AI Training Held To Constitute Copyright Infringement

In a much-anticipated decision, U.S. Third Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, sitting by designation on the Delaware District Court, ruled that Ross's use of Thomson's materials to train a competing AI search tool constituted copyright infringement. Thomson Reuters Enter. Ctr. GmbH v. Ross Intel. Inc., No. 1:20-cv-613-SB (D.Del. Feb. 11, 2025). This decision reversed in large part the court's prior 2023 decision denying Thomson's motions for summary judgment on copyright infringement and a fair use defense.

In its earlier ruling, the court concluded that whether the individual headnotes (summarizing key points of law and case holdings) and Key Number System (numerical framework for classifying content) were original enough to qualify for copyright protection was a question for the jury. The court now took that issue from the jury finding that both the headnotes and Key Number System met the minimum "spark" of originality. It also found actual copying of 2243 headnotes.