Top Noteworthy Copyright Stories from September 2025
In September, the most significant copyright news was the landmark settlement in a major AI copyright case, and the filing of several new copyright infringement cases against AI companies. Here is a quick snapshot of other top copyright news stories from September 2025.
Court Approves Landmark $1.5 Billion Settlement in ‘Bartz v. Anthropic’
On September 25, Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval of the $1.5 billion settlement in the Bartz v. Anthropic AI class action lawsuit. The approval came during a hearing on the settlement, which followed the submission of documents by the parties addressing Judge Alsup’s concerns with class identification and distribution of the settlement funds that led him to postpone approval at an earlier hearing. According to reports, Judge Alsup called the settlement “fair” and acknowledged that while there were still potential complications with the claims process, “[w]e have some of the best lawyers in America in the courtroom right now and I think [they] can do it.” The settlement terms require that Anthropic pay approximately $3,000 for each of the 482,460 books it downloaded from pirate libraries, Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror, and destroy the copied works. The Authors Guild issued a statement, welcoming the preliminary approval of the settlement. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) issued a statement by its President and CEO Maria A. Pallante applauding the approval. The Copyright Alliance issued a statement welcoming the settlement. More information about the class settlement and participating in the settlement is available on the Authors Guild website.
Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney
On September 4, Warner Bros. Entertainment filed a complaint against Midjourney over the unauthorized use of Warner Bros. Entertainment’s copyrighted works to train Midjourney’s AI models. The complaint details that Midjourney’s AI powered services enable users to generate images and videos, which infringe Warner Bros. Entertainment’s copyrighted works. The complaint also states that Midjourney actively knows about such outputs but failed to implement safeguards to prevent the generation of infringing outputs. The complaint provides examples of downloadable Midjourney-generated-output featuring characters from popular Warner Bros. Entertainment franchises, including Superman, Batman, Tweety, Scooby Doo, Wonder Woman, and others. Warner Bros. Entertainment further argues that Midjourney leverages infringing outputs by publicly displaying them on its website to promote and market the company’s AI services. The complaint includes claims of direct and secondary copyright infringement.
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster File AI Lawsuit Against Perplexity
On September 10, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Inc. filed a complaint against Perplexity AI over the unauthorized use of its publications and works for the AI company’s retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) services. The plaintiffs allege that their websites were crawled and scraped by PerplexityBot, their copyrighted articles were copied at the input stage in response to user queries, and their copyrights were infringed at the output stage where the RAG model generates output substantially similar to those inputs. The plaintiffs make claims of direct copyright infringement and trademark infringement and dilution claims.
Movie Studios Sue Chinese AI Company Minimax
On September 16, Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery filed a complaint in the Central District of California against Chinese AI company, MiniMax, over the unlicensed use of the movie studios’ copyrighted works to train the AI image and video generator, Hailuo AI. The complaint details how Hailuo AI can be prompted to generate image and video outputs containing copyright-protected characters from beloved franchises including Star Wars, The Simpsons, Despicable Me, Shrek, Scooby Doo, and Looney Tunes. The plaintiffs also allege that MiniMax advertises its services as “a Hollywood Studio in your pocket” and promotes Hailuo AI’s capabilities for producing infringing outputs on its own website and its social media accounts including on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the infringement is willful since after plaintiffs sent a notice letter, MiniMax did not attempt to cease infringement nor implemented any technical measures to prevent infringing output. The complaint includes two claims of direct and secondary copyright infringement. The Copyright Alliance released a statement on September 17 in support of the studios’ suit.
D.C. Circuit Court Reinstates Perlmutter as Register of Copyrights and Denies Government’s Appeal
On September 10, in a 2-1 decision, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted an injunction pending appeal by Shira Perlmutter that enjoins the defendants from “interfering with appellant’s service as Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office pending further order of the court.” Perlmutter had filed a lawsuit against the White House over her dismissal from the Register of Copyrights position in May. The court opined that the district court abused its discretion in denying Perlmutter’s preliminary injunction motion by failing to consider the “unusual” and “extraordinary” features of the case, including critical questions of separation of powers. On September 17, Todd Blanche, Paul Perkins, and other Administration defendants filed a petition for rehearing en banc of the order. The petition argues that the three-judge panel’s order conflicts with the Supreme Court’s judgment in Trump v. Wilcox concerning harm to the Government from an order allowing a removed Officer to continue exercising Executive Power. (On October 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied the petition.) The case will proceed on the merits at the district court level, while Perlmutter remains in her role as Register.
USCO Personnel Changes
On September 2, the U.S. Copyright Office announced that Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice, Robert Kasunic, retired from his position. The Copyright Alliance wrote a blog post honoring Kasnuic’s career. Kasunic will be succeeded by Erik Bertin, who was appointed Acting Associate Register and Director of Registration Policy and Practice. Also in September, Whitney Levandusky was appointed as the USCO’s Acting Deputy Director, Registration Policy and Practice. Levandusky previously served as the Supervisory Attorney-Advisor for the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) since 2021 and also served as an Attorney-Advisor for the Office’s Public Information and Education Division.
Senate Commerce Committee’s Science Subcommittee Holds Hearing on White House AI Action Plan
On September 10, the Senate Commerce Committee’s Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness Subcommittee held a hearing titled, AI’ve Got a Plan: America’s AI Action Plan. The sole witness was Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Kratsios outlined the Administration’s AI Action Plan, which is built on three pillars: (1) innovation, (2) infrastructure, and (3) international partnerships, and supported by Executive Orders on procurement standards for “truth-seeking” models, faster data center permitting, and promoting a U.S. “AI stack” abroad. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) criticized current interpretations of fair use, calling it a “fairly useful way to steal my content,” and noted that “we see that happen repeatedly.” She referenced her amicus brief in the Warhol v. Goldsmith case, where she argued “for a narrowed application” of fair use. She raised broader concerns about the protection of intellectual property from unauthorized AI scraping and use for training purposes, stressing that “making certain that those patents, trademarks, and copyrights are not infringed is vital to our creative community.” Senator Blackburn’s time ran out before Kratsios could respond. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) emphasized AI harms to individuals, highlighting the TAKE IT DOWN Act (now law) and the pending NO FAKES Act to address AI replicas of likenesses.
Record Labels Settle Lawsuit Against Internet Archive Over Mass Digitization of Pre-1972 Records
On September 15, the district court for the Northern District of California issued an order of dismissal, approving a joint notice of settlement filed by parties in the case UMG Recordings Inc. v. Internet Archive, where a group of record label plaintiffs sued the Internet Archive (IA) over allegations of copyright infringement of 2,749 pre-1972 sound recordings for the mass digitization and distribution of those songs as part of the Internet Archive’s “Great 78 Project.” In May 2024, the court had denied IA’s motion to dismiss the case based on arguments that its activities qualified for the fair use exception and that the three-year statute of limitations for copyright infringement claims had passed.
HJC IP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Federal vs. State Law AI Regulations
On September 18, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet held a hearing titled AI at a Crossroads: A Nationwide Strategy or Californication? to examine the federal government’s role in regulating AI and the balance between federal and state authority. Witnesses included Adam Thierer, Senior Technology & Innovation Fellow, R Street Institute; Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow, University of Texas School of Law; David Bray, Loomis Council Member and Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center; and Neil Richards, Koch Distinguished Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law and Co-Director, The Cordell Institute. Bipartisan concern emerged around copyright issues. Representative Ben Cline (R-VA) cautioned against broad safe harbors that allow copyright infringement and noted that federal frameworks like copyright laws should be upheld and respected. Representative Deborah Ross (D-NC) called for a dedicated hearing to explore mechanisms for responsible AI copyright practices. Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) raised concern over whether the current intellectual property regime continues to align with the original intent of copyright law to incentivize innovation and called for further study into alternative mechanisms to compensate creators. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) voiced support for his Preventing Abuse of Digital Replicas Act (PADRA) from the 118th Congress, noting its bipartisan support and his hope to move it forward swiftly.
Senate Confirms John Squires as USPTO Director
On September 18, the U.S. Senate confirmed John A. Squires as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Squires’ nomination was part of an en bloc vote of 48 pending Trump nominees, all of whom were confirmed by a vote of 51-47.
Record Labels Add New DMCA and Stream Ripping Related Claims to Lawsuits Against Suno and Udio
On September 19, a group of record label plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit against AI company, Suno, over the mass unlicensed use of plaintiffs’ sound recordings to train Suno’s music AI model. In the amended complaint, plaintiffs allege that, in addition to being liable for widespread copyright infringement, Suno also obtained plaintiffs’ sound recordings by scraping and stream ripping the works from YouTube videos and circumventing relevant technological protection measures to do so. On September 26, the record label plaintiffs filed a similar proposed amended complaint, making new stream ripping and circumvention of technological protection measures claims in their lawsuit against Udio.
Cloudflare Launches ‘Content Signals Policy’ for Website Operators to Address Indiscriminate AI Use of Scraped Website Content
On September 24, Cloudflare announced the launch of the Content Signals Policy, which will enable website operators to express preferences on how their website content can be used by others subsequent to scraping, including the ability to opt out of AI overviews and inference. It will also enable operators to specify additional instructions for AI crawlers, including signaling of opt out preferences, defining the ways a crawler uses content including search, AI input, and AI training, and sharing reminders with companies that website operators’ preferences in robots.txt files have legal significance.
German Court Indicates Skepticism Over OpenAI’s Arguments in AI Copyright Lawsuit: According to reports, on September 29, a Munich court preliminarily indicated that it deems OpenAI liable for copyright infringement in the lawsuit against the AI company launched by German music rights collecting society, GEMA, over the unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics in GEMA’s repertoire by OpenAI’s large language model, ChatGPT. The court rejected OpenAI’s argument that its unlicensed use qualified for the EU’s text and data mining (TDM) exception for scientific uses and also rejected OpenAI’s arguments to shift liability to users for outputs that contain reproductions of copyright-protected text.
Copyright Events and Deadlines in October
CLA Series on Business, Legal, and IP Basics for Artists of All Disciplines
On October 16 at 6 p.m. ET, the California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) in collaboration with Warehouse Artist Lofts (WAL) will host an in-person, four-part series titled Business, Legal, and IP Basics for Artists of All Disciplines. The series is designed to assist creators and students with fundamentals on topics such as Intellectual Property/Copyright Basics, Licensing, Contracts, and Forming a Successful Arts Organization. The first session will be held on October 16 on contracts.
4IP Council Webinar on The Future of the Movie Industry in the Wake of Gen AI
On October 30 at 11 a.m. ET, 4IP Council will host a webinar to present the results of a study it conducted in concert with Professor Eleonora Rosati. The study results map out and evaluate “relevant legal issues facing the development, deployment, and use of AI models from a movie industry perspective under EU and UK copyright law.” During the event, Dr. Rosati will explain the main conclusions of her work in relation to the movie industry, including protectability of AI-generated outputs, AI training inputs, legal risks and liabilities stemming from using third-party AI models, and more. More information is available on the registration page.
AIPLA Annual Meeting
From October 30 to November 1, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host its 2025 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The event is designed to bring together an array of IP practitioners for networking opportunities, committee and leadership meetings, top industry speakers, and more. More information is available on the registration page.
If you aren’t already a member of the Copyright Alliance, you can join today by completing our Individual Creator Members membership form! Members gain access to monthly newsletters, educational webinars, and so much more — all for free!