Microsoft and OpenAI Workers Worry About ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ in History; The New York Times, September 17, 2026

 Karen Weise and Mike Isaac , The New York Times; Microsoft and OpenAI Workers Worry About ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ in History

Newly unsealed court documents showed concern within Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of millions of news articles to develop A.I. systems.

"Newly unsealed court documents showed considerable concern within Microsoft and its close partner OpenAI over the use of millions of news articles to develop artificial intelligence systems.

As OpenAI was forging ahead with its work, Microsoft employees debated whether what OpenAI was doing represented the “largest theft of labor in human history” and could create a “doom loop” that could ultimately threaten the quality of the large language models they were building...

Snippets of those discussions were made public on Thursday as part of a closely watched lawsuit The New York Times filed against OpenAI and Microsoft in late 2023. Eleven other publishers have joined the suit. Judge Sidney H. Stein of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York is considering motions for a summary judgment. Documents related to the case are slowly being unsealed as the judge considers those motions.

The publishers argue that the tech companies violated copyright law by scraping millions of their stories off the internet and other databases, and using the text, without approval or pay, to train advanced A.I. systems.

Microsoft and OpenAI contend their work was covered under legal protections for “fair use” of copyrighted material. They say the articles were sufficiently transformed into entirely new work by A.I., and were not substitutes that harm the value of the original work."

Trump White House Takes Down ‘Tetris’ For Xenophobes Game Over Copyright Threat; Gizmodo, September 8, 2026

 AJ DELLINGER, Gizmodo ; Trump White House Takes Down ‘Tetris’ For Xenophobes Game Over Copyright Threat

"Last week, the Trump White House launched an arcade on the White House website with, among other games, a racist version of Tetris meant to invoke the Trump slogan “Build The Wall.” On Tuesday, after receiving a not-so-veiled threat from The Tetris Company over possible copyright infringement, the game was removed from the White House Arcade page, which does continue to be a real thing somehow."

Tetris Company Distances Itself From Trump White House’s ‘Build the Wall’ Game, Says ‘We Take Copyright Very Seriously’; Variety, September 4, 2026

 Todd Spangler, Variety ; Tetris Company Distances Itself From Trump White House’s ‘Build the Wall’ Game, Says ‘We Take Copyright Very Seriously’

"The Tetris Company wants to be clear that it was not involved in the creation of the White House‘s “Build the Wall” game — an obvious copy of the famous block-dropping title — in which players must prevent zombie-like foreigners from crossing the “southern border” into the United States. The game company added, “We take copyright infringement very seriously.”

On Thursday, the Trump White House launched the whitehouse.gov/arcade website with six games. One of those is called “Build the Wall,” which tells players to “Protect the border from the coming horde.”"

The White House posted a video of Tim and Moby in MAGA hats. Their creators responded with a copyright lesson.; Business Insider, August 28, 2026

 Truman Dickerson, Business Insider; The White House posted a video of Tim and Moby in MAGA hats. Their creators responded with a copyright lesson.

"Tim and Moby, the human-and-robot cartoon duo, are known for explaining scientific concepts and historical events to kids in classrooms across America.

In a video posted by the White House this week, though, the pair were instead wearing MAGA hats and explaining why the Department of Education has "utterly failed our students."

Tim and Moby's creators responded with a lesson on the nuances of copyright law."

Law expert says Buc-ee’s faces uphill battle in Beaver’s Mini Mart suit; WHIO, August 6, 2026

  

Megan Finke, WHIO.com and Xavier Hershovitz, WHIO; Law expert says Buc-ee’s faces uphill battle in Beaver’s Mini Mart suit

"Hershovitz talked with University of Michigan law professor Jessica Litman. She focuses on intellectual property law. 

“Trademark infringement requires the trademark owner to prove that the marks are sufficiently similar that consumers are likely to be confused,” Litman said. 

She said Buc-ee’s has filed several lawsuits against businesses for copyright infringement.

“When Buc-ee’s started a national expansion, it started filing trademark suits against other convenience stores attached to gas stations that it saw in the way of its expansion, and it’s been something of a bully,” Litman said. 

When looking at the two logos, Litman said she finds it unlikely that it would “be able to prove a likelihood of confusion.”

But she said these lawsuits are very expensive. 

While she believes no judge or jury would rule in Buc-ee’s favor, getting to that point can be tough for small businesses. 

“A number of businesses have decided that it’s way too expensive to go to trial on this, and have settled by agreeing to change their neighbor logo,” she said."

White House fires back after Noah Kahan says he’d ‘never approve’ Trump administration using his music; Entertainment Weekly, July 29, 2026

 Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at Entertainment Weekly, with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW'S EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

 Entertainment Weekly; White House fires back after Noah Kahan says he’d ‘never approve’ Trump administration using his music

"Noah Kahan is joining the growing list of musicians who don’t want to be associated with the Trump administration.

On Monday, President Donald Trump and the official White House social media account marked his recent visit to the General Motors facility in Michigan by sharing a carousel of photos and video, one of which featured Kahan’s song, “American Cars.”

“Nothing like American cars,” the White House captioned a TikTok video of Trump signing a Corvette at the facility.

After several fans called attention to the use of Kahan’s song to promote Trump’s Michigan visit, the folk singer was quick to pump the brakes on the song choice.

“Would never approve of my music being used in support of you or this administration,” the singer commented beneath Trump’s post."

Katy Perry blasts White House use of song on Iran strike TikTok: ‘Deeply appalled’; The Hill, July 25, 2026

 MIRA BHAKTA, The Hill ; Katy Perry blasts White House use of song on Iran strike TikTok: ‘Deeply appalled'

"Pop singer Katy Perry on Saturday criticized the unauthorized use of her music in the background of a White House TikTok video showing strikes on Iranian targets.

The White House used her viral song “Firework” in the background of a video showing a missile blowing up a naval ship in Iran. It has garnered over 6 million views and 616,000 likes with the caption reading, “Iran has been warned.”"

Millions of Copyrighted Songs Were Fed to AI Music Generators – Now There’s Proof; Gadget Review, June 16, 2026

 Al Landes , Gadget Review; Millions of Copyrighted Songs Were Fed to AI Music Generators – Now There’s Proof

Atlantic databases name 21 million tracks fed to Suno and rivals as Sony, UMG, and Warner seek $150,000 per song in damages

"Searchable databases verify roughly 21 million copyrighted songs trained AI music generators.

Sony, UMG, and Warner lawsuits seek up to $150,000 per song from Suno and Udio.

HarmonyCloak tool lets artists protect songs by adding inaudible AI-blocking audio perturbations.

Millions of copyrighted songs — including chart-topping hits — verifiably trained AI music generators, and now there are searchable databases to prove it. The Atlantic, through an investigation by staff writer Alex Reisner, published four catalogs documenting exactly which music fed these models:"

Japan underlines stance on copyright works after Trump anime video post; Kyodo News, Japan Wire, June 12, 2026

 Kyodo News, Japan Wire; Japan underlines stance on copyright works after Trump anime video post

"A Japanese minister on Friday underlined the government's stance on unauthorized use of copyrighted works, after U.S. President Donald Trump posted a video on social media appearing to depict him as the hero of anime series "Naruto."

Without commenting directly on the video, Kimi Onoda, minister for the "Cool Japan" strategy of promoting Japanese cultural exports, told a press conference that the "basic principle" of obtaining permission from rights holders to use copyrighted material "applies equally when the user is a public institution."

Japanese Man Sentenced For Posting ‘Godzilla’ Spoilers Online; Gizmodo, April 21, 2026

 JAMES WHITBROOK , Gizmodo; Japanese Man Sentenced For Posting ‘Godzilla’ Spoilers Online

39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi was charged for posting plot descriptions of movies and anime series so detailed that a Tokyo court declared them copyright infringement.

"Last week, Asahi (via The Verge) reported that the Tokyo District Court sentenced Wataru Takeuchi to a year and a half in prison, as well as a 1 million yen (roughly $6,300) fine, for running foul of Japan’s copyright laws. Takeuchi was the administrator of an entertainment site littered with articles (and, perhaps most crucially, monetized ad displays, from which Takeuchi made almost a quarter of a million dollars in 2023) that went into great length and spoiler-filled detail to summarize the plots of popular shows and movies."

Supreme Court tosses $1B copyright verdict in record companies' battle over illegal internet downloads; Fox News, March 25, 2026

 Eric Mack, Fox News ; Supreme Court tosses $1B copyright verdict in record companies' battle over illegal internet downloads

"The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that internet providers are not liable for copyright infringement by their users, delivering an opinion in Cox v. Sony and tossing a $1 billion verdict."

Supreme Court Sides With Internet Provider in Copyright Fight Over Pirated Music; The New York Times, March 25, 2026

 Ann E. Marimow, The New York Times ; Supreme Court Sides With Internet Provider in Copyright Fight Over Pirated Music

Leading music labels sued Cox Communications for failing to terminate accounts of subscribers flagged for distributing copyrighted music.

"The Supreme Court unanimously said on Wednesday that a major internet provider could not be held liable for the piracy of thousands of songs online in a closely watched copyright clash."

Senators tell ByteDance to ‘immediately shut down’ Seedance AI video app; CNBC, March 17, 2026

 Emily Wilkins, CNBC ;  Senators tell ByteDance to ‘immediately shut down’ Seedance AI video app

"Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Peter Welch are calling for a halt to the new version of ByteDance’s artificial intelligence app, Seedance, which generates videos of real people and licensed characters, raising copyright and intellectual property concerns. 

Seedance 2.0 “is the most glaring example of copyright infringement from a ByteDance product to date, and you must immediately shut down Seedance and implement meaningful safeguards to prevent further infringing outputs,” Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Welch, D-Vt., wrote in a letter to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo that was first obtained by CNBC.

Their letter is a sign of growing concerns on Capitol Hill about how AI companies are developing and using their models and whether proper protections are in place for those who generate the materials the models train from."

ByteDance’s Controversial AI Video Model Reportedly on Hold Globally Due to Copyright Disputes; Gizmodo, March 14, 2026

 MIKE PEARL  , Gizmodo; ByteDance’s Controversial AI Video Model Reportedly on Hold Globally Due to Copyright Disputes

"According to two anonymous leakers who spoke to the Information, the global release of Seedance 2.0 is on hold amid legal action from movie studios and streaming services.

When it was initially released, Seedance 2.0 appeared to have few if any protections in place to prevent users from generating videos appearing to star celebrities, copyrighted characters, and celebrities as copyrighted characters."

Publishers Charge Anna’s Archive with Copyright Infringement; Publishers Weekly, March 6, 2026

 Jim Milliot  , Publishers Weekly; Publishers Charge Anna’s Archive with Copyright Infringement

"A group of publishers including the Big Five is taking legal action to prevent the pirate website Anna’s Archive from illegally copying and selling their copyrighted material.

In a filing made March 6 in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 13 book and journal publishers filed suit seeking a permanent injunction to stop Anna’s Archive from copying and distributing millions of infringing files. The suit highlights the magnitude of the material Anna’s Archive has stolen and the unorthodox methods it uses to monetize the material.

In a separate lawsuit brought by Atlantic Recording Corp. in December alleging Anna’s Archive had stolen thousands of audio files from the record label, Atlantic alleged that the website also purported to host “61,344,044 books” and “95,527,824 papers,” as of the December 29, 2025 filing date.

The publishers’ complaint alleges that Anna’s Archive has added over 2 million books and 100,000 papers since Atlantic filed its complaint was filed. The ongoing infringement is in keeping with Anna’s Archive’s goal “to take all the books in the world,” according to the publishers’ complaint."

Hollywood studios escalate dispute over ByteDance’s ‘pervasive copyright infringement’ with its AI tools; Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2026

 Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times; Hollywood studios escalate dispute over ByteDance’s ‘pervasive copyright infringement’ with its AI tools

"Following the lead of several major Hollywood studios, the Motion Picture Assn. has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, the company behind the controversial artificial-intelligence video generator Seedance 2.0.

The trade association, which represents the interests of major film and TV studios, sent a notice to the Chinese company, reflecting its members’ collective response to “ByteDance’s pervasive copyright infringement.” MPA argues that Seedance’s unauthorized use of copyrighted materials is a “feature, not a bug.” 

The letter, sent Friday, marks the first time the MPA has forwarded a cease-and-desist to a major AI firm and represents a further escalation of tensions between the entertainment industry and an AI company."

ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash; CNBC, February 16, 2026

 Dylan Butts, CNBC; ByteDance says it will add safeguards to Seedance 2.0 following Hollywood backlash

"Chinese tech giant ByteDance has said it will strengthen safeguards on a new artificial intelligence video-making tool, following complaints of copyright theft from entertainment giants. 

The tool, Seedance 2.0, enables users to create realistic videos based on text prompts. However, viral videos shared online appear to show copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses, raising intellectual property concerns in the U.S. 

“ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC."

Scoop: Disney sends cease and desist letter to ByteDance over Seedance 2.0; Axios, February 13, 2026

Sara Fischer, Axios ; Scoop: Disney sends cease and desist letter to ByteDance over Seedance 2.0

"The Walt Disney Company on Friday sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, alleging the Chinese tech giant has been infringing on its works to train and develop an AI video generation model without compensation, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: It's the most serious action a Hollywood studio has taken so far against ByteDance since it launched Seedance 2.0 on Thursday. 

Zoom in: The letter, addressed to ByteDance global general counsel John Rogovin, accuses ByteDance of pre-packaging its Seedance service "with a pirated library of Disney's copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney's coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art." 

"Over Disney's well-publicized objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney's characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. ByteDance's virtual smash-and-grab of Disney's IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable," Disney's outside attorney David Singer wrote. 

"We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg – which is shocking considering Seedance has only been available for a few days," he added.

Between the lines: The letter includes a slew of examples of infringing Seedance videos that feature Disney's copyrighted characters, including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Star Wars' Grogu (Baby Yoda), Peter Griffin from Family Guy and others."

Why are copyright problems plaguing figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics?; AP, February 11, 2026

 DAVE SKRETTA , AP; Why are copyright problems plaguing figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics?

"One of the recurring issues during the opening week of the figure skating program at the Milan Cortina Olympics has been copyright problems, which have forced some athletes to scramble for approval and others to ditch their planned programs entirely...

Why are copyright problems happening?

The International Skating Union long forbade the use of lyrics in any discipline besides ice dance, forcing athletes to perform to older pieces of music — often classical tunes, such as piano concertos. Those pieces were considered part of the public domain, which meant that they could be used or modified freely and without permission.

That changed in 2014, when the ISU lifted its ban on lyrics in the hope of appealing to younger audiences. Suddenly, skaters had the choice of just about any musical genre, from pop to hip-hop to hard rock and even heavy metal.

The problem is that modern music is not part of the public domain, which means athletes must obtain permission to use it. During the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, the first Olympics in which lyrics were allowed, American skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier used a cover of “House of the Rising Sun,” and the indie rock band ultimately sued them for using it without its permission."

US figure skater Amber Glenn faces backlash over politics and copyright issues; AP via ABC News, February 9, 2026

 DAVE SKRETTA AP sports writer via ABC News; US figure skater Amber Glenn faces backlash over politics and copyright issues

"On the same day Amber Glenn won Olympic gold as part of the team event, and stepped away from social media due to backlash over her comments on politics and the LGBTQ+ community, the American figure skater ended up with another headache.

Canadian artist Seb McKinnon, who produces music under the name CLANN, took to social media late Sunday to object to the use of his song “The Return,” which Glenn had used in her free skate — and has been using for the past two years without issue.

“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine. It aired all over the world ... what? Is that usual practice for the Olympics?” McKinnon posted to X, shortly after the team competition had ended.

Figure skaters are required to obtain permission for the music they use, but that process is hardly straightforward.

Sometimes the label or record producer owns the copyright, other times the artist themselves, and often there are multiple parties involved. Skaters sometimes will piece together different cuts of music, too. Throw in third-party companies such as ClicknClear that try to smooth out the permission process, and the entire copyright issue becomes murky and nuanced."