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Clear filtersOn October 23, owners of Elvis song rights sued Anthropic in California federal court over lyrics to songs recorded by Elvis Presley. They allege Anthropic copied lyrics without a license to train its AI models and stripped titles and credits during data cleaning. No court has decided any claim.
Buc-ee's filed an amended complaint against Hanes Road Carryout on October 20 in federal court in Ohio. Buc-ee's alleges Hanes Road Carryout's use of Beaver's Mini Mart infringes its registered BEAVER'S mark. No court has decided infringement.
Reservoir Media Management and two other music publishers sued Anthropic on October 21 in federal court in the Northern District of California. They allege Anthropic copied the lyrics of 853 compositions to train its AI model without a license or payment. Anthropic has not responded in court, and no court has decided the claims.
Matthew Michael Hobbs, the creator behind Puppy Songs, sued Kroger in California federal court over an allegedly unlicensed TikTok video featuring Cheese Tax. The October 19 complaint asserts separate copyright claims for the sound recording and the underlying composition. Hobbs alleges that the song was never available in TikTok's Commercial Music Library.
Songwriter Aviel Calev Hirschfield sued Drake, OVO Sound and two Universal Music entities in Los Angeles federal court on October 16, alleging that Janice STFU copied the chorus of a demo he sent to producers working with Drake. Hirschfield claims the released track reproduces his lyrics, melody and cadence without credit or compensation. Drake's representatives deny the allegations and say he wrote the song. The complaint seeks damages and profits attributable to the alleged infringement.
Dua Lipa asked a Los Angeles federal judge to reject Samsung's motion to dismiss claims over her photograph on television packaging. In an October 15 opposition, she argues that the image could suggest an endorsement and that California law protects against its alleged commercial use without consent. Samsung maintains that the packaging depicted available entertainment content rather than a paid partnership. The dismissal motion remains pending.
Warner Music Group labels and publishers filed a New York federal lawsuit against Luxottica companies behind Ray-Ban, Oakley and other eyewear brands. The October 9 complaint alleges that promotional videos used at least 427 copyrighted recordings and compositions without permission, including music associated with Dua Lipa, Charli xcx and Bruno Mars.
Pharrell Williams and Talamasca asked a Los Angeles federal court to dismiss Chad Hugo's copyright claims in the dispute between the longtime Neptunes collaborators. Their October 6 motion argues that Hugo's second amended complaint does not adequately identify the works he claims to co-own or distinguish rights in musical compositions from rights in sound recordings. The filing seeks dismissal of the federal claims and, if they fall, dismissal without prejudice of the remaining state-law claims.
USA TODAY and 13 affiliated publishing entities sued seven OpenAI entities in Manhattan federal court on October 8. The complaint alleges that OpenAI copied their journalism without permission for model training and reproduced protected content in its products. The publishers seek more than $250 million in damages, an injunction and destruction of models and training sets that incorporate their content.
TradeSun sued OpenAI over the Astra name used for GPT-6, alleging that the larger company's launch threatens to overwhelm the identity of its earlier enterprise AI brand. TradeSun says it has used ASTRA since 2021 and registered the mark in 2022. Its October 5 complaint in Northern California federal court alleges overlapping services, including document processing, data extraction, and risk screening. OpenAI disputes the allegations. No infringement ruling has been issued.
Laffapalooza sued Apple, Tubi, distributor Urban Home Entertainment, and producer Marcus Joseph King over allegedly unauthorized streaming of its comedy films, including Jamie Foxx Presents Laffapalooza. The October 2 Georgia federal complaint alleges that King licensed the works to the distributor without authority and that the films then appeared on streaming platforms. Laffapalooza also asks the court to resolve its ownership dispute with King. The claims have not been decided.
Pepperdine filed its Ninth Circuit opening brief in the trademark dispute over Netflix's Running Point, whose fictional basketball team uses the Waves name. The university argues that the show's team identity and promotional uses of Waves function as branding, not just elements of an expressive work. The October 2 brief challenges the district court's dismissal of claims against Netflix, Warner Bros., and Kaling International. It is Pepperdine's appellate argument, not a new ruling.
Amazon and Crocs filed a joint federal complaint accusing Mayer D. Cohen, Doofter LLC, and Barbados Leather of selling counterfeit Crocs Classic Clogs through Amazon seller accounts. The October 2 Washington complaint cites test purchases and alleged differences in labels and hangtags. Amazon says it blocked the accounts and refunded customers. The lawsuit seeks trademark relief and damages, but the counterfeit allegations have not been adjudicated.
Mattie Music Group, the publisher of Bill Withers' catalog, filed a federal copyright lawsuit over Olivia Dean's I've Seen It. The complaint alleges that the song copies protected melody from Just the Two of Us and names Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony, and Kobalt entities as defendants. Dean and her co-writers are not defendants.
Universal Music Group companies sued DistroKid in Delaware federal court, alleging that the distributor continued placing infringing recordings on streaming services and misrepresented its approach to artificial intelligence content and fraud.
Melissa Mais filed a Virginia federal lawsuit against dancehall artist Masicka, whose legal name is Javaun Nicholas Fearon, alleging that she wrote material connected to four of his songs and that her work was used without permission or compensation.
Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Guy Forsyth, and Eduardo Calle filed a proposed class action accusing Suno of using musicians' identifying characteristics in its artificial intelligence music system without consent.
Christian metal band Demon Hunter, through its company Hyde Lane, sued Netflix, Netflix Studios, and AEG Presents over the KPop Demon Hunters name as the film brand expands into music, merchandise, and a planned global concert tour.
C+C Music Factory co-founder Robert Clivilles sued performer Freedom Williams and Big Mac Entertainment over ownership and use of the group's name, seeking cancellation of Williams' registration and up to $30 million in damages.
Round Hill Music and affiliated companies filed separate federal copyright lawsuits against Suno and Anthropic, alleging unauthorized use of songs and recordings to develop and operate their artificial intelligence systems.
Squish Beauty filed a lawsuit against Coty in the Southern District of New York over CoverGirl's SQUISHY lip gloss line. The complaint says Coty copied Squish's name, visual style, marketing aesthetic, packaging cues, and promotional language to trade on the goodwill Squish built around its cosmetics brand.
DB Ventures, the company behind David Beckham's fragrance brand, sued Coty in New York over alleged material breaches of their license agreement. The complaint seeks at least $41 million and says Coty mismanaged the Beckham fragrance brand, including by allegedly allowing products to be sold through gas stations and unapproved distributors.