these suits are Amazon, Oracle, and Elon Musk’s xAI. Everyone else has been sued.
I call this strategy the Shadow Library Strategy. It worked in Bartz v. Anthropic (see Judge Alsup’s decision), so book authors are chomping at the bit to replicate Bartz in other suits. The beauty of the Shadow Library Strategy for the book authors is that, in terms of potential statutory damages (which are determined per work infringed no matter how many copies made), the potential recovery is the same. If the book authors had won on the separate claim for training the model in addition to the initial acquisition of copies from shadow libraries, the number of books is still the same. E.g., 1 book downloaded from a shadow library and made into 10,000 copies during the training process is still treated as 1 book infringed in computing statutory damages.
That’s why I have said that, on balance, Judge Alsup’s Solomonic decision (while also finding fair use in Anthropic’s training) was better for the plaintiff book authors. It led to a $1.5 billion settlement, the largest in U.S. copyright history. The plaintiff book authors in other cases are trying at least to win on this issue or secure a comparable settlement in all the other lawsuits listed below.
2. In addition to the new suits against Apple, 4 other new copyright suits have been filed:
- Woulard v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a Udio in the Northern District of Illinois
- Woulard v. Suno in the Northern District of Illinois
- Tanzer v. Salesforce in the Northern District of California
- Reddit v. SerpAPI LLC, Perplexity AI in the Southern District of New York
The total now = 57 copyright suits. [*This information was updated on Oct. 27, 2025 to include the Woulard v. Suno lawsuit.]
3. Judge Alsup issued his opinion preliminarily approving the Bartz class action settlement. Two new tidbits: the payout per work in the class increased to roughly $3,100 (from $3,000) due to the total number of works in the class (482,460 works were finally identified, not 500,000). And “Attorney Naomi Jane Gray shall be appointed special master for settlement claims provided that Attorney Gray submits a satisfactory declaration.”
4. Judge Lee denies Concord Music’s belated motion for leave to amend complaint to add Shadow Library allegation. Anthropic won a major victory in staving off Concord Music’s attempt to add new allegations related to Anthropic’s use of shadow libraries that were disclosed in the unrelated case Bartz v. Anthropic. Judge Lee held that Concord Music failed to diligently investigate this theory before filing its motion near the close of fact discovery. Anthropic averted a “Bartz II” lawsuit.
5. Google case will be the next test for class action. The Plaintiffs in In re Google Generative AI Litigation filed their motion to certify a class action, with a hearing date on Feb. 4, 2026 before Judge Eumi Lee.
The last column tracks 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 | Appellee’s brief must be filed and served on or before November 21, 2025. 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 | Jaclyn Reding Objection (10/24/25) Judith Barrett Objection (10/20/25) Judge Alsup Opinion (10/17/25) –our summary 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 Joint Status Rep. (10/16/25), conference (11/18/25) 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 (extended to April 30, 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 | Motion to Certify Class (10/15/25) hearing on 2/4/26 Google Answer to 2d Am. Complaint (10/16/25) 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 Order barring questions about torrenting from shadow libraries (Oct. 13, 2025) Order denying Concord Music’s motion to amend Complaint (10/9/25) 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 | ADR Certification (10/7/25) 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 MOTION Notice of Motion and Motion to Modify Scheduling Order and for Leave to File First Amended Consolidated Complaint (10/18/25) –our summary Order granting motion to extend scheduling order (10/15/25) JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER RE DEADLINE TO IDENTIFY CUSTODIANS by Judge Jon S. Tigar granting 191 Stipulation. Identification due by 10/27/2025. 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 replies due by (12/4/26) |
| In In Re Mosaic LLM Litigation consolidating: O’Nan v. Databricks, Mosaic ML Makkai v. Databricks, Inc., Mosaic ML | N.D. Cal. | Breyer | DISCOVERY Discovery dispute letter (10/22/25) Order to amend case scedule (9/4/25) by roughly 2 months; *2 prior stipulated extensions by parties 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 | ORDER DENYING ECF 29 FIRST REQUESTED EXTENSION. The parties have not shown good cause to extend the briefing deadlines. FRCP 16(b)(4). Plaintiffs motion is denied without prejudice. All briefing deadlines remain. Responses due by 10/28/2025. Replies due by 11/4/2025. Stability AI motion to dismiss (10/14/25), hearing on Feb. 10, 2024 Complaint filed (8/14/25) | |
| Hendrix v. Apple | N.D. Cal. | Gonzalez Rogers | Order relating Martinez-Conde (10/21/25) Joint stipulation extending time Apple respond until Dec. 5, 2025 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. | Gonzalez Rogers | ORDER REASSIGNING CASE IT IS ORDERED that this case is directly assigned to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (10/22/25). Complaint filed (10/9/25) | |
| Alexander v. Apple | N.D. Cal. | Mag. Judge Cisneros | Complaint filed (10/22/25) | |
| Tanzer v. Saleforce | N.D. Cal. | Breyer | Summons Executed (10/20/25) Complaint filed (10/15/25) | |
| Brave Software v. News Corp. | N.D. Cal. | Breyer | Voluntarily dismissed | |
| C.D. CALIFORNIA | ||||
| Alcon Entertainment v. Tesla | C.D. Cal. | Wu | ORDER GRANTING JOINT STIPULATION FOR ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR DEFENDANTS TO RESPOND TO PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT by Judge George H Wu. It is hereby ORDERED as follows: 1. The Stipulation is GRANTED. 2. Defendants’ deadline to respond to Plaintiff’s Third Amended Complaint (Dkt. No. 81) is extended from October 23, 2025, to November 6, 2025 (10/17/25). 3d am. Complaint filed (10/2/25) | |
| Disney v. Midjourney (related case) | C.D. Cal. | Kronstadt | Joint Rule 26(f) Report (10/22/25) —our summary Midjourney Answer (8/6/25) Complaint filed (6/11/25) | |
| Warner Brothers v. Midjourney (related case) | C.D. Cal. | Kronstadt | ORDER SETTING RULE 16(b)/26(f) SCHEDULING CONFERENCE by Judge John A. Kronstadt. Counsel shall file a Joint Report consistent with this Order. A hearing is not necessary and, therefore, the matter is taken under submission. Upon review of the Joint Report, a scheduling order will be issued. Rule 26 Meeting Report due by 11/21/2025. (10/14/25) 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 | Oct. 29, 2025 Discovery Conference before Mag. Judge Wang Stipulation re OpenAI’s preservation logs of certain users (10/9/25) –our summary 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 | AMENDED RULE 7.1 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. Identifying Other Affiliate Perplexity AI Ltd., Other Affiliate Perplexity Management Co., LLC, Other Affiliate Perplexity F7 Fund I LP for Perplexity AI, Inc..(10/21/25) 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) | |
| Reddit v. SerpAPI LLC, Perplexity AI | SDNY | Engelmayer | Complaint filed (10/22/25) | |
| UMG Recordings v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a/ Udio | SDNY | Hellerstein | UMG MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Opposition re: 124 MOTION to Dismiss Count Three of the Amended Complaint (10/24/25) Udio Motion to Dismiss DMCA claim (10/10/25) –our summary 1st am. Complaint filed (10/6/25) | |
| Justice v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a Udio | SDNY | Hellerstein | Justice Motion to Correct/Amend Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Am. Complaint (10/24/25) 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 | Discovery Order Granting in Part Suno’s Request re licensing (10/24/25) Suno Motion to file Sur-Reply to UMG Reply (10/24/25) –proposed Sur-Reply UMG Reply (10/20/25) 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) | |
| ND Illinois | ||||
| Woulard v. Uncharted Labs d/b/a Udio | ND Illinois | Ellis | Woulard’s Motion to Correct “Unchartered Labs” to “Uncharted Labs” in Caption (10/21/25). MINUTE entry before the Honorable Sara L. Ellis: The initial telephonic status conference in this matter is set for 12/17/2025 at 9:30 a.m. The parties are directed to review the procedures and requirements for this conference on Judge Ellis’s web site and to submit the required Initial Status Report by 12/10/2025. Attorneys/Parties should appear for the hearing by calling the Toll-Free Number: (650) 479-3207, Access Code: 2314 361 1508. Complaint filed (10/15/25) –our summary | |
| Woulard v. Suno | ND Illinois | Wood | Complaint filed (10/16/25) |
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