The Paris Judicial Court has ordered Google to block nineteen additional pirate site domains through its public DNS resolver. The blockade was requested by Canal+ and aims to stop pirate streams of Champions League games. In its defense, Google argued that rightsholders should target intermediaries higher up the chain first, such as Cloudflare’s CDN, but the court rejected that.
Rights
X Sues Music Publishers Over “Weaponized” DMCA Takedown Conspiracy
Elon Musk’s X Corp. filed a landmark antitrust complaint against the NMPA, Sony, Universal, and other major music publishers, claiming that they used a coordinated “extortionate campaign” to force licensing deals. The lawsuit alleges that a flood of “baseless” DMCA notices targeted over 200,000 posts and suspended 50,000 users, allegedly to coerce X to sign industry-wide agreements.
Source: X Sues Music Publishers Over “Weaponized” DMCA Takedown Conspiracy * TorrentFreak
11th Cir.: YouTube not required to run Content ID to preserve DMCA safe harbor
YouTube was entitled to seek protection from the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act even though it had, but did not deploy, technology capable of identifying matches between videos identified in takedown requests and videos with similar content elsewhere on its service, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has held.
Source: 11th Cir.: YouTube not required to run Content ID to preserve DMCA safe harbor
UMG’s latest major AI partnership arrives via tech giant NVIDIA
The world’s largest music rights company announced Tuesday (January 6) a strategic collaboration with AI computing giant NVIDIA, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, currently valued at approximately $4.56 trillion. According to a press release, the partnership will see NVIDIA and UMG “undertake collaborative research and development to promote shared objectives of advancing human music creation and rightsholder compensation.”
Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
Amazon’s “Ask this Book” and ElevenLabs’ “VoiceChat” features add a new layer of AI-powered interactivity between books and readers—and raise questions about the legality and reliability of such tools. “‘Ask this Book’ is designed as a reading comprehension tool for customers who have already purchased or borrowed books, providing factual information to help them better understand what they’re reading, with answers that are non-shareable and non-copyable,” an Amazon spokesperson told PW.
Source: Interactive AI Features in E-books, Audiobooks Drive Debate
The Question of AI and Copyright Infringement is Actually an Easy One
Much of the focus on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has been on training data ingestion—the moment when AI “steals” from creators. But legally, that’s not where the real fight should be. No new formulation of copyright law by Congress, as suggested by some academics, is necessary. By considering these seven unique aspects of GenAI systems, copyright analysis is actually easy.
Source: The Question of AI and Copyright Infringement is Actually an Easy One
Legal Paperwork Flies in Intensifying Universal Music v. Suno Suit
This latest indication of a protracted courtroom confrontation arrived in the form of a signed-and-sealed confidentiality order. Just recently approved by the magistrate judge, the modified order will afford both sides quite a bit of discretion to block the public disclosure of potentially sensitive discovery materials. Then there’s a distinct “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” designation for particularly sensitive documents, besides, among others, a “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – SOURCE CODE” option.
Source: Legal Paperwork Flies in Intensifying Universal Music v. Suno Suit
AI Model Training on Trial: Getty Images v Stability AI Decision Explained
In November 2025, the English High Court delivered judgment in Getty Images (US) Inc & Others v Stability AI Ltd EWHC 2863 (Ch). This is the first UK decision to directly address whether generative AI models constitute infringing copies under English copyright law when trained on copyrighted material.
Source: RDJ LLP | AI Model Training on Trial: Getty Images v Stability AI…
A DMCA “Bot War”: Google Search Processed 5 Billion Takedown Requests in 2025
Google Search has reached a staggering new DMCA takedown milestone, processing over five billion copyright removal requests in 2025. Driven by a massive automated reporting spike, mostly from Link-Busters, the total all-time count has now eclipsed 15.8 billion. Not all reported URLs are actually removed, however. In fact, many were not even indexed by Google to begin with, which is another side effect of the ‘bot war’.
Source: A DMCA “Bot War”: Google Search Processed 5 Billion Takedown Requests in 2025 * TorrentFreak
AI data crunch speeds towards Napster moment
The free lunch will come to an end for artificial intelligence in 2026. Over the past decade, developers from Google to Alibaba have largely been helping themselves to the internet buffet, devouring copyrighted material without permission or payment. Make no mistake, however: the bill is coming soon. Consider it AI’s Napster moment.