If a Cox subscriber used broadband to pirate a novel, Cox did not build its network to enable that outcome. When a user prompts an AI model to write in the style of Cormac McCarthy or generate a sonnet that reads like Shakespeare, the system was built explicitly to fulfill that request. Under Judge Thomas’s framework, that distinction could matter enormously.
Source: SCOTUS’s Cox Ruling Could Impact Publishers’ Fight Against AI
The decision establishes a clear rule that contributory copyright liability requires inducement of infringement or provision of a service tailored to infringement. Mere knowledge that a service is being used for infringement, even coupled with a failure to terminate the infringing user, is insufficient. This provides significant protection for ISPs and other general-purpose service providers.
Source: SCOTUS Copyright Decision a Big Win for ISPs and, Potentially, Other Digital Players
Filed on Monday in San Jose federal court, the publishers push back against tech companies’ continued claim that “fair use” applies to copying millions of copyrighted works without authorization to train AI models. Their case argues that Claude’s AI-generated lyrics are by definition derivatives of the publishers’ lyrics and “compete with and dilute the market” for them. “The evidence in this case is overwhelming,” the filing asserts, adding that Anthropic has “committed copyright infringement on a massive scale.”
Source: Major Publishers Make a Decisive Legal Strike Against Anthropic’s ‘Limitless AI Rip-Offs’
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with internet provider Cox Communications, holding that it cannot be held liable for music piracy even if it did not take adequate steps to curb the copyright infringement. The justices, in a 9-0 ruling, were weighing in on a lengthy legal fight between Cox and Sony Music Entertainment, which had sought huge damages against the internet provider for not blocking service to those who egregiously downloaded protected works.
Source: Supreme Court Limits Liability of ISPs for Music Piracy
A judge has dismissed an antitrust case brought by two US news publishers alleging Google has monopolized the online news market via its search business. US District Judge Amit P. Mehta said the publishers did not successfully prove they have antitrust standing, meaning that they had suffered harm as a result of the tech giant’s actions within the search market.
Source: US judge dismisses Google monopoly claim brought by local publishers
On Thursday, Michael Smith, the man accused of defrauding music streaming services with AI-generated slop tracks, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Smith agreed to pay back the $8,091,843.64 he received in royalties from the streamers, and his charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. “Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times,” said Jay Clayton, a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Source: First-Ever US Streaming Music Fraud Case Ends In a Guilty Plea
The publisher said that Apple, Google, Nvidia, Meta Platforms , OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity AI and Elon Musk’s xAI used pirated copies of its books to teach their chatbots to respond to human prompts. The publisher’s complaint is unique in targeting several tech juggernauts at once. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys at law firm Freedman Normand Friedland, who have brought a similar ongoing case against Big Tech companies on behalf of writer John Carreyrou and other authors.
Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sues tech companies over AI training
In opposition to the American Law Institute’s (ALI) Copyright Restatement and to highlight its “significant inaccuracies, omissions, and mischaracterizations of copyright law,” the Copyright Restatement Transparency Project (CRTP) has announced that its petition to raise awareness has surpassed 500 signatures. The CRTP was formed by members of the copyright and creative communities, including individuals and organizations that participated in the Copyright Restatement for years but ultimately resigned from the project in its final stages.
Source: American Law Institute’s ‘Copyright Restatement’ Project Faces Growing Opposition
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging in its complaint that the AI giant has committed “massive copyright infringement.” Britannica, which owns Merriam-Webster, retains the copyright to nearly 100,000 online articles, which have been scraped and used to train OpenAI’s LLMs without permission, the publisher alleges in the lawsuit.
Source: The dictionary sues OpenAI
The UK government has backtracked on its position on copyright and AI, stating it must take time to “get this right”. Its original position – allowing AI companies to use copyrighted works to train their models with an opt-out option – received major backlash from the likes of Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa. “We have listened,” Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said on Wednesday, saying the government no longer favours that approach.
Source: UK Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry from major artists