In the realm of copyright law, determining the scope of damages and the applicability of the statute of limitations remains a contentious issue. The Supreme Court case of Nealy v. Warner Chappell Music (argued before the Court in February of this year) promises to shed light on this matter, grappling with the question of how far back a plaintiff can seek damages in a copyright infringement case. This pivotal legal battle has significant implications for copyright holders, defendants, and the broader creative industry landscape. Sherman Nealy, a music producer, initiated the lawsuit against War ..read more

OpenAI, Inc. develops artificial intelligence software involving large language models (“LLM”) known as ChatGPT.  In 2023, several authors, including the comedian Sarah Silverman, filed putative class action lawsuits alleging various copyright infringement claims. On February 12, 2024, a District Court in the Northern District of California issued its Order and ruled on the OpenAI defendants’ motions to dismiss various claims in the two pending putative class action lawsuits. The plaintiffs in the two lawsuits alleged similar claims against the OpenAI defendants, specifically asserting cl ..read more

How far back can a plaintiff recover damages in a copyright infringement case?  Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg discuss this contested copyright law question in this installment of “The Briefing” by Weintraub Tobin. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel or listen to this podcast episode here ..read more

Graffiti artists Nekst and Bates have filed a lawsuit against Guess and Macy’s for incorporating their tags in various articles of clothing. Scott Hervey and James Kachmar discuss this case in the next installment of “The Briefing.” Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel or listen to this podcast episode here ..read more

The holding in the Supreme Court case, Jack Daniels Properties v VIP Products, the case of the infringing Bad Spaniels dog toy, limits the applicability of the Rogers test. A recent case in the Ninth Circuit, Punchbowl Inc v. AJ Press, addressed the interplay between the decision in Jack Daniels and the Rogers test. The Rogers test comes from the 1989 Second Circuit case Rogers v. Grimaldi. The case involved a lawsuit brought by Ginger Rogers over a film entitled “Fred and Ginger,” which was about two Italian cabaret performers who, in their act, emulated the dance routines of Fred Astaire and ..read more

Country singer Andy Stone, A.K.A Vince Vance, has renewed his lawsuit against Mariah Carey, which claims that her holiday hit ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ infringes the copyright of his song with the same name. Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler discuss this case on this episode of The Briefing. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel or listen to this podcast episode here ..read more

The Delaware District Court’s Ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment in the case of Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence Inc will provide guidance for similar AI training/copyright infringement cases and, as a bonus, it provides a bit of clarity (or muddies the waters… depending on your point of view) in the application of a post-Warhol fair use defense. These are the basic facts underlying this lawsuit. Ross was a legal research AI startup. (I say “was” because Ross AI closed down as an operating company in 2020 – Ross says it was due to the Thomson Reuters lawsuit – but its insurance c ..read more

The creator of a LEGO brick Second Holy Temple product is accusing another LEGO creator of copyright infringement for their interpretation of the same temple. Scott Hervey and Eric Caligiuri discuss this case on this episode of The Briefing. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel or listen to this podcast episode here. Read Eric’s article about this case here ..read more

Thomson Reuters sued Ross Intelligence for using its content to train its AI technology. Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler talk about this copyright dispute on this installment of The Briefing. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel or listen to this podcast episode here ..read more

A recent article in The Hollywood Reporter explores TV and movie studios’ potential use of AI for generating scripts. Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg discuss this and other statements in the article on this episode of The Briefing. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel. Listen to this podcast episode here ..read more