Author and New York Times contributing Opinion editor Julia Angwin has filed a class action lawsuit against Superhuman, the parent company of Grammarly, which in August released an AI feature that edited users’ work in the style of notable writers and editors. “Expert Review” name-checked writers including Stephen King, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Kara Swisher, and was developed without the creators’ knowledge or consent. (To add insult to injury, Angwin told Wired that the editing suggestions weren’t even good. “I was surprised at how bad it was,” she said.) “Contrary to the apparent belief of some tech companies, it is unlawful […]
Legal
Authors Sue Topps for Unpaid Royalties
Three authors represented by the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency are suing Topps for nonpayment of royalties. Topps sells collectibles and books, including those related to the BattleTech and Shadowrun game franchise, the IP of which Topps aquired in 2003, Writer Beware reports. “This case involves a publisher who has intentionally refused to pay its authors royalties or provide accountings required under the publisher’s contracts with the authors,” the complaint states. “The Topps Company, Inc. has instead strong-armed the authors and insisted that they give up their rights to future royalties so that Topps can change its business model.” Plaintiffs William […]
Publishers Sue Pirate Site Anna’s Archive
Thirteen publishers and the Association of American Publishers have filed suit against Anna’s Archive, a site that copies and distributes pirated books and has been used by tech companies to acquire books as training data for AI products. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses the site of violating copyright on more than 140 million texts, including books and journal articles, and seeks a permanent injunction. “Anna’s Archive is a brazen pirate operation that steals and distributes millions of literary works while outrageously offering access to AI developers in exchange for […]
Amy Griffin’s Classmate Sues for Invasion of Privacy
A former classmate identified as Jane Doe has sued Amy Griffin, author of the NYT-bestselling memoir The Tell, in a California state court for invasion of privacy. The suit claims negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and more, stating Griffin used details of the plaintiff’s own sexual assaults in the book. It also names the book’s ghostwriter, Sam Lansky, as well as the book’s publisher and imprint, Penguin Random House and Dial Press. The Tell, which was published in 2025 and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick, details Griffin’s experience allegedly recovering memories during MDMA therapy. Griffin claims in the book […]
SCOTUS Refuses Challenge to Human Authored Copyright Rule
On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case that challenged whether AI-created art could be copyrighted. Computer scientist Stephen Thaler sought to copyright a piece of art he created in 2018 with an AI program that he built. The Copyright Office declined his request for copyright in 2022, noting that AI-created work is not protected. Thaler brought the case to court. Now, the lower court’s decision stands, holding that copyright only applies to human-created art.
New Lawsuit Over AI Training Targets Adobe
Adobe has been sued in a proposed class action suit over using books to train its AI software. The lead plaintiff in the case is Art Kleiner, author of the 1996 book The Age of Heretics: Heroes, Outlaws, and the Forerunners of Corporate Change, which was included in the Books3 dataset. Books3 is part of the SlimPajama dataset, which Adobe used to train its “SlimLM small language models,” which provides “document assistance tasks on mobile devices,” according to the complaint. “This runs contrary to Adobe’s outspoken stance on ethical AI development and use” for its AI image generator, Firefly, the […]