Watchdog Group Files Amicus Brief on Copyright Class Certification Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kara Zupkus (224)-456-0257

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) filed an amicus brief at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging the court to review a district court’s improper use of class certification to undermine artificial intelligence (AI). This emerging technology has already made millions of lives easier, improved the operations of countless American businesses in countless industries, and is playing a leading role in groundbreaking medical and technological research. However, the application of ill-tailored rules and standards to AI risks hampering the revolutionary technology.

TPA President David Williams issued the following statement:

“TPA is a strong supporter of intellectual property (IP) rights and strongly champions the rights of copyright, patent, and trademark holders. For these critical rights to be protected, each alleged infringement case must be closely examined and rise and fall on its own merits. The district court is undermining this pivotal principle by irresponsibly using class certification to paint with a broad brush and ignore key concepts in copyright law, such as fair use. Copyright holders, AI consumers/users, and taxpayers deserve a more thorough approach that delves into the specifics of infringement cases and takes all the evidence into account. Class certification is the wrong way to accomplish this.

“This is no ordinary copyright dispute — it’s a test case for the future of AI, creative rights, and the boundaries of innovation. Yet the district court charged ahead, certifying an unprecedented copyright class while waving away the thorniest legal issue in the case without the rigorous scrutiny the law demands. It decided a core merits question at the certification stage, short-circuiting a debate that deserves full, careful, adversarial consideration. The Ninth Circuit must step in to correct that error, protect the integrity of class procedure, and ensure the fair use question is properly litigated — not preemptively buried.”