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US judge rules for OpenAI, says robots.txt files don't control access to web content

( December 15, 2025, 23:42 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex summary: US District Judge Sidney H. Stein dismissed a US Digital Millennium Copyright Act circumvention claim against OpenAI, finding that plaintiff Ziff Davis's robots.txt files don't control access to web content "any more than a sign requesting that visitors 'keep off the grass' effectively controls access to a lawn." Stein also dismissed an unjust enrichment claim as preempted by the US Copyright Act, and sustained contributory infringement and DMCA copyright management information removal claims. See file attached. ...

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