Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

AI-Training Ruling Finds No Fair Use

By Mason Lawlor
March 01, 2025

A recent AI copyright ruling out of federal court could have a sprawling impact on how companies, both big and small, use the technology responsibly, according to experts. In the ruling, Third Circuit appellate Judge Stephanos Bibas, sitting by designation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, found that tech startup ROSS Intelligence infringed on 2,443 case-decisions headnotes in Thomson’ proprietary legal database Westlaw.
The opinion found that ROSS’s use of the copyrighted content, obtained through LegalEase Solutions, was commercial, not transformative, and could not constitute fair use. Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., 1:20-cv-613.

“There is nothing that Thomson Reuters created that ROSS could not have created for itself or hired LegalEase to create for it without infringing Thomson Reuters’ copyrights,” Judge Bibas wrote.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.