Judge Rules Against AI Startup in Copyright Case Over Reuters’s Legal Database

Judge rules that the ROSS Intelligence research platform infringed on copyrights of Westlaw, Reuters’s own legal research database, rejecting fair-use defense.

The Thomson Reuters logo on a building in New York City in a file photo. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

A federal judge ruled in favor of Thomson Reuters on key copyright infringement claims in its lawsuit against ROSS Intelligence, an AI-powered legal research platform, dealing a blow to the startup accused of unlawfully using content from Westlaw, Reuters’s own legal research database.

U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas issued an opinion on Feb. 11, reversing portions of a prior summary judgment decision he made in 2023 largely rejecting Thomson Reuters’s requests for summary judgment against the AI company.