Eriq Gardner

Order on Motion to Dismiss – #59 in Advance Local Media LLC v. Cohere Inc. (S.D.N.Y., 1:25-cv-01305) – CourtListener.com Order on Motion to Dismiss

On the A.I. copyright front, news publishers have just beaten back a motion to dismiss. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The Michael Jackson Probate Mystery More than 15 years after he died with millions in debt, Michael Jackson’s estate has experienced a remarkable turnaround. But why is a multibillion-dollar business being administered out of a corner o...

Why is Michael Jackson’s probate case still open 16 years after his death? And how has it come to include underwriting film reshoots and brokering deals with abuse accusers? I explore… puck.news/why-is-micha...

What do you think he’ll say puck.news/josh-shapiro...

Write me a 200 word horror story about Tom Brady and his cloned dog.

Netflix Writes Its A.I. Culture Memo Netflix tells partners how to use A.I. responsibly while studios battle Midjourney in court. Why Hollywood’s “age of innocence” with A.I. has ended.

Netflix’s A.I. memo is a little too on the nose. Meryl Streep’s to be specific.
Plus: What Irving Azoff told me about UMG’s Udio deal.
puck.news/netflix-ai-m...

Iger’s Shutdown Timing & Roberts’s WBD Opening How the government shutdown might benefit Disney’s ability to close its Fubo deal, and why Comcast still has options to circumnavigate Trump’s perceived veto power on the WBD deal.

The government shutdown isn’t bad for everyone. puck.news/can-comcast-...

MrBeast’s $100M Day in Court The yearslong legal feud between YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson and restaurateur Robert Earl is headed back to court this week, with Donaldson arguing that he’s defending his brand and personal integrity—an...

I learned a lot about the MrBeast empire from this case… puck.news/mrbeasts-emp...

After Sora 2: New Fronts in the A.I. Legal Wars One area of the law likely to draw more fire is the messy question of who has legal standing to object to A.I. outputs—an issue inflamed, of course, by OpenAI’s unveiling of Sora 2, which sent Hollywo...

What’s next to in the A.I. copyright wars? Let me take a gander. puck.news/the-next-hol...

I’ll tell you who is having fun with A.I. text-to-audio. Those who work to put stuff on screens at NFL games to get fans hyped.

“A reasonable listener of ‘Not Like Us’ would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.” —Judge Vargas

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Dish, Disney & The $4.99 Lawsuit From Hell Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are suing Dish over Sling TV’s “day passes,” reviving a decades-old grudge match just as ESPN launches its long-awaited stand-alone app—and the industry braces for mo...

Dish, Disney & The $4.99 Lawsuit From Hell puck.news/disney-sues-...

Lots of scoopage in the newsletter tonight including a new and potentially explosive child abuse allegation against Michael Jackson

The Protein Bar King and the Battle for the Holy Grail of Fat Substitutes — Men’s Health How the “secret sauce” in America’s hottest new brand of protein bars sparked a storm of controversy that has forced small businesses to the brink of death—and upended the protein bar market that many...

Here’s a story recommendation. Really interesting one that covers protein bars, antitrust law, and more apple.news/AKsvME2sHSu6...

Also the opt out model has roots in the takedown process under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Not saying that’s appropriate here. But what you say is an overstatement… especially since the Copyright Office itself has studied opt outs for A.I.

“Privilege” in the legal context that Sam Altman discusses isn’t about liability...at least not directly. It’s about confidentiality, and whether records need to be produced in response to subpoena.

Netflix’s $15M ‘Inventing Anna’ Mistake The streamer’s decision not to secure the life rights for one of the key players in the fake heiress saga could prove costly. Plus, news and notes on a $10 million ‘Housewives’ jingle battle and Disne...

Under-the-radar, upcoming Hollywood trials:
—Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” libel
—“Real Housewives” copyright problem
—Disney vs fired actor’s “religious” beliefs

puck.news/how-inventin...

Kimmel Is Back, But Disney vs. Trump Is Just Beginning

New pod: Who’s got the leverage in the next battles between Trump, the TV stations and Disney, and why Blue state attorneys general could play a surprising role. With @eriqgardner.bsky.social. Listen! open.spotify.com/episode/2dIV...

The Miseducation of Brendan Carr F.C.C. chairman Brendan Carr, who held up Shari Redstone’s Paramount sale and isn’t done antagonizing Disney over Jimmy Kimmel, has never seemed more emboldened. But a closer reading of the situation ...

While FCC chairman Brendan Carr sucks up the oxygen, there’s another force lurking—a reason, perhaps, to think that Nexstar is making a colossal political miscalculation in the Jimmy Kimmel affair. My latest…. puck.news/brendan-carr...

WSJ moves to dismiss Trump’s defamation lawsuit

Does Trump Need Spider-Man to Win the A.I. War? A former N.S.A. general counsel has argued that the White House should declare a national emergency to seize Hollywood’s I.P. for an A.I. arms race with China. Is it a total fantasy or just a new norm...

Does American technology hegemony depend on Trump conscripting Spider-Man, Taylor Swift songs, and the Paw Patrol? Believe it or not, a former NSA general counsel is making the case the president should invoke the Defense Production Act.
puck.news/could-hollyw...

We don’t agree to a Taylor Swift deposition but we’ve reserved October 20 for you

Lisa Cook and Shira Perlmutter. Not the greatest day for Trump’s attempted purges.

WIH+: Murdoch Trust Issues, Zaz’s A.I. Beef & TikTok’s Other Existential Threat Sep 9, 2025 Matthew Belloni Welcome back to What I’m Hearing+, winner of the coveted WIH Audience Award. I’m still in Toronto for the festival (Canada: still great), and Eriq Gardner is back tonight w...

This week in WIH+:
—Will the FCC review Rupert Murdoch's deal giving Lachlan the media empire?
—An upcoming, overlooked multi-billion dollar TikTok trial
—I use ChatGPT to crack the identities of a Hollywood lawsuit captioned "Doe Company v. Roe Company"
puck.news/newsletter_c...

RedZone is terribly overrated even without commercials

I have a lot of trouble following the logic here

Almost like an annual tradition that just before NFL season begins, feds make a show of shutting down a big illegal sports streaming site. (Tough, though, because there are a ton of mirror sites.)

Netflix’s Accidental Elizabeth Holmes Is Carl Rinsch, the erratic auteur behind a big-budget unfinished Netflix series, a calculating grifter who should spend 90 years in prison, or is he merely a cautionary tale?

The guy took $55 million from Netflix and blew chunks of it on Rolls-Royces, real estate, speculative crypto bets, and even divorce lawyers. But, as I write, the fraud case isn’t quite straightforward. puck.news/legal-anatom...

Spoke about this on our podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Could Trump Take Hollywood’s Backend? After successfully squeezing Paramount, ABC, Nvidia, and Intel for payoffs, public genuflection, and profit participation, the president is now working to assert control of the patent and copyright sy...

Trump’s interest in taking corporate stakes for the U.S. The purging of government officials. The transformative questions hanging over A.I… Connecting the dots… puck.news/could-trump-...

Sign of the Times