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ARTICLE · 17 FEBRUARY 2025

Client Alert: Court Grants Partial Summary Judgment In Significant AI Training Copyright Case

Sideman & Bancroft
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In a significant decision entered on February 11th, 2025 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 20-cv-0613-SB)...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Zachary J. Alinder
Zachary J. Alinder

In a significant decision entered on February 11th, 2025 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 20-cv-0613-SB) the Court granted partial summary judgment in a copyright case against a legal AI company, Ross Intelligence, and in favor of Thomson Reuters, owner of Westlaw. As set forth in the Court's memorandum opinion, Thomson's copyright claims were based on Ross's use of thousands of "Bulk Memos" that were created by a second company LegalEase. The Court found that Ross paid LegalEase to create the "Bulk Memos" using Westlaw headnotes and then used the "Bulk Memos" to train its AI. And the Court also found that Ross had previously tried to license the headnotes from Thomson, but Thomson refused.

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