Bored Apes & Interview Tapes – Episode 183
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Welcome to Entertainment Law Update, your monthly rundown of the most important legal developments in the entertainment, media, and technology industries.
In this episode, we cover big rulings in the world of NFTs, copyright, trademarks, and the ever-expanding impact of AI on law and media. Here’s what we’re talking about:
FEATURED STORIES
🎨 Ninth Circuit Overturns Bored Ape NFT Ruling
The long-running dispute between Yuga Labs (creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club) and artist Ryder Ripps takes another turn. The Ninth Circuit reversed the $8.8 million ruling Yuga had previously won, holding that key issues like likelihood of confusion and First Amendment defenses must go to a fact finder.
- Case: Yuga Labs, Inc. v. Ripps et al.
- Background: Ripps minted NFTs identical to Bored Ape images as protest and satire, raising questions about whether NFTs qualify as “goods,” nominative fair use, and the scope of First Amendment protections.
- Resources:
- Reuters coverage: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-appeals-court-overturns-bored-ape-makers-88-mln-win-nft-trademark-case-2025-07-23/
- Eric Goldman guest blog: https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2025/08/does-anyone-still-care-about-nfts-yuga-labs-llc-v-ripps-guest-blog-post.htm
- JD Supra analysis: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/monkey-business-no-more-ninth-circuit-4059004/
- Stanford Fair Use case page: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/case/yuga-labs-inc-v-ripps/
🎙 Trump Loses Copyright Fight Over Woodward Interview Tapes
Former President Donald Trump sued Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, and Paramount over The Trump Tapes audiobook, claiming he never consented to audio release and was a joint author of the interviews. Judge Gardephe dismissed the claims, finding Trump’s own words undermined his case.
- Case: Trump v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., Robert Woodward, and Paramount Global (S.D.N.Y.)
- Opinion issued July 18, 2025
- Resources:
🎵 Spotify’s New Royalty Threshold
Spotify now requires a minimum of 1,000 streams per track per year before royalties kick in. Songs below that threshold remain on the platform but generate no revenue—raising serious concerns for independent musicians.
- The Trichordist analysis: https://thetrichordist.com/2025/08/07/spotifys-royalty-threshold-is-conscious-parallelism-reshaping-the-music-business-but-not-in-a-good-way/
🤖 AI in the Legal News
- Disney/Universal v. AI – Disney reportedly considered using AI deepfakes of Dwayne Johnson in Moana and AI elements in Tron: Ares, but scrapped both ideas over ownership/publicity risks. Universal has started attaching legal warnings in film credits: “may not be used to train AI.”
- AI Misquotes Real Cases – A Boston lawyer sanctioned after Microsoft Co-Pilot “grammar checked” legal briefs by altering direct case quotes.
- Largest Copyright Class Action Certified – Judge Alsup certified a class of Authors of 7 million books allegedly used by Anthropic to train AI. Potential damages could reach hundreds of billions.
- Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/08/ai-industry-horrified-to-face-largest-copyright-class-action-ever-certified/
- Authors Alliance: https://www.authorsalliance.org/2025/07/22/bartz-v-anthropic-judge-alsup-certifies-class-for-rightsholders-of-7-million-books-used-by-anthropic/
- Courtlistener filing PDF: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca9.8d0d59a1-7a6e-f011-a2d9-001dd80ea460/gov.uscourts.ca9.8d0d59a1-7a6e-f011-a2d9-001dd80ea460.1.0.pdf
📺 Vicky Vox v. Netflix – No Lanham Act Violation
The Ninth Circuit held that Netflix’s animated series Q-Force did not violate drag performer Vicky Vox’s rights, applying the Rogers v. Grimaldi test.
- Bloomberg Law coverage: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/netflix-win-affirmed-in-drag-queen-vicky-voxs-likeness-lawsuit
🎭 To Kill a Mockingbird Stage Rights
Second Circuit confirmed Harper Lee’s termination of Dramatic Publishing’s license was valid, clearing the way for Atticus LLC’s licensing of Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation.
- Full opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/23-1226/23-1226-2025-07-29.html
🍊 Sunkist Beats “Kist” Trademark
The Federal Circuit reversed the TTAB and blocked Intrastate Distributors’ attempt to register “KIST” for sodas, finding likelihood of confusion with Sunkist.
- Reuters coverage: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/sunkist-wins-us-court-appeal-block-kist-trademark-2025-07-23/
LIGHTNING ROUND
- Disney settles with Portland Pickles over trademark dispute. WDWNT coverage: https://wdwnt.com/2025/08/disney-settles-portland-pickles-baseball-team-trademark-infringement-lawsuit/
- Mattel goes after “Coffee with Ken” podcast, citing confusion with “Ken” the doll. NY Post report: https://nypost.com/2025/07/30/business/mattel-slaps-political-podcast-coffee-with-ken-with-bizarre-lawsuit/
CLOSING THOUGHTS
That’s a wrap on Episode 183 of Entertainment Law Update.
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