The author plaintiffs submitted details to District Court Judge William Alsup proposing a notification and claims process in the hopes that the judge approves the $1.5 billion Anthropic copyright infringement settlement. Those plans, to be followed today by written answers to Judge Alsup’s 34 detailed questions, were filed ahead of the September 25 hearing, and supported by letters from a wide variety of author and publisher organizations and literary agencies. The filing notes, “The parties have worked around the clock since the Court’s initial preliminary approval hearing on September 8 to address the remaining issues the Court raised at that […]
Legal
Judge Rejects First Version of Trump’s Defamation Suit Against PRH and NYT
A judge for the Middle District of Florida Tampa Division rejected Donald Trump’s initial $15 billion defamation suit against Penguin Random House, the New York Times, and New York Times reporters on the grounds that it’s too long and “tedious.” Trump filed the suit earlier in the week. Judge Steven D. Merryday struck down the complaint on Friday, writing that it violates Rule 8, which calls for “simple, concise, and direct” allegations. The Trump suit runs to 85 pages and includes, Merryday notes, a “protracted list of the many properties owned, developed, or managed by the Trump Organization and a […]
Trump Sues PRH For Defamation Over ‘Lucky Loser’
Donald Trump is suing Penguin Random House, the New York Times, and NYT reporters and authors of Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig for defamation. Two other NYT reporters, Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt, are also named in the suit. Trump argues that three New York Times articles, and the subsequent book, are “malicious, defamatory, and disparaging,” and written “with actual malice, calculated to inflict maximum damage upon President Trump during the height of a presidential election.” It also accuses the newspaper as being “a […]
Judge Alsup’s 17 Simple Settlement Questions
Further to Monday’s surprise hearing, when Northern California District Court Judge William Alsup declined to provide preliminary approval for the Anthropic copyright infringement settlement due in part to “important questions to be answered in the future,” he issued a new order on Wednesday. That order provides the parties with 17 questions to address with “complete and succinct written answers” by September 23, ahead of the next hearing on the settlement. Judge Alsup poses a variety of complex “scenarios,” regarding everything from disputed or conflicted claims on the same work; works with multiple authors; and works where a third-party like a […]
On Appeal, Court Denies Dismantling of IMLS
A federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to pause a lawsuit, in which 21 states sued the president over his plan to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The decision upholds a lower court’s ruling in May, which put a preliminary injunction on the executive order to dismantle the IMLS and two other agencies. In his opinion, Judge David J. Barron noted that lawyers for the president didn’t successfully argue against the District Court’s decision. The opinion also says that they did not convince the court that they “are likely to succeed on the merits of […]
Register of Copyrights Perlmutter Reinstated by Appeals Court
Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter, who was removed by the Trump administration in May, will have her job temporarily reinstated while her lawsuit over her firing moves forward. In July, a district court judge denied her request for a preliminary injunction to go back to her position. In a 2-1 decision, Judges Pan and Childs of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals called her case “unusual” and “extraordinary,” noting that “the President’s removal of Perlmutter was likely unlawful.” Perlmutter has argued that, as a legislative employee, the executive branch does not have the power to fire her. The filing continues, […]