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Topic: Lawsuit

Reuters / Reuters News 

OpenAI and Microsoft face an increasing number of lawsuits from non-fiction authors.

Adriana Marais, , ,

OpenAI and Microsoft are facing another lawsuit from non-fiction authors who allege that their intellectual property was used without permission to train OpenAI’s generative AI technology. Following a previous lawsuit in November, journalists Nicholas A. Basbanes and Nicholas Gage have now filed a proposed class action lawsuit, accusing the companies of engaging in a deliberate and extensive theft of copyrighted works belonging to writers like themselves. Professional writers “have limited capital to fund their research” and “typically self-fund their projects,” they said in their complaint. Meanwhile, the defendants have “ready…

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The RNC had claimed it lost donor money due to a bias against conservatives. News 

Court dismisses GOP legal action against Google over Gmail spam blockers

Adriana Marais, , , ,

According to The Washington Post, a federal judge has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee (RNC) against Google last year. The RNC had accused Google of political bias in relation to its Gmail spam filters. The judge stated that Google was protected by Section 230 of US law and that the RNC had not provided enough evidence to prove that Google acted in bad faith by filtering out campaign emails. According to the lawsuit, Google intentionally marked “millions” of RNC emails as spam, so the group is…

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The Great 78 Project seeks to preserve old music recorded on 78rpm discs. News 

Music Labels File Lawsuit Against Internet Archive for Unauthorized Digitization of Old Records

Adriana Marais, ,

The nonprofit organization, Internet Archive, is being sued by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and several other music labels for copyright infringement related to its conservation project. The lawsuit alleges that the organization unlawfully digitized, uploaded, distributed, and transmitted pre-1972 sound recordings. The focus of the legal action is on the Great 78 Project, which aims to safeguard music recorded on 78rpm discs. The record companies are calling the Internet Archive’s efforts a “blatant insult” to the music of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and Louis…

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Jimmy Donaldson filed suit against VDC last week for allegedly harming his reputation with poor quality food. News 

MrBeast Sued for Over $100 Million by His Own Burger Company

Jim Hendler,

Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), the ghost kitchen company behind MrBeast Burger, has filed a countersuit against Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as YouTube sensation MrBeast. VDC claims that Donaldson and his company, Beast Investments (BI), did not fulfill their contractual responsibilities, including promotional activities, resulting in significant harm to VDC’s reputation. According to Variety, VDC is seeking compensation exceeding $100 million for the damages caused. “VDC alleges that Donaldson’s and BI’s actions have significantly damaged the reputation of MrBeast Burger and VDC, alienated customers and damaged hard-earned relationships with vendors and…

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The agency kicked off the reportedly wide-ranging probe in 2019. News 

Amazon to Hold Talks with FTC Ahead of Antitrust Lawsuit Possibility

Nitin Misra, ,

According to reports, Amazon is set to have a meeting with the FTC next week ahead of a potential antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce giant. The New York Times states that FTC chair Lina Khan and commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya will engage in discussions with Amazon representatives as the agency approaches a decision on whether to take legal action against the company for violating antimonopoly regulations. This scheduled meeting is seen as a crucial opportunity for Amazon to convince the FTC to reconsider before proceeding with a…

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A class-action lawsuit takes aim at the TikTok owner's video-editing app CapCut. News 

ByteDance Accused of Illegally Obtaining Biometric Information

Nitin Misra, ,

ByteDance is being sued in a class-action lawsuit for allegedly collecting data from its 200 million active users without their consent through its CapCut video-editing app. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois, accuses CapCut of violating the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by gathering information such as face scans and voiceprints without adequately informing or obtaining explicit permission from users. The app also allegedly collects information about the user’s location, date of birth and gender, as well as their photos and videos. Most of this is said to be the…

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The YouTube star says MrBeast Burger hurt his brand. News 

MrBeast takes legal action against fast food restaurant for serving ‘unpalatable’ burgers

Sanjay Patil, ,

YouTube sensation MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, is facing a deteriorating partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), the company behind his delivery-only fast food chain, MrBeast Burger. According to Bloomberg, MrBeast is taking legal action against VDC, accusing them of damaging his brand. The lawsuit claims that VDC prioritized rapid growth over maintaining quality, resulting in substandard food that negatively impacted MrBeast’s reputation. Seeking resolution, MrBeast is requesting a judge to terminate the licensing agreement and close down the business. MrBeast points to numerous reviews calling the burgers “inedible,”…

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It accused The Center for countering Digital Hate of a "scare campaign to drive away advertisers." News 

X Corp, owned by Elon Musk, Files Lawsuit Against Anti-Hate Organization Over Its Studies

Adriana Marais,

According to Bloomberg, X Corp (also known as Twitter) has taken legal action against The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after previously threatening to do so. The lawsuit alleges that the anti-hate organization is engaging in illegal “scraping” of Twitter’s servers and selectively choosing hateful posts as part of a deliberate effort to frighten away advertisers. Court documents filed in San Francisco federal court state that X Corp is seeking unspecified financial compensation and a restraining order preventing the CCDH from accessing its data. In June, the center published…

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Other court decisions have gone the other way, so this issue remains unresolved. News 

Instagram Wins Lawsuit Over Embedded Photos Alleged to Breach Copyright

Jim Hendler, , ,

According to Gizmodo, a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with Instagram, which is owned by Meta, in a copyright infringement case brought by two photographers. The main argument was that Instagram had violated copyright laws by allowing external websites and publications to embed images without obtaining explicit permission from the creators of the content. The case dates back to 2016, when Time embedded an Instagram photo of Hillary Clinton taken by photographer Matthew Brauer without permission. In 2020, Buzzfeed did the same with…

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In a lawsuit, shareholders claimed they were massively overpaying themselves. News 

Tesla Board of Directors Agree to Repay $735 Million Following Allegations of Excessive Compensation

Febin Mathew,

According to Reuters, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and other present and past members of Tesla’s board of directors have agreed to repay $735 million to resolve allegations of excessive payment. This settlement concludes a legal dispute that began in 2020 when a retirement fund for police and firefighters filed a lawsuit questioning the stock options awarded to Tesla’s board since 2017. Additionally, the directors have committed to forgo compensation for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, and modify the method of calculating their remuneration. Tesla’s current board includes Elon Musk,…

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Federal judges ruled for the preliminary injunction to be put aside "until further orders of the court." News 

Appeals court halts ruling that prevents Biden administration from communicating with social media platforms

Sanjay Patil, , ,

For the time being, officials from the Biden administration have the freedom to engage in communication with social media companies. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily halted Judge Terry A. Doughty’s ruling, which restricts most federal officials from discussing content matters with companies like Meta. As per The New York Times, a three-judge panel has decided to set aside Doughty’s preliminary injunction “until further orders of the court.” If you recall, the Attorney Generals of Louisiana and Missouri filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and other top…

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Musk blamed scraping by these entities for the website's decision to implement rate limits. News 

Twitter Takes Legal Action Against Four Unidentified Individuals for Data Extraction Violations

Jim Hendler, ,

Twitter’s parent company, X Corp., has filed a lawsuit against four individuals or entities referred to as John Does, accusing them of engaging in extensive illegal data scraping from the platform. The lawsuit only identifies them by their IP addresses and alleges that they flooded Twitter with automated requests that far surpassed what any individual could reasonably send to a server within a specific timeframe. Elon Musk commented on the lawsuit, stating that these entities attempted to scrape the entire Twitter platform in a brief period and held them responsible…

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The lawsuit names Gov. Greg Abbott and 14 other public officials as defendants. News 

Texas Professors Take Legal Action Against State’s TikTok Ban

Adriana Marais, ,

According to The Washington Post, a lawsuit has been filed by a collective of university professors against Texas for its decision to prohibit the use of TikTok on state devices and networks. The professors argue that this ban hampers their ability to conduct research and teach effectively, as it restricts their exploration of TikTok’s disinformation and data-collection methods, which the ban purportedly aims to address. Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that the prohibition severely limits their capacity to incorporate TikTok into their classrooms, whether for educational purposes or to utilize TikTok…

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Meta, TikTok and others say the state is violating free speech rights. News 

Tech Companies Challenge Arkansas Law Requiring Age Verification for Social Media Use

Febin Mathew, ,

Arkansas’ law mandating age verification on social media platforms has faced opposition from the technology industry. NetChoice, a tech trade group representing major companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok, has filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that the Social Media Safety Act violates the US Constitution. According to NetChoice, the law infringes upon individuals’ First Amendment rights by compelling them to disclose private information in order to use social networks. Additionally, the group argues that the legislation undermines families’ autonomy by usurping their decision-making authority. The alliance also believes…

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Twitter had accused the government of acting 'arbitrarily and disproportionately' with takedown orders. News 

Indian Court Dismisses Twitter’s Lawsuit Challenging Censorship

Jim Hendler, ,

According to TechCrunch, Twitter’s lawsuit against India regarding content blocking orders has been dismissed by the Karnataka High Court. The court stated that Twitter did not provide a satisfactory explanation for its delay in complying with the new IT laws. Additionally, the court has imposed a fine of 5 million rupees ($61,000) on the company owned by Elon Musk. “Your client (Twitter) was served with notices and your client failed to comply. The penalty for failure to comply is seven years in prison and an unlimited fine. It also did…

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A judge said they had "abandoned their responsibilities" in not checking for inaccuracies. News 

Lawyers in the US Penalized $5,000 for Utilizing False Case Citations Generated by ChatGPT

Febin Mathew, ,

Despite being taught to always check sources from the first essay in school, New York attorney Steven Schwartz relied on ChatGPT to find and review sources for a case in which a man was suing Colombian airline Avianca for injuries sustained on a flight to New York City. This decision has resulted in a $5,000 fine issued to Schwartz, his associate Peter LoDuca, and their law firm Levidow, Levidow and Oberman by a judge. ChatGPT produced six cases as precedent, including “Martinez v. Delta Airlines” and “Miller v. United Airlines,”…

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The jury also said that Google infringed the patents willfully, which could lead to a judge increasing the award by up to three times the verdict amount. (Reuters) News 

Verdict of $15 million against Google in US trial for infringing audio patents

Adriana Marais, ,

According to a verdict made public on Wednesday, a Delaware federal jury has ordered Alphabet’s Google to pay $15.1 million to Personal Audio LLC, a patent-holding company, for violating two patents related to audio software. Personal Audio claimed that Google’s music app Google Play Music included features for downloading, navigating and editing playlists that infringed its patent rights. The jury also said Google willfully infringed the patents, which could lead the judge to increase the award by up to three times the amount of the verdict. Google spokesman Jose Castaneda…

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Amazon is accused of using deceptive designs, known as “dark patterns,” to deceive consumers into enrolling in the program News 

Allegations of Unauthorized Enrollment in Amazon Prime Program Through Use of ‘Dark Patterns’

Nitin Misra, , ,

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the company engaged in a prolonged campaign to enroll customers in its Prime program without their consent and made it challenging for them to terminate their subscriptions. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the agency accused Amazon of using fraudulent designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into participating in the program. That said, the option to buy products on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more…

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The company supposedly made it difficult to cancel service, too. News 

FTC Accuses Amazon of Deceptive Practices to Obtain Prime Subscriptions

Sanjay Patil, , ,

Amazon is facing further legal action from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) despite recently settling two cases. The FTC has filed a lawsuit against the online retailer, accusing it of deceiving customers into signing up for Prime and making it difficult for them to cancel. The FTC claims that Amazon violated the FTC Act and Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act by using misleading designs to obtain Prime registrations without genuine consent. The agency also alleges that Amazon deliberately impeded efforts to simplify the cancellation process by delaying or rejecting design…

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An alleged internal Microsoft email, which is evidence in a lawsuit in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court, suggests that one of the intentions behind Microsoft's bid to acquire Activision-Blizzard is“ to put its main competition, the Sony PlayStation, out of the market.” News 

Lawyers Claim Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision-Blizzard Could Threaten Sony PlayStation

Adriana Marais, , , ,

According to a purported internal email from Microsoft, which is being used as evidence in a lawsuit in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court, the company’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is aimed at eliminating its primary rival, the Sony PlayStation, from the market. As reported by Axios, an alleged email sent in 2019 by Microsoft head of Xbox game studios Matt Booty to Xbox CFO Tim Stuart predated Microsoft’s announcement to buy Activision-Blizzard. Axios notes that “the passage appears to be from Exhibit K,” a “sealed document that the players’ lawyers and…

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