Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-09037
What Do You Meme, LLC filed a five-count complaint on October 14, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-09037, against IdeaStage Promotions LLC, an Arizona company. It alleges IdeaStage sells Emotional Support plush toy sets in bulk on its website that copy photographs and products covered by What Do You Meme's copyright registrations and use its registered EMOTIONAL SUPPORT mark. On the copyright count it seeks, as an alternative to actual damages and profits, statutory damages of $150,000 for each of at least six works.
October 20, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-03635
Universal Music Corporation, Boomer X Publishing, Inc., Dead Game Publishing, and W Chappell Music Corp. d/b/a WC Music Corp. filed a three-count copyright complaint on October 19, 2026, in the District of Columbia, No. 1:26-cv-03635, against Culture L.L.C. and four individuals alleged, on information and belief, to be its principals. They allege the defendants publicly performed Party Up (Up in Here), Another Love, and Gonna Make You Sweat at the Vera/Culture venue without a license after refusing ASCAP license offers made since June 2023, and seek an injunction, statutory damages, and attorneys' fees.
October 20, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 3:26-cv-12100
Jacqueline Winspear and 59 other authors filed a four-count complaint against Meta Platforms, Inc. on October 19, 2026, in the Northern District of California, No. 3:26-cv-12100. They allege Meta trained its Llama models on books from shadow libraries obtained in part by torrenting, removed copyright management information, and separately scanned purchased print books to train its Muse models. The plaintiffs say they chose not to file a class action so that a jury can set individualized statutory damages for each of them.
October 20, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-04368
Photographer Jesse Korman filed a three-count copyright complaint on October 19, 2026, in the District of Maryland, No. 1:26-cv-04368, against Sinclair, Inc., Sinclair Broadcast Group, LLC, Sinclair Television Group, Inc., and 19 station licensee companies. He alleges a photograph he took in 2016 was published without a license on at least 20 station websites beginning in February 2019 and remains displayed. He pleads that the photograph's registration took effect on February 8, 2019, before the first alleged publication, which he says makes statutory damages and attorneys' fees available under 17 U.S.C. 412.
October 20, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:24-cv-04274 (JLR) (BCM)
In Cengage Learning Inc. v. Google LLC, No. 1:24-cv-04274, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses of the Southern District of New York on October 19, 2026 denied the plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration or clarification of a May 8, 2026 order that vacated sampling discovery on Google's handling of takedown notices for 300 domains unrelated to the works in suit, entered after Google withdrew its DMCA safe harbor defense under 17 U.S.C. 512. The order says the May ruling limited discovery only and did not decide whether evidence about Google's DMCA policy is admissible at summary judgment or trial.
October 19, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-12115
Aviel Calev Hirschfield filed a one-count copyright complaint on October 16, 2026, in the Central District of California, No. 2:26-cv-12115, against Aubrey Drake Graham (Drake), OVO Sound LLC, UMG Recordings, Inc., Universal Music Publishing, Inc., and Does 1 to 20. He alleges the chorus of Drake's song Janice STFU, released on or about May 15, 2026, is identical in lyrics, melody, and cadence to a chorus he wrote and recorded in January 2026 and sent to producers who work with Drake. He seeks actual damages and profits or, alternatively, statutory damages, plus attorneys' fees.
October 19, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 3:26-cv-00856
Amber Jordan Holston filed a three-count complaint on October 9, 2026, in the Western District of North Carolina, No. 3:26-cv-00856, against R5 Brands LLC d/b/a True Nutra. She alleges True Nutra used four of her registered videos, and her face, likeness and voice, in at least 12 active paid Meta advertisements for a supplement she never used or endorsed. The counts are copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501, North Carolina misappropriation of likeness, and unfair and deceptive trade practices under N.C. Gen. Stat. 75-1.1.
October 17, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-12656
Michael Brown and Lawn Music Company, filing without a lawyer, sued the Estate of Willie C. Cobbs, executor Phillip Cobbs, and Latasha Cobbs Carthans on October 15, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:26-cv-12656. The complaint alleges a January 28, 1971 songwriter agreement gave Lawn Music 100% of the publishing rights in "Slow Down, Baby" and "Hoppin' Bird," and that publishing rights were transferred to La Tasha Publishing and royalties diverted. It pleads breach of contract and seeks an accounting and a constructive trust.
October 17, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-01327
Apnea Sciences Corporation d/b/a SnoreRx filed a complaint on October 15, 2026, in the District of Delaware, No. 1:26-cv-01327, against Snorelux LLC. It alleges, on information and belief, that Snorelux used its registered SnoreRx product image on snorelux.com from at least August 15, 2025 until Shopify removed it on a DMCA complaint around October 3, 2026, attached false copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202(a), and then filed a counter-notice that was knowingly false under 17 U.S.C. 512(f).
October 17, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-02898
Foresite Design, Inc. filed a complaint on October 9, 2026, in the Western District of Michigan, No. 1:26-cv-02898, against VK Endeavours LLC. It alleges, on information and belief, that VK reproduced registered Foresite design specifications in project manuals for Hopkins Public Schools and Hemlock Public Schools and removed or altered Foresite's copyright management information; the copies bear another firm's copyright notice instead of Foresite's header and footer. The counts are copyright infringement under the Copyright Act and removal or alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202.
October 17, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 5:26-cv-06085
Shahin Khazey filed an eight-count complaint on October 15, 2026, in the Central District of California, No. 5:26-cv-06085, against the individual who the complaint says runs the Instagram account @Cassiexmillzz, and Does 1 to 35. He alleges the defendant copied his registered gym video, reposted it with captions presenting the defendant as the man in it, kept it up after his removal requests, and used it to steer viewers to a paid subscription account. The counts include copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 and false association under 15 U.S.C. 1125(a).
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-02219
Christopher Boffoli, d/b/a Big Appetites Studio, filed a complaint on October 11, 2026, in the Western District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:26-cv-02219, against Peace, Love and Little Donuts, LLC. He alleges contributory and vicarious infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 based on at least 51 posts of his registered donut photograph by 13 PLLD-branded locations, and alleges that 50 of those posts stayed up for about three years after he notified the franchisor in March 2023.
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-12242
Julien Pepy filed a one-count copyright infringement complaint on October 6, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:26-cv-12242, against Alyssa Beth Interiors, LLC. He alleges the company posted two of his registered photographs of a bathroom vanity on its Instagram account in January 2024 and did not resolve the claim after a March 2025 demand.
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 4:26-cv-01572
Science Photo Library, Ltd. filed a one-count copyright infringement complaint on October 1, 2026, in the Eastern District of Missouri, No. 4:26-cv-01572, against NPN Environmental Engineers, Inc. It alleges the Fenton, Missouri firm displayed an electron microscope photograph from the Dennis Kunkel Microscopy collection to market its business in June 2017, without a license.
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-09079
MMMG, Inc. filed a three-count complaint on October 15, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-09079, against recording artist Cordae Dunston, known as Cordae, and EMPIRE Distribution, Inc., Apeshit, Inc., and Mass Appeal Records, LLC. It alleges that under an April 2018 recording agreement MMMG owns the copyright in Cordae's recordings made during a still-running term, that the September 16, 2026 single A Good Day from the announced album Heavy Is The Crown infringes that copyright, and it seeks actual damages of no less than $5 million under 17 U.S.C. 504(b) or statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c).
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 5:26-cv-11964
Actian Corporation filed a five-count complaint on October 15, 2026, in the Northern District of California, No. 5:26-cv-11964, against Resort Data Processing, Inc., maker of the RDPWin property-management software. It alleges RDPWin deployments with web booking and owner portals used Standard Edition licenses of Actian's Zen database where its license agreements require the Cloud Server edition, and it pleads breach of contract, direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement, and rescission under California Civil Code 1689, 1691, and 1692.
October 16, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-09067
Elmer Saflor and Nicholas Gurewitch filed a one-count copyright infringement complaint on October 15, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-09067, against Scytale AI, Inc. They allege Scytale used derivative versions of their webcomics Running Away Balloon and Quiz Kid (Note Passing), both widely shared online as memes, in paid LinkedIn advertisements without a license, and that one ad stayed in LinkedIn's Ad Library after two notices from their counsel.
October 15, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-14666
Ars Logica, Inc., a Boston technology-research firm, filed a five-count complaint on October 14, 2026, in the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:26-cv-14666, against RWS Holdings PLC and SDL Inc. It alleges RWS kept displaying three Ars Logica reports on RWS Tridion Docs after its licenses ended and posted restyled versions of a scorecard graphic with Ars Logica's logo and attribution removed, and it seeks actual damages and profits of not less than $8,959,808 under 17 U.S.C. 504(b).
October 15, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-03879
Acute Mastery LLC, which sells building-block sculptures on Amazon under the SNAPTOR brand, filed a complaint on October 13, 2026, in the Western District of Washington, No. 2:26-cv-03879. It alleges that Chen Zexin and a Chaozhou, China business selling as "Xinxin trade co., LTD" under the CAXIMSY brand copied its registered Snaptor Glove and Ball sculpture block for block, and that Chen's October 8 counter-notification to Amazon falsely claimed the listing was removed by mistake or misidentification.
October 15, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:25-cv-09912
U.S. News & World Report, L.P. filed a complaint on November 26, 2025, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:25-cv-09912, against ten OpenAI entities. The complaint alleges that OpenAI scraped and trained on usnews.com content, including its college and hospital rankings, removed copyright management information, and reproduces that content through ChatGPT, and that ChatGPT attributes inaccurate rankings to U.S. News. It pleads copyright, DMCA, Lanham Act, and New York dilution counts and asks for destruction of models and training sets that incorporate its content.
October 15, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 4:26-cv-40237
Gary M. Bloom, a Massachusetts attorney appearing pro se, filed a 14-count complaint in the District of Massachusetts, No. 4:26-cv-40237, file-stamped October 14, 2026, against eight defendants including Jennifer Sims, RPM Talent Agency, Powerful Story Lines LLC, and Michael A. Levine. Alongside state-law claims, it asserts copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 501 over The Money Tree, a screenplay he says he holds by an October 2025 assignment, and The Last Door, which he says he co-wrote, and false copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202 based on a title page and website credit that omit the co-author.
October 14, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-12494
Philips North America LLC filed a complaint on October 12, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:26-cv-12494, against John W. Jordan II, Reagan P. Hogerty, and JHP Management, Inc. It seeks to hold them vicariously liable under 17 U.S.C. 1201 and 1202 for circumvention and copyright management information violations it attributes to the Jordan Health Products operating companies, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2024, and it adds civil conspiracy and unfair competition counts.
October 14, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 23-cv-1528 (CRC)
In Steinarsdottir v. Tripscout, Inc., No. 23-cv-1528 (CRC), Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted in part and denied in part both sides' summary judgment motions in a September 25, 2026 memorandum opinion, now available in a public version. The court granted the plaintiff partial summary judgment on liability for 52 of the 53 claimed infringements, which were posted on accounts Tripscout admits owning, and left damages, willfulness, and one claim on a disputed account for trial.
October 13, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-11882
Jill Greenberg and Jill Greenberg Studio, Inc. filed a complaint on October 12, 2026, in the Central District of California, No. 2:26-cv-11882, against Creative Artists Agency, LLC and Does 1 through 50. The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that CAA, acting for actor Greg Kinnear, distributed an unlicensed 2018 photograph of Kinnear that then appeared in promotional material for a Netflix program, and it asserts direct and contributory copyright infringement.
October 13, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-08965
Twenty-three Warner Music Group recording and publishing companies filed a complaint on October 9, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-08965, against six companies that the complaint says operate for and in service of EssilorLuxottica. The complaint alleges that the defendants used at least 427 of the plaintiffs' copyrighted sound recordings and musical compositions in promotional social-media videos without a license, and it asserts direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.
October 12, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 3:26-cv-02936-RS
On October 9, 2026, Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California denied Apple Inc.'s motion to dismiss in Ted Entertainment, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., No. 3:26-cv-02936-RS. The order holds that the YouTube creators' amended complaint adequately alleges circumvention of technological protection measures under 17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1)(A).
October 12, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 3:26-mc-00008-DJH
Turning Point Brands, Inc. and four affiliated companies filed a request on October 8, 2026, in the Western District of Kentucky, Misc. Case No. 3:26-mc-00008-DJH, asking the clerk to issue a subpoena to Cloudflare, Inc. under 17 U.S.C. 512(h) to identify alleged infringers of copyrighted works.
October 12, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 1:26-cv-08892
USA TODAY Co., Inc. and 13 companies the complaint says it owns filed a complaint on October 8, 2026, in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-08892, against seven OpenAI entities. The complaint alleges that OpenAI scraped and trained on content from 19 named publications without a license, stripped copyright management information, and outputs copies or summaries through ChatGPT and related products. It seeks damages in excess of $250 million, an injunction, and destruction of models and training sets that incorporate the plaintiffs' content.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 5:26-cv-05930
Photographer Ivan Radic filed a complaint on October 7, 2026, in the Central District of California, No. 5:26-cv-05930. It alleges that Freedom Transport Service LLC used his 2021 photograph "Close up of an electric car charging" on freedomtransportservice.com without a license and without the Creative Commons attribution and other copyright management information that appeared with the Flickr posting.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Copyright Office · Docket No. 2026-6
The U.S. Copyright Office published a notice of inquiry on music streaming fraud in the Federal Register on October 7, 2026 (91 FR 64188, Docket No. 2026-6), in response to a letter from Representative Scott Fitzgerald. Written comments are due November 23, 2026, and reply comments are due December 21, 2026.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. Copyright Office · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 8:26-cv-03037
Photographer David Gordon Oppenheimer filed a complaint on October 6, 2026, in the Middle District of Florida, No. 8:26-cv-03037. It alleges that Rehab Media Group LLC posted two of his 2018 aerial photographs on Addictions.com and Rehabs.org without a license and that the posted copies lacked his watermark, metadata, and caption credit. Its claim under 17 U.S.C. 1202(b) alleges that Rehab Media intentionally removed or altered that information, or caused its removal or alteration.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 3:26-cv-01418
DOGE LLC filed a complaint on October 5, 2026, in the Middle District of Tennessee, No. 3:26-cv-01418. It alleges that Hardee's Restaurants LLC and CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. copied Martin Kozlowski's illustration "Trojan Horse," added promotional text and photos of menu items, and posted it on Hardee's Facebook and Instagram accounts without a license.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-07623
Hard Knocks Unlimited, Inc., Allan Lane, and photographer Michael Spain-Smith filed a complaint on October 5, 2026, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:26-cv-07623. It alleges that Barber Companies, Inc., Barber Motorsports Museum, and Barber Vintage Festival used Spain-Smith's photographs of Eraldo Ferracci without permission to promote the October 2025 festival, including in commissioned paintings used in festival fundraising and auction activities.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 5:26-cv-02642-BLF
On October 2, 2026, Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the Northern District of California granted Roblox Corporation's motion to dismiss both counts of Austin Beaulier's putative class complaint under 17 U.S.C. 1202(b), with leave to amend. The order found that the complaint did not plausibly allege that Roblox removed copyright management information, that any removal was intentional, or that Roblox distributed the works.
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Federal court · No. 2:26-cv-11466
Caleb Cain Marcus, as executor of the Estate of Helen Marcus, filed a complaint on October 2, 2026, in the Central District of California, No. 2:26-cv-11466. The complaint alleges that Open Inc. used Helen Marcus's photograph of Toni Morrison in a promotional Instagram post without a license, and it asserts claims for copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. 106 and 501 and for removal or alteration of copyright management information under 17 U.S.C. 1202(b).
October 8, 2026 · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · Michael P. Eddy
Third Circuit · No. 25-2153
On September 29, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed partial summary judgment for Thomson Reuters in No. 25-2153. The court held that the 2,243 Westlaw headnotes at issue are original and that ROSS Intelligence's use of them to train its non-generative AI legal search tool was not fair use. The court distinguished generative AI, noting that ROSS's tool could not generate original expression.
October 5, 2026 · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · Michael P. Eddy
Ninth Circuit · No. 24-7700
On September 16, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of programmers' DMCA claims against GitHub, Microsoft, and OpenAI in No. 24-7700. The court held that the complaint describes an AI tool that creates new works, not copies from which copyright management information was removed or altered. The programmers' contract claims remain in the district court.
October 5, 2026 · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Michael P. Eddy
Copyright Office
The United States Copyright Office can register the human-authored parts of a work that contains AI-generated material, if the human contribution is itself protectable and the application discloses the AI material and leaves it out of the claim. Material generated by AI on its own is not registrable, and on March 2, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to review the D.C. Circuit's human-authorship ruling in Thaler v. Perlmutter.
October 5, 2026 · Michael P. Eddy