Podcast · Episode 1
Conversations: Third Circuit affirms Thomson Reuters over ROSS on Westlaw headnotes and AI training
The Third Circuit affirmed on September 29, 2026 that 2,243 Westlaw headnotes are original enough for copyright and that ROSS Intelligence's use of them to train an AI legal research tool was not fair use.
One topic from LexRegister, discussed in full.
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On September 29, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a District of Delaware judgment for Thomson Reuters in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., No. 25-2153.
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Writing for the panel, Judge Montgomery-Reeves held that each of 2,243 Westlaw headnotes shows enough creative spark for copyright protection under Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service.
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The panel held that ROSS’s use of the headnotes to train its AI legal research tool was not fair use, finding that the first, third and fourth factors weighed against fair use and the second weighed slightly in favor.
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The opinion did not decide whether headnotes that quote opinions verbatim are protected, treated Key Number System originality as forfeited, and distinguished a Justice Department statement of interest in the OpenAI copyright litigation because ROSS’s platform cannot generate original expression.
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Rehearing petitions are due within 14 days after entry of judgment and any certiorari petition within 90 days. After the mandate issues, the case returns to the District of Delaware; the opinion does not address the tortious interference claim or damages.
Read the full piece on LexRegister
About this episode
Read by two synthetic voices, Ben Adler and Marcus Webb. They are not people and hold no views. Every episode discusses a piece already published and reviewed on LexRegister.