Matthew N. Sugarman

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In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub Tobin partners Scott Hervey and Matt Sugarman break down The New York Times v. Perplexity AI, a lawsuit that goes beyond copyright and into largely untested trademark territory. They discuss the Times’ allegations that Perplexity copied its journalism at both the input and output stages and, more significantly, that the AI attributed fabricated or inaccurate content to the Times using its trademarks. The case raises new questions about false designation of origin, trademark dilution, and how AI hallucinations could expose platforms to liability.

In this episode, they cover:Continue Reading The Briefing: New York Times v. Perplexity AI: Copyright, Hallucinations, and Trademark Risk

The Terrifier franchise is one of the most unlikely independent horror success stories of the last 25 years. But a new lawsuit challenges how the first film was made and raises serious questions about performer consent and on-set protections. In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub Tobin partners Scott Hervey and Matt Sugarman break down actress Catherine Corcoran’s lawsuit against the film’s producers and what it reveals about SAG-AFTRA requirements for nudity and simulated sex scenes.

In this episode, they cover:Continue Reading The Briefing: Nudity Riders, Consent, and the Terrifier Lawsuit: What Producers Must Know

Can a car, a superhero, or even a cartoon sidekick be protected by copyright? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Matt Sugarman break down how fictional characters earn legal protection — and when they don’t.Continue Reading The Briefing: Protecting Fictional Characters – Copyright and Trademark Strategies

The Anthropic settlement shows just how costly copyright missteps can be in AI development. Anthropic has agreed to a $1.5B settlement after a court found that keeping a permanent library of pirated books was not fair use—even though training its AI model on those same works was.Continue Reading The Briefing: Anthropic Settles AI Training Case for $1.5 Billion +

In a major win for Meta, a federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by prominent authors who claimed their books were illegally used to train the company’s Llama models. But the ruling doesn’t give AI companies a free pass—it reveals the roadmap for how a better-prepared copyright plaintiff could win next time.Continue Reading The Briefing: The Wrong Argument – Why Authors Lost Against Meta and What Comes Next