Judge declines to reconsider summary judgment for Quizlet in AI-copyright suit over nursing-exam materials

What happened

A federal judge in the Central District of California declined to reconsider a summary judgment granted in favor of Quizlet Inc. in *Barkley & Associates, Inc. v. Quizlet, Inc.*, No. 2:24-cv-05964-WLH. The nursing test preparation company Barkley & Associates did not meet the standard for reconsideration, so the judgment for Quizlet stands. The reconsideration ruling was reported on October 6, 2026.

The case

Barkley, a publisher of nurse practitioner exam study guides, alleged that Quizlet hosted infringing user uploads of its materials and directly copied those materials to train Quizlet's "Quizlet+ AI," which generates educational outputs mimicking Barkley's proprietary content. In September 2025 the court denied Quizlet's motion to dismiss, allowing direct and vicarious copyright claims to proceed. A separate Mealey's report on July 17, 2026 said the court then granted Quizlet summary judgment on the direct and vicarious copyright, trade dress, trademark and other claims, finding Quizlet was merely a passive entity with respect to users' uploads of copyrighted materials. The October 6 order leaves that outcome in place.