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The 2025 Entertainment & Media Law Conference

No Entrance to Legal Paradise: D.C. Court of Appeals Affirms Denial of Copyright Registration for AI-Generated Artwork

The Court’s ruling is consistent with longstanding law, reaffirming that works exclusively created by AI are ineligible for copyright protection. While this opinion ultimately leaves more nuanced “line-drawing” questions for another day, authors of AI-generated works are likely to continue to register their works with the Copyright Office and engage in legal fights to determine…

Court Quashes Document Subpoena to Freelance Journalist

Applying both Florida and New York law, the Southern District of New York recognized that a journalist’s notes, interviews, and other newsgathering materials are protected from discovery under the journalist’s privilege.

Denials of Anti-SLAPP Motions Now Appealable Under Florida Law

Following years of uncertainty, including an intermediate appellate court split and an apparent change of heart, the Florida Supreme Court has determined that denials of anti-SLAPP motions are appealable under interlocutory review.

First Amendment & Defamation Claims Against NewsGuard Dismissed With Prejudice

The decision reaffirms multiple important principles of First Amendment and defamation law, including the fundamental distinction between private conduct (which is protected by the First Amendment) and state action (which is constrained by the First Amendment), the non-actionable status of expressions of opinion, and the high bar that public figures such as Consortium News must…

Court Dismisses Defamation Suit by Former Mississippi Governor Related to Welfare Scandal

The court found that all four of the allegations of actual malice were conclusory. Then, taking each in turn, the court determined that Rosenberg did not act with actual malice by “ignoring a mountain of objective evidence” proving Bryant’s innocence.

Newsweek Wins Summary Judgment in Satanic Temple Lawsuit

Applying the substantive requirements of the New York anti-SLAPP statute, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the Southern District of New York held that no reasonable jury could find by clear and convincing evidence that Newsweek published the relevant statement with actual malice and granted Newsweek’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

Trump’s Assault on the Media and Law Firms, and How We Should React

Why Trump's attacks on the media and on law firms are both unconstitutional and unfounded, and what all lawyers — and especially media lawyers — can do about them. And a fond remembrance of former New York Times executive editor Max Frankel.

Arkansas Age-Gating Law Is Permanently Enjoined

The decision was a complete win for NetChoice, declaring that the law was a content- and speaker-based restriction that failed strict scrutiny and was moreover unconstitutionally vague.

The Need for a Revised Anti-SLAPP Law in the UK

In 2023 the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act introduced an anti-SLAPP law in the UK. It was something of an afterthought.

Dua Lipa Wins Summary Judgement in Levitating Copyright Infringement Case

While acknowledging that “it is possible that a ‘layperson’ could listen to portions of Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ songs and hear similarities,” Judge Katherine Polk Failla concluded that “there can be no substantial similarity (and thus no copyright violation) as a matter of law, because ‘the similarity between the works concerns only non-copyrightable elements of the…

Judge Grants Summary Judgment Against Fair Use Defense in AI Context

It is still early to predict what impact this case will have on the pending infringement cases against OpenAI and other generative AI companies. But Judge Bibas’s recognition of a “AI training data market” will certainly be cited by plaintiffs in those cases.   

Producer of Cosby Show Defeats Claims Brought Under the Adult Survivors Act

The trial court ruled that Ms. Pinkerton’s claim was not revived by New York’s ASA because the alleged assault occurred outside of New York State and Ms. Pinkerton was not a New York resident at the time. 

The Illinois Anti-SLAPP Statute: An Autopsy and Hope for the Future

The Illinois Supreme Court’s nullifying interpretations of the CPA have exposed Illinois journalists and news outlets to intimidating SLAPP litigation and have done a disservice to its citizens. It is long past time for a new beginning.

Texas Court Dismisses Former Nigerian Ambassador’s Defamation Claim Against News Website

The Court dismissed the entire action without prejudice, finding it was not within its power to consider the Defendants' other alleged bases for dismissal once it found that it lacked jurisdiction.

Connecticut Supreme Court Holds Calling Someone a “White Supremacist” Is Not Defamatory

In an ever-increasingly polarized climate, Murphy offers some guidance as to when inflammatory language may be legally actionable.

Novel First Amendment Case Alleges PETA’s Right to Receive Communications from Monkeys in Federal Lab

Government-funded laboratories confine and experiment on millions of animals each year, including highly intelligent primates. A federal court could soon decide whether Americans have the right to receive their communications, in response to an animal advocacy group’s groundbreaking lawsuit.

Wisconsin Court Dismisses Suit Against News Organizations Over Political Ad

The decision delivered a strong victory for early dismissal of suits involving protected speech – in a state without an anti-SLAPP law.

Federal Judge Declines to Block White House Ban on AP — for Now

Judge McFadden, however, suggested at the hearing that the ban is likely a form of content- and viewpoint-based discrimination, and left open the possibility that he could ultimately rule in the news outlet’s favor following a second hearing scheduled for March 20.

Nevada Supreme Court Rules that Declaratory Relief Claims Subject to Anti-SLAPP Statute

The decision reaffirms and further clarifies its prior holding that the anti-SLAPP law is not limited “to only certain claims for relief.” And it reverses a trial court that expressed concern that granting the anti-SLAPP motion—thereby triggering the law’s mandatory fee-shifting provision—would “punish” a police union that has sued the Review-Journal for publishing lawfully obtained…