ML GENIUS HOLDINGS LLC,** Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GOOGLE LLC, LYRICFIND, Defendants-Appellees., 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 6206

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-Given the specific facts the internet platform pleaded in its complaint, its breach of contract claim was not qualitatively different from a copyright claim and was therefore preempted; [2]-The gravamen of the platform's claim was defendants' unauthorized publication of its lyrics transcriptions, so the platform's unfair competition claims were preempted; [3]-The platform's claims did not qualify for the hot news exception because it had not shown that its transcriptions constituted time-sensitive information; [4]-Because lyrics transcriptions were not time-sensitive in nature, the platform's claims did not fall within the hot news exception.