It now looks like both the 5th and 9th Circuits both agree that “removal” of copyright management information (CMI) requires the defendant’s removal of CMI from an existing copy — not a creation of a new copy that never included any CMI. Both courts focused on the text of Section 1202(b) and the words “remove or alter.”
5th Circuit’s decision in Kipp Flores Architects, LLC v. AMH Creekside Development, LLC:
9th Circuit decision in Doe 1 v. Github
