Law Commons^™

Ohio's Data Protection Act And/As A Process-Based Approach To "Reasonable" Security, Brian Ray

Akron Law Review

This essay argues that the ODPA [Ohio Data Protection Act], which has become a model for similar laws and legislative proposals in several other states, in effect creates a process-based standard for cybersecurity. It does so by incorporating the risk-based approach used by the listed cybersecurity frameworks as the defacto standard for reasonable security for organizations seeking to qualify for the Act’s affirmative defense. This article summarizes the ODPA and then explains the risk-based approach of the cybersecurity frameworks it incorporates. It then argues that this risk-based approach in effect establishes a process-based definition of reasonable security and explains why …

Security In The Digital Age, Michael Gentithes

Akron Law Review

Rapidly evolving technology allows governments and businesses to elevate our collective well-being in ways we could not have imagined just decades ago. Data is now a resource that governments and businesses alike can mine to address the world’s needs with greater efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility. But evolving technology and advanced data analytics also come with risk. New digital capabilities also create new means for nefarious actors to infiltrate the complex technological systems at the heart of nearly all of our daily activities. Just as new digital tools emerge to offer unique goods and services, new tools allow wrongdoers to invade …

Training Is Everything: Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, And “Fair Training”, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In this Essay, we analyze the arguments in favor of, and against, viewing the use of copyrighted works in training sets for AI as fair use. We call this form of fair use “fair training.” We identify both strong and spurious arguments on both sides of this debate. In addition, we attempt to take a broader perspective, weighing the societal costs (e.g., replacement of certain forms of human employment) and benefits (e.g., the possibility of novel AI-based approaches to global issues such as environmental disruption) of allowing AI to make easy use of copyrighted works as training sets to facilitate …

Thaler V. Vidal, 43 F.4th 1207 (Fed. Cir. 2022), Matthew Messina

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Freedom Of Influencing, Hannibal Travis

University of Miami Law Review

Social media stars and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Act are clashing. Influencer marketing is a preferred way for entertainers, pundits, and everyday people to monetize their audiences and popularity. Manufacturers, service providers, retailers, and advertising agencies leverage influencers to reach into millions or even billions of consumer devices, capturing minutes or seconds of the market’s fleeting attention. FTC enforcement actions and private lawsuits have targeted influencers for failing to disclose the nature of a sponsorship relationship with a manufacturer, marketer, or service provider. Such a failure to disclose payments prominently is very common in Hollywood films and on radio …

Regulatory Sandboxes Enable Pragmatic Blockchain Regulation, Joshua Durham

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Since blockchain technology supports digitally-native money, the centralized chokepoints that governments have traditionally targeted to regulate commerce no longer apply to our (digital) property. However, competent regulation furthers basic public policy goals and should enable responsible innovation of this promising technology. This Article discusses pragmatic policies that enable responsible innovation by cultivating regulatory expertise required to write enforceable rules. Responsible innovation is necessary because unlike the early internet, where programmers could manipulate simple colors and text on webpages, these same individuals can now create financial services applications that manipulate actual money—we are faced with an inescapable reality that more is …

How Santa Clara Law's "Tech Edge Jd" Program Improves The School's Admissions Yield, Diversity, & Employment Outcomes, Laura Lee Norris, Eric Goldman

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

No abstract provided.

The World Moved On Without Me: Redefining Contraband In A Technology-Driven World For Youth Detained In Washington State, Stephanie A. Lowry

Seattle University Law Review

If you ask a teenager in the United States to show you one of their favorite memories, they will likely show you a picture or video on their cell phone. This is because Americans, especially teenagers, love cell phones. Ninety-seven percent of all Americans own a cell phone according to a continuously updated survey by the Pew Research Center. For teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen, the number is roughly 95%. For eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds, the number grows to 100%. On average, eight to twelve-year-old’s use roughly five and a half hours of screen media per day, in comparison to thirteen …

Tangibility As Technology, Joao Marinotti

Georgia State University Law Review

Property law has traditionally relied on tangible boundaries to delineate legal thinghood and to inform the bounds of in rem rights and duties. Unfortunately, property doctrines have fossilized around tangibility, causing fragmentation in the legal treatment of digital assets. In the United States, for example, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may simultaneously be classified as commodities, securities, currencies, assets, or not property at all, depending on the jurisdiction, domain, or specific asset in question. This fragmented system of overlapping legal treatments increases the information cost of using digital assets, decreases efficiency, and ultimately hinders future innovation. In this Article, I …

Seeing (Platforms) Like A State: Digital Legibility And Lessons For Platform Governance, Neil Chilson

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The growing backlash against Big Tech companies is a symptom of digital technology increasing the world’s legibility. James C. Scott’s book, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, explores how past governments responded to increased legibility – for good and for ill. This article shows how Scott’s historical lessons can guide governments and tech platforms as they seek to improve the human condition online.

To Innovate Or Regulate: How To Regulate Cloud Service Providers Within Financial Institutions, Morgan Willard

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The purpose of this article is to analyze whether cloud service providers should be considered Systemically Important Financial Market Utilities (SIFMU), subjecting them to increased oversight. It also considers the risks and benefits associated with the use of the technology by financial institutions, as well as potential alternatives. Overall, this article argues that cloud service providers do not fall under the current SIFMU framework, and any regulation of the technology should strive to strike a balance between innovation and safe regulation.

Race Cartels: How Constructor Collaboration Is Curbing Innovation In Formula 1, Chandler C. Gerard-Reimer

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Formula 1 is in the midst of a copycat scandal: technology has made it possible for teams to reverse engineer clones of competitors’ race cars. This is a less than ideal state of affairs for the championship series, which prides itself on being the pinnacle of motorsport and automotive innovation, thanks in large part to the cars’ rapid rate of technological advancement. In order to address this problem, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Formula 1’s governing body, must increase independent innovation efforts by amending the technical regulations to restrict the extent of presently allowed inter-team collaboration. Worried that the …

Risk Taking And Rights Balancing In Intellectual Property Law, Clark D. Asay

Akron Law Review

Scholars have long worried that risk aversion can have significant negative effects in the marketplace. In the intellectual property law domain, some have worried that risk-averse actors can negatively influence the development of important intellectual property law doctrines, which can ultimately hamper innovation. For instance, risk-averse actors may frequently choose to obtain licenses for rights that the relevant laws do not actually require of them. When they do so, they inadvertently increase the scope of intellectual property rights because their risk-averse activities inform courts’ development of key intellectual property law doctrines.

In this Article, prepared as part of the IP …

When Standards Collide With Intellectual Property: Teaching About Standard Setting Organizations, Technology, And Microsoft V. Motorola, Cynthia L. Dahl

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Artificial Creativity: A Case Against Copyright For Ai-Created Visual Artwork, Megan Svedman

IP Theory

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly complex, and provides examples of compelling, human-like performances. One such artificial intelligence technology is known as Creative Adversarial Network (“CAN”) technology, which relies on inputs of preexisting pieces of art to create pieces of original art that pass as human-made. Whether the coders responsible for CAN-technology should be granted coverage for the resultant art remains an open question in United States jurisprudence. This paper seeks to explore why, given both software’s historical legacy in copyright law and bedrock copyright justifications, extending copyright coverage to the coders responsible for CAN technology would be a grave misstep …

Tracing The Evolution Of Standards And Standard-Setting Organizations In The Ict Era, Manveen Singh

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

No abstract provided.

Implementing Ethics Into Artificial Intelligence: A Contribution, From A Legal Perspective, To The Development Of An Ai Governance Regime, Axel Walz, Kay Firth-Butterfield

Duke Law & Technology Review

The increasing use of AI and autonomous systems will have revolutionary impacts on society. Despite many benefits, AI and autonomous systems involve considerable risks that need to be managed. Minimizing these risks will emphasize the respective benefits while at the same time protecting the ethical values defined by fundamental rights and basic constitutional principles, thereby preserving a human centric society. This Article advocates for the need to conduct in-depth risk-benefit-assessments with regard to the use of AI and autonomous systems. This Article points out major concerns in relation to AI and autonomous systems such as likely job losses, causation of …

Automation & Predictive Analytics In Patent Prosecution: Uspto Implication & Policy, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Georgia State University Law Review

Artificial-intelligence technological advancements bring automation and predictive analytics into patent prosecution. The information asymmetry between inventors and patent examiners is expanded by artificial intelligence, which transforms the inventor– examiner interaction to machine–human interactions. In response to automated patent drafting, automated office-action responses, “cloems” (computer-generated word permutations) for defensive patenting, and machine-learning guidance (based on constantly updated patent-prosecution big data), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should reevaluate patent-examination policy from economic, fairness, time, and transparency perspectives. By conceptualizing the inventor–examiner relationship as a “patenting market,” economic principles suggest stronger efficiencies if both inventors and the USPTO have better …

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bots, And How I Learned To Start Worrying About Democracy Instead, Antonio F. Perez

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

This essay reviewing Striking Power, John Yoo and Jeremy Rabkin's new book on the legal and policy implications of autonomous weapons, takes issue with the book’s assumptions and; therefore its conclusions. The essay argues that, because of technological and ethical limitations, discriminate and effective use of autonomous weapons may not serve as an adequate substitute for traditional manpower-based military forces. It further argues that traditional conceptions of international law could prove more durable than Yoo and Rabkin suggest, and finally it concludes by suggesting that a grand strategy relying primarily on technological elites managing autonomous weapons actually threatens to …

Care For A Sample? De Minimis, Fair Use, Blockchain, And An Approach To An Affordable Music Sampling System For Independent Artists, Sean M. Corrado

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Thanks, in part, to social media and the digital streaming age of music, independent artists have seen a rise in popularity and many musicians have achieved mainstream success without the affiliation of a major record label. Alongside the growth of independent music has come the widespread use of music sampling. Sampling, which was once depicted as a crime perpetrated by hip-hop artists, is now prevalent across charttopping hits from all genres. Artists have used sampling as a tool to integrate cultures, eras, and styles of music while experimenting with the bounds of musical creativity. Artists whose works are sampled have …

If It Is Broken, You Should Not Fix It: The Threat Fair Repair Legislation Poses To The Manufacturer And The Consumer, Marissa Macaneney

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that fair repair legislation is not fair for manufacturers, and suggests that legislators look to a solution that has proved workable in an analogous context in the automobile repair industry. Part I outlines the history of the electronic device repair market and discusses the proposed state legislation. It concludes that federal copyright law is insufficient, current state proposals are flawed, and that a different solution is necessary. Part II will discuss alternate solutions in the automobile industry, legislation tailored to the agriculture industry, and recent concessions by a well-known manufacturer. Part III will propose a standardized …

State Biotechnology Oversight: The Juncture Of Technology, Law, And Public Policy, Christine C. Vito Ph.D.

Maine Law Review

In a 1980 landmark decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that genetically engineered lifeforms such as bacteria were patentable. The significance of this decision to the emerging biotechnology industry—an industry predicated on intellectual property rights—was incalculable. The characteristically research-intensive, capital-intensive biotechnology industry now had the economic incentive to push the technology of genetic engineering to previously unimagined extremes. The genetic engineering and recombinant DNA applications pursued by the biotechnology industry over the past ten years have engendered a spectrum of perplexing inquiries concerning ethical and moral values; agricultural, ecological and environmental matters; global competitiveness and economic priorities; …

"The Exclusive Right To Their Writings": Copyright And Control In The Digital Age, Jane C. Ginsburg

Maine Law Review

The recent coincidence of new technology and new legislation in the United States may have enhanced the ability of U.S. copyright owners to wield electronic protective measures to control the exploitation of their works. The legislation, which reinforces the technology, has led many to perceive and to deplore a resulting imbalance between copyright owners and the copyright-using public. Critics assert that the goals of copyright law have never been, and should not now become, to grant “control” over works of authorship. Instead, copyright should accord certain limited rights over some kinds of exploitations. Economic incentives to create may be needed …

3d Bioprinting Patentable Subject Matter Boundaries, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Seattle University Law Review

3D bioprinting combines emerging 3D printing technologies with synthetic biology. The promise of 3D bioprinting technology is to fabricate organs for transplantation, treat burn victims with in vivo skin repair, and create wearable microbiomes. 3D bioprinting can successively build, repair, or reproduce living human cells. This capability challenges eligible subject matter doctrine in U.S. patent law because the law has no brightline standard for patent eligibility for nature-based products. As 3D bioprinting technologies mature, U.S. patent law will need to respond to situations where living and nonliving worlds merge. This Article proposes a “Mixed-Scanned-Transformed” standard to supplement U.S. patent law’s …

Trademark Boundaries And 3d Printing, Lucas S. Osborn

Akron Law Review

3D printing technology promises to disrupt trademark law at the same time that trademark law and policy sustain repeated criticism. The controversial growth of trademark law over the last century has yielded amorphous sponsorship and affiliation confusion issues and empirically fragile post-sale and initial-interest confusion theories, among others. Into this melee marches 3D printing technology, which dissociates the process of design from that of manufacturing and democratizes manufacturing. Rather than being embodied only in physical objects, design is embodied in digital CAD files that users can post and sell on the internet. The digitization of physical objects raises fundamental questions …

Data-Generating Patents, Brenda M. Simon, Ted Sichelman

Northwestern University Law Review

Patents and trade secrets are often considered economic substitutes. Under this view, inventors can decide either to maintain an invention as a trade secret or to seek a patent and disclose to the public the details of the invention. However, a handful of scholars have recognized that because the patent disclosure requirements are not always rigorous, inventors may sometimes be able to keep certain aspects of an invention secret, yet still receive a patent to the invention as a whole. Here, we provide further insight into how trade secrets and patents may act as complements. Specifically, we introduce the concept …

When Individual Rights Should Tackle Unfair Commercialization: How The Transformative Use Test Should Be Tailored To Meet Evolving Technological Needs In Right Of Publicity Cases, Caitlin Kowalke

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Our Time Is Better Spent Influencing Future Disruption: A Call To End The Indiscriminate War Against Self-Help Legal Technology, Olivia Holder

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

Under the guise of consumer protection, lawyers and bar associations have used disparate litigious mechanisms to thwart, inadvertently or not, the use of self-help legal technology. This paper will demonstrate that such adversity is not logical after a consideration of the technical functions that the software performs and unduly restricts underserved populations’ access to the law because of the misapplication of policy to vaguely worded laws. This paper will provide a thorough analysis of legal action taken against the high-profile company LegalZoom under the theory of unauthorized practice of law provides direct support of this claim. Summary and critique of …

3d Printing And Healthcare: Will Laws, Lawyers, And Companies Stand In The Way Of Patient Care?, Evan R. Youngstrom

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

Today, our society is on a precipice of significant advancement in healthcare because 3D printing will usher in the next generation of medicine. The next generation will be driven by customization, which will allow doctors to replace limbs and individualize drugs. However, the next generation will be without large pharmaceutical companies and their justifications for strong intellectual property rights. However, the current patent system (which is underpinned by a social tradeoff made from property incentives) is not flexible enough to cope with 3D printing’s rapid development. Very soon, the social tradeoff will no longer benefit society, so it must be …

Distance Education And Intellectual Property: The Realities Of Copyright Law And The Culture Of Higher Education, Michele J. Le Moal-Gray

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.