Law Commons^™

Trademark Infringement: The Likelihood Of Confusion Of Nfts In The Us And Eu, Sara Sachs

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The immutability of non-fungible tokens has made it an invaluable tool for asset ownership and authentication across a variety of industries. With the proliferation of NFTs comes the need to protect trademarks and prevent consumer confusion in the digital age. This Note explores the existing legal framework for trademark law in the United States and European Union. This Note argues for a new trademark standard that reflects the interconnected nature of a global digital society.

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Code And Prejudice: Regulating Discriminatory Algorithms, Bernadette M. Coyle

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

In an era dominated by efficiency-driven technology, algorithms have seamlessly integrated into every facet of daily life, wielding significant influence over decisions that impact individuals and society at large. Algorithms are deliberately portrayed as impartial and automated in order to maintain their legitimacy. However, this illusion crumbles under scrutiny, revealing the inherent biases and discriminatory tendencies embedded in ostensibly unbiased algorithms. This Note delves into the pervasive issues of discriminatory algorithms, focusing on three key areas of life opportunities: housing, employment, and voting rights. This Note systematically addresses the multifaceted issues arising from discriminatory algorithms, showcasing real-world instances of algorithmic …

Artificial Intelligence And Transformative Use After Warhol, Gary Myers

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith clarifies the scope of transformative use and the role of these uses in the fair use analysis. This important case has implications for a fair use analysis of artificial intelligence. This article evaluates the interaction between copyright law’s fair use doctrine and typical sources and uses for artificial intelligence. In other words, the article will assess whether or not the use of copyrighted material to “train” AI programs—AI inputs—and the products of AI programs—AI outputs—are likely to found to be transformative in light of …

Regulating The Revolution: A Legal Roadmap To Optimizing Ai In Healthcare, Fazal Khan Md, Jd

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence And The Administrative State: Regulating The Government Use Of Decision-Making Technology, Gordon Unzen

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Large Language Models: Ai's Legal Revolution, Adam Allen Bent

Pace Law Review

This article contemplates and advocates for the use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) through Large Language Models (“LLM”) in legal practice. The author ultimately addresses the need to orient LMMs within varying legal contexts including academia, private practice, as well as the U.S. court system. Additionally, the author emphasizes the inevitability of AI and LLM systems infiltrating legal practice, and the reality that the industry must acknowledge and accept these systems to regulate and to provide better while still ethical legal services. Large Language Models: AI’s Legal Revolution, begins by walking the reader through the history of technological innovation of AI, …

Smart Money For The People: Using Financial Innovation And Technology To Promote Esg, Frank Emmert

Duke Law & Technology Review

Traditional fiat currencies managed by governments and central banks have had negative impacts on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Central banks in mature democracies pursue policies that prioritize economic growth and high employment. However, these policies often lead to inflation, eroding the savings and pension funds of average citizens and encouraging risky behavior by banks and entrepreneurs. The pursuit of endless growth is socially and environmentally unsustainable. Leaders in developing countries and dictatorships use expansive monetary policy to maintain their positions, further exacerbating the situation. Convertible fiat currencies moving across borders in untraceable transactions evade regulation and taxation, with …

Shouldering The Burden Of Renewable Energy: Lithium Mining In Chile’S Indigenous Communities, Asha Wedemier-Allan

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Technology has improved society, from bridging digital divides to increasing efficiency. To power technology, energy sources were traditionally derived from diminishing and exhaustible resources like fossil fuels. The renewable energy revolution emerged to balance the global demand for technology with its impact on natural resources. Lithium is a critical, non-renewable mineral that clean technology relies on. Essentially, lithium makes renewable energy possible. As the pillar for a fossil fuel-free yet technology-driven society, it is imperative to examine the sustainability and impacts of lithium mining.

This Note discusses the legal and socio-political frameworks shaping foreign direct investments in Chile’s lithium mining …

Our Changing Reality: The Metaverse And The Importance Of Privacy Regulations In The United States, Anushkay Raza

Global Business Law Review

This Note discusses the legal and pressing digital challenges that arise in connection with the growing use of virtual reality, and more specifically, the metaverse. As this digital realm becomes more integrated into our daily lives, the United States should look towards creating a federal privacy law that protects fundamental individual privacy rights. This Note argues that congress should emulate the European Union's privacy regulations, and further, balances the potential consequences and benefits of adapting European regulations within the United Sates. Finally, this Note provides drafting considerations of future lawyers who will not only be dealing with the rise of …

Rise Of The Machines: The Future Of Intellectual Property Rights In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Sofia Vescovo

Brooklyn Law Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not new to generating outputs considered suitable for intellectual property (IP) protection. However, recent technological advancements have made it possible for AI to transform from a mere tool used to assist in developing IP to the mind behind novel artistic works and inventions. One particular AI, DABUS, has done just so. Yet, while technology has advanced, IP law has not. This note sets out to provide a solution to the legal concerns raised by AI in IP law, specifically in the context of AI authorship and inventorship. The DABUS test case offers a model framework for …

That Thing Ain't Human: The Artificiality Of "Human Authorship" And The Intelligence In Expanding Copyright Authorship To Fully-Autonomous Ai, Ernest Oleksy

Cleveland State Law Review

The U.S. Copyright Review Board (the "Board") decided that works entirely created by fully-autonomous artificial intelligence ("AI") are not entitled to copyright protections. The Board based its decision on a copyrightability requirement referred to as “human authorship.” However, the Copyright Act of 1976 (the "Act") never mentions a “human” requirement to copyright authorship, nor do most of the Board’s cited authorities. Denying authorship to intellectually-impressive and economically-valuable works under a poorly-established legal subelement is antithetical to copyright law’s history and to Congress’s constitutional mandate to “promote . . . [the] useful [a]rts . . . .” It leaves creators who …

The Current State Of Abortion Law In Virginia Leaves Victims Of Domestic And Sexual Violence Vulnerable To Abuse: Why Virginia Should Codify The Right To Abortion In The State Constitution†, Courtenay Schwartz

University of Richmond Law Review

All people must have access to safe and legal reproductive health care—especially victims of sexual and domestic violence who can and do become pregnant because of the violence they experience. This year, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In doing so, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion. Though abortion access is currently protected in Virginia, this could change with each new General Assembly session. To guard against the danger that this poses to …

Taxing The New With The Old: Capturing The Value Of Data With The Corporate Income Tax In Virginia, Coleman H. Cheeley

University of Richmond Law Review

The Commonwealth of Virginia markets itself as “The Largest Data Center Market in the World.”In 2019, the Northern Virginia market alone was the largest in the United States by inventory, with room to grow. In 2021, data centers in Northern Virginia required an estimated 1,686 megawatts of power; that number is expected to increase by 200 megawatts in the near future, reflecting data centers currently under development. For reference, in 2022, it was estimated that more than 100 homes could be powered by one megawatt of solar power in Virginia. Historically, data centers have been located in the Commonwealth due …

The Gptjudge: Justice In A Generative Ai World, Maura R. Grossman, Paul W. Grimm, Daniel G. Brown, Molly (Yiming) Xu

Duke Law & Technology Review

Generative AI (“GenAI”) systems such as ChatGPT recently have developed to the point where they can produce computer-generated text and images that are difficult to differentiate from human-generated text and images. Similarly, evidentiary materials such as documents, videos, and audio recordings that are AI-generated are becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate from those that are not AI-generated. These technological advancements present significant challenges to parties, their counsel, and the courts in determining whether evidence is authentic or fake. Moreover, the explosive proliferation and use of GenAI applications raises concerns about whether litigation costs will dramatically increase as parties are forced to …

Trademarks In An Algorithmic World, Christine Haight Farley

Washington Law Review

According to the sole normative foundation for trademark protection—“search costs” theory—trademarks transmit useful information to consumers, enabling an efficient marketplace. The marketplace, however, is in the midst of a fundamental change. Increasingly, retail is virtual, marketing is data-driven, and purchasing decisions are automated by AI. Predictive analytics are changing how consumers shop. Search costs theory no longer accurately describes the function of trademarks in this marketplace. Consumers now have numerous digital alternatives to trademarks that more efficiently provide them with increasingly accurate product information. Just as store shelves are disappearing from consumers’ retail experience, so are trademarks disappearing from their …

The Emerging Commercial Space Age: Legal And Policy Implications, Gerald L. Adams Iii, Christopher S. Yoo

Journal of Law & Innovation

No abstract provided.

Space Law As Twenty-First Century International Law, Melissa J. Durkee

Journal of Law & Innovation

Space law’s current moment reflects international law’s current moment. That is, lawmaking processes aimed at updating international space law for the commercial space age reveal three larger themes about international lawmaking in the twenty-first century. These themes are: (a) evolutive lawmaking efforts by states; (b) the parallel development of laws in different fora by different actors; and (c) interpretive entrepreneurship by private actors. The themes are interrelated. They offer one story—but not the only possible story—about how international law develops when multilateral cooperation is out of reach. Together, the themes forecast a more pluralist international legal future, demanding new forms …

Controlling Decisions On Anti-Satellite Weapons: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, Gershon Hasin

Journal of Law & Innovation

Through the lens of policy-oriented jurisprudence, this contribution will consider the potential avenues for controlling the decisions of participants when it comes to anti-satellite (“ASAT”) weapons within and outside the formal international lawmaking process. Given that all the major space powers have tested ASAT weapons and are thus primarily exposed to the adverse effects of any further testing and the strategic detriments of further proliferation, their interests seem to align in favor of a testing prohibition and non-proliferation. In fact, the United States has proclaimed a self-ban on destructive testing and has promoted a call for an international testing ban …

From “Open Skies” To Traffic Jams In 12 Ghz: A Short History Of Satellite Radio Spectrum, Thomas Hazlett, Dongning Guo, Michael Honig

Journal of Law & Innovation

As an industry, communications satellites have traced a wobbly trajectory. Envisioned to bring revolutionary advances to telecommunications services in the U.S. Communications Satellite Act of 1962, the marketplace did open via Comsat, a public-private partnership. But the sluggish pace was revealed a decade later when progress increased substantially with the Open Skies policy. Free entry collapsed costs for wide area distribution of broadcasting services, launching the U.S. cable television industry (disrupting the TV broadcasting triopoly) in the 1980s and then direct-to-subscriber satellite TV (challenging the new incumbent cable operators) in the 1990s. In ensuing decades, however, fortunes reversed. Satellite phone …

Property Rights Over The Moon Or On The Moon? The Legality Of Space Resource Exploitation On Celestial Bodies, Frans G. Von Der Dunk

Journal of Law & Innovation

One of the most debated issues in humankind’s ongoing ventures into outer space today from a legal perspective concerns the various plans and projects for long-term human settlements on the Moon and Mars and the accompanying interest in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) as part of what more commonly is known as “space mining.” Given the lack of precision of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty,1 the lack of support for the 1979 Moon Agreement,2 and the more recent enunciation of a few national laws on the matter,3 major questions arise as to the extent of the legality of commercial exploitation of …

Should Satellite Broadband Be Included In Universal Service Subsidy Programs?, Gregory L. Rosston, Scott J. Wallsten

Journal of Law & Innovation

The United States is at a pivotal moment for broadband competition, with emerging technologies like 5G fixed wireless and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites offering high-quality broadband service that can be substitutes for wireline service. LEO satellites, especially, can provide cost-effective coverage for areas otherwise very expensive to reach. Despite the quality of these services, the Universal Service Fund (USF), an $8-$9 billion annual broadband subsidy program has traditionally excluded satellite service. NTIA and state regulators also appear ready to severely limit or exclude satellite service from the large new programs designed to eliminate the digital divide. This Article will focus …

Masthead

Journal of Law & Innovation

No abstract provided.

Regulation Priorities For Artificial Intelligence Foundation Models, Matthew R. Gaske

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article responds to the call in technology law literature for high-level frameworks to guide regulation of the development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Accordingly, it adapts a generalized form of the fintech Innovation Trilemma framework to argue that a regulatory scheme can prioritize only two of three aims when considering AI oversight: (1) promoting innovation, (2) mitigating systemic risk, and (3) providing clear regulatory requirements. Specifically, this Article expressly connects legal scholarship to research in other fields focusing on foundation model AI systems and explores this kind of system’s implications for regulation priorities from the geopolitical and …

The Federal Circuit’S Experimental Prism, Jeremy W. Bock

Fordham Law Review

Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is succeeding in its role as the steward of decisional patent law has been the subject of considerable debate and many empirical studies for the past forty years. Based on these studies, some observers have expressed skepticism of the utility of that court’s exclusive, nationwide jurisdiction over patent appeals. But the substantial body of empirical literature on the Federal Circuit has been viewed largely from a single vantage point, one that attributes any negative or undesirable outcomes to the court’s specialization. This Article argues that there is another way to …

The First Byte Rule: A Proposal For Liability Of Artificial Intelligences, Hilyard Nichols

William & Mary Business Law Review

Artificial Intelligences (AIs) are a relatively new addition to human civilization. From delivery robots to board game champions, researchers and businesses have found a variety of ways to apply this new technology. As it continues to grow and become more prevalent, though, so do its interactions with society at large. This will create benefits for people, through cheaper or better products and services. It also has the possibility to create harm. AIs are not perfect, and as the range of AI uses grows, so will the range of potential harms. A mistake from an AI customer service bot could fraudulently …

Caging The Bored Ape: How The Ftc's Expanded Anti-Monopoly Authority Can Tame "Nfts" For Web 3.0, J. Scott Colesanti

William & Mary Business Law Review

Non-Fungible Tokens, or “NFTs,” ballooned into a 40-billion-dollar industry in under a decade. Their creators include artists, corporations, entrepreneurs, fraudsters—and even Donald Trump. While NFT owners and traders could be any of us, the parties running the marketplaces are hidden. NFT regulators have yet to be identified. Most alarmingly, the dominant NFT marketplaces are dangerously centralized. Accordingly, the publicized tales of exorbitant or manipulated NFT prices and frequent related scams abound. Meanwhile cryptocurrency—the technology enabling the life of an NFT—remains beset with, at best, theoretical models for effective regulation a full generation after its emergence.

To propose a rational start …

Link Tank

DePaul Magazine

A new JD certificate program in information technology, cybersecurity and data privacy provides DePaul University students with proficiency in both law and tech.

Full Issue: Fall 2023

DePaul Magazine

In DePaul Magazine's fall 2023, President Robert L. Manuel unveils his Designing DePaul road map to position the university for monumental impact. We also highlight an innovative program that merges law and tech, an initiative centering humanities in collaborative, community-based interactions, and the ascendance of soprano Janai Brugger (SOM '05) on the international opera stage.

The Ideal Approach To Artificial Intelligence Legislation: A Combination Of The United States And European Union, Dane Chapman

University of Miami Law Review

The evolution of Artificial Intelligence (“A.I.”) from a speculative concept depicted in science fiction to its integration into various aspects of everyday life has brought about complex challenges for contemporary legislators. The proliferation of A.I. technology has led to a growing recognition of the need for regulation, as it poses both promises and threats to society. On the one hand, A.I. has the potential to enhance efficiency in various fields, such as medicine and automation of routine tasks. On the other hand, if left unregulated, A.I. has the potential to undermine democratic principles and infringe upon fundamental rights. Thus, legislators …