Thomson Reuters Wins AI Copyright Battle
A U.S. appeals court upheld a ruling for Thomson Reuters in its copyright lawsuit against Ross Intelligence that centers on artificial intelligence training, Reuters reported Tuesday (Sept. 29). Thomson Reuters is the parent company of Reuters. Thomson Reuters filed the suit in 2020, alleging that Ross Intelligence, which competed in the legal research market at […] The post Thomson Reuters Wins…
In a recent U.S. appeals court ruling, Thomson Reuters secured a victory in its copyright lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, according to Reuters on Tuesday (Sept. 29). The parent company of Reuters had initiated the lawsuit back in 2020, accusing Ross Intelligence of infringing on their intellectual property by copying material from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw platform to train Ross Intelligence's competing AI-based legal search engine.
Unfortunately, Ross Intelligence's contention that their search engine made a fair use of material from Westlaw was rejected. The court's reasoning behind the decision remains undisclosed. Ross Intelligence has not yet responded to requests for information regarding the ruling. The court's decision is being seen as a "first-of-its-kind ruling by a U.S. appeals court in a wave of high-stakes copyright cases over AI training," according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters expressed the company's conviction that respecting copyright is crucial for promoting innovation while safeguarding the intellectual property that underpins AI solutions of the highest fiduciary standards. In July, PYMNTS reported that courts have been divided on assigning liability in other separate copyright cases involving AI training.
Numerous cases are currently pending in 2026. In December 2020, Ross announced its decision to cease operations for its platform starting from January 2021 due to the expenses associated with the lawsuit brought by Thomson Reuters. A federal judge dismissed Ross Intelligence's antitrust claims against Thomson Reuters in September 2024, effectively concluding the major counterclaim in the ongoing legal dispute between the two companies.
Initially, Ross Intelligence claimed that Thomson Reuters violated federal antitrust law by unlawfully tying its Westlaw search tool to its public law database to maintain its dominance in the legal research market. The company argued that Thomson Reuters offered its Westlaw case law database only in combination with its search tools, thereby preventing consumers from purchasing the products separately.
In September 2024, the judge concluded that Ross Intelligence did not present sufficient evidence to support its antitrust allegations.
Written by urgent.news from PYMNTS's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
