US Appeals Court Upholds Thomson Reuters AI Copyright Victory
A U.S. appeals court on September 29 upheld Thomson Reuters’ copyright victory over Ross Intelligence. The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Ross’ fair-use defense for using Westlaw material to train an AI-powered legal search engine. The ruling marks the first U.S. appellate decision addressing fair use in AI training.
The dispute began with Thomson Reuters’ 2020 lawsuit, which accused Ross of copying Westlaw headnotes, summaries of legal principles in court opinions. Ross used material derived from those headnotes while developing a competing legal research tool. The appeals court’s full reasoning remains sealed, Reuters reported.
Ross shut down its platform in 2021, citing litigation costs. Meanwhile, the decision could influence other copyright disputes involving AI developers and content owners. Those cases increasingly center on whether copyrighted material can be used to build commercial AI systems without permission.
Why it matters
The ruling adds an important appellate precedent for AI copyright disputes. It could affect how companies assess licensing and copyright risks when developing AI systems.
