Alliance Entertainment is suing Diamond Comic Distributors over the results of their recent bankruptcy auction. Diamond declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, and Alliance was the high bidder on its assets with a bid of $72,245,000 (and widely reported as the winner in March). Universal Distribution and Ad Populum entered a joint bid of $69,130,000, “with Universal getting Alliance and Diamond UK, and Ad Populum getting Diamond Comics, Diamond Select Toys and everything else,” and were named the back-up bid. A hearing was set for Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Maryland to ensure the legality […]
Legal
Work Must Be Human-Authored for Copyright, US Report States
The US Copyright Office issued Part 2 of its report on generative AI, which examines whether works that use generative AI can be copyrighted. Consistent with the paper they issued in early 2023, the office reasserts the existing framework that a work must be human authored to be copyrighted, and that “questions of copyrightability and AI can be resolved pursuant to existing law, without the need for legislative change.” The report also assesses the copyrightability for AI-created work, and compares US policy to those around the world. The report does take on the subtler questions around uses of AI by […]
Copyright Cases Against OpenAI and Microsoft Consolidated In NY Court
Twelve US copyright infringement cases against OpenAI and Microsoft have been consolidated in New York, allowing a single judge to “coordinate discovery, streamline pretrial proceedings, and eliminate inconsistent rulings.” Among the consolidated cases are several brought in the Northern District of California by authors including Paul Tremblay, Michael Chabon, Sarah Silverman, and more. These will be transferred to the Southern District of New York to join cases from publications including the New York Times, The Daily News, and The Intercept, and authors including John Grisham, George Saunders, Jodi Picoult, and more. A US Judicial Panel wrote in the decision that the […]
Author Sues S&S, Vigliano For Allegedly Stealing His Book Project
Fox News legal commentator and author of The Russia Hoax Gregg Jarrett has filed suit in New York’s Supreme Court against Simon & Schuster and his agents at Vigliano Associates for allegedly taking his book project and having another author write it. According to the complaint, in late 2023 executive editor Natasha Simons reached out to Jarrett about writing a new book on current events. Jarrett suggested a book about the “lawfare” legal cases against Donald Trump and agreed to hire a research assistant for the project, fellow Vigliano client Alex Marlow, in order to get it out before the […]
NYT’s Copyright Infringement Claims Against OpenAI Will Go To Trial
The NYT’s well-drafted copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft has survived the defendants’ motions to dismiss and the primary claims will go to trial. Filed in the New York’s Southern District, the order was granted by Judge Sidney Stein, who did grant with prejudice a motion to dismiss unfair competition by misappropriation claims, while also striking other modest claims from various related lawsuits. Judge Stein’s brief order indicated he “will issue an Opinion setting forth the reasons for this ruling expeditiously,” with a schedule for proceedings to come thereafter.
Judge Blocks Iowa Book Ban Law, Again
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher reinstated an injunction against Senate File 496, the Iowa state law that removes books with LGBTQ themes and references to sex acts from school libraries, after an Iowa Eighth Circuit panel reversed the original injunction in December 2023. Locher wrote that the law is unconstitutional, and “makes no attempt to evaluate a book’s literary, political, artistic, or scientific value before requiring the book’s removal from a school library and thus comes nowhere close to applying the ‘obscenity’ standard that is typically used to determine the constitutionality of statewide book restrictions. The result is the forced […]