Eight days into a federal trial in Oakland, Meta stopped fighting. On August 26, 2026, the company and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general filed a proposed consent judgment and a joint motion to enter it, resolving claims that Instagram and Facebook were built to addict children and that Meta lied about it. The money is the … Read more
The federal government may be the most formidable defendant in the American legal system, but it is not immune from a copyright lawsuit over a holiday social media post. Lee Mendelson Film Productions, the family-owned company that has controlled the Vince Guaraldi music catalog associated with the Peanuts television specials since 1963, filed four federal copyright infringement lawsuits … Read more
Update, June 10, 2026: The jingle is back. On June 4, the Fourth Appellate District granted Kars4Kids’ petition for a writ of supersedeas, staying the Orange County injunction while the charity pursues its appeal. The appellate order holds the injunction and all other proceedings in the case in abeyance pending resolution of the appeal or further … Read more
Matthew McConaughey has done something no major Hollywood actor had done before him: he trademarked himself. Not a logo. Not a company name. Himself, his face, his voice and his famous catchphrase. The move is novel, it is deliberate and it tells you a great deal about where the law stands on artificial intelligence, likeness … Read more
It sounds absurd at first. Bob Ross, gentle painter, certified national treasure, patron saint of public television, as an artificial intelligence. But stay with me, because I have a theory and nowhere else I got to be. Yes, I know the immediate objection. Artificial intelligence as a technical field predates Ross by decades. The Logic … Read more
Two juries delivered consecutive verdicts last week that could permanently reshape how social media platforms operate in the United States. On Tuesday, March 24, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for failing to protect children from predators on Instagram and Facebook. On Wednesday, March 25, a Los Angeles jury found both Meta and Google’s YouTube liable for … Read more
SUMMARY The Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger is a $110 billion bet that two debt-laden Hollywood giants can outcompete Netflix by combining their studios, streaming platforms and cable networks under the Ellison family’s control. Antitrust regulators and a coalition of state attorneys general have raised concerns about higher prices and reduced consumer choice. The deal will … Read more
The holiday season brought an early gift for Mariah Carey as she successfully defended against a copyright infringement lawsuit that threatened one of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time. The case serves as an important reminder for practitioners about the stringent requirements for proving musical copyright infringement and the risks of pursuing weak … Read more
This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of New Jersey Lawyer, a publication of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and is reprinted with permission. Recent developments, such as the California Bar’s 2024 guidelines on AI use in legal practice, underscore the urgency of challenges faced by law firms in balancing technological … Read more
In a case that echoes recent AI-related intellectual property disputes like Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit over her voice being used without permission in AI training, Alcon Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBDI) over the unauthorized use of Blade Runner 2049 imagery during Tesla’s cybercab launch event. The drama … Read more
When we delve into the history of artificial intelligence, we usually focus on the scientists and engineers who developed the algorithms and hardware that power modern AI systems. However, the cultural foundations that shape our understanding and approach to AI have roots in unexpected places. One such influential figure is Fritz Lang, the visionary Austrian-American … Read more
In a bizarre case of life imitating art, actress Scarlett Johansson finds herself in a battle with OpenAI over the AI company’s alleged unauthorized mimicking of her distinctive voice. Back in 2013, Johansson voiced an advanced AI virtual assistant named Samantha in the Spike Jonze film “Her,” playing a role that explored the future implications … Read more