Law Commons^™

Operational Responsibility In Ai Governance: A User-Centric Liability Framework, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

Who bears responsibility when artificial intelligence systems cause harm? This question has become central to AI ethics and governance. Most existing approaches focus on developers, yet this faces serious practical and theoretical problems. Drawing on tort law, agency law, and philosophy of technology, this paper argues that AI should be understood as an instrument whose outputs remain the responsibility of human operators rather than developers. We call this 'user-centric governance.' Placing accountability with deployers promotes public trust by creating clear lines of responsibility, a concern that governance approaches have often overlooked. It preserves democratic accountability by keeping human actors answerable …

Beyond The Library Of Congress: The Federal Library Ecosystem As Democratic Information Infrastructure, Nancy E. Weiss

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

No abstract provided.

The Library Of Congress At A Crossroads: Executive Overreach And The Future Of Public Knowledge, Leslie A. Street, Amanda Runyon

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

No abstract provided.

The Library Of Congress’S Essential Role In Digital Preservation: Reconceiving Mandatory Deposit After Valancourt, Dave Hansen

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

As the published record shifts to digital formats, the mechanisms that have ensured long-term preservation are breaking down. Most libraries acquire digital materials through licensing agreements that prohibit preservation copying, format migration, and interlibrary loan—contractually overriding the exceptions Congress enacted in the Copyright Act. The Library of Congress occupies a unique position: Through statutory deposit under 17 U.S.C. §§ 407 and 408, it collects copyrighted works pursuant to federal law rather than license agreements, and deposited copies become federal property under § 704, free from contractual restrictions. This Article examines how the Library’s deposit authority can be strengthened after the …

How Licensing Compromised The Library, Aaron Perzanowski

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

No abstract provided.

Reforming Antitrust: Addressing Data Monopolization In Two-Sided Digital Markets, Linyi Li

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The rise of dominant digital platforms has revealed fundamental shortcomings in U.S. antitrust law. Grounded in the consumer welfare standard and its focus on price effects, current doctrine struggles to regulate markets in which services are offered at zero monetary cost and competitive power is derived from the accumulation and control of user data. In two-sided digital markets, data functions as a central competitive asset, enabling platforms to entrench market power, raise barriers to entry, suppress innovation, and impose non-price harms on consumers. These harms frequently escape antitrust scrutiny because they do not manifest as higher prices or reduced output. …

The Constitution And Financial Freedom: Analyzing First Amendment Claims About Cryptocurrencies, Mithun Imbulamure

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In recent years, the United States has intensified regulatory oversight of cryptocurrency technologies. In August 2022, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, leading to the prosecution and conviction of its developers for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Congress also amended § 6050I of the Tax Code through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, extending cash transaction reporting requirements to digital assets. These developments prompted cryptocurrency advocates to assert First Amendment protections for their activities, arguing that compelled disclosure requirements violate associational privacy and that computer code constitutes protected speech. The government …

Law Grapples With Its Achilles’ Heel? Uncertainties, Digital Experiments, And The Ai Frontier, Heng Wang

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The governance of digitalization—which encompasses developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)—confronts serious challenges. At the core of these challenges are uncertainties, which form the central obstacle to effective governance. These uncertainties range from cyber risks to shifting societal responses. Law, as an institutionalized framework of governance, faces mounting pressure and wrestles with a fundamental vulnerability: traditional legal frameworks struggle to address uncertainties in digitalization. To tackle the pervasive challenges of uncertainties, this article addresses two connected questions: What uncertainties does law face in governing digitalization shaped by emerging technologies? How can a learning-oriented governance …

U.S. V. Washington: Considering The Continuing Injunction Of The Boldt Decision, Nicholas Brown

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Judge George Hugo Boldt’s 1974 opinion in United States v. Washington was a landmark decision in the recognition of treaty fishing rights for tribes in western Washington. Not only did it recognize the entitlement to 50% of harvestable yields of fish within the tribes’ usual and accustomed fishing sites, but it also provided a permanent injunction to protect future fishing rights for generations to come. Now, over fifty years since the original “Boldt decision” was made, judges in the Ninth Circuit are debating whether the continued injunction to litigate intertribal disputes over treaty fishing rights is proper. This article considers …

Western Watersheds Project V. Schultz, Cv 22-149-M-Dlc-Kld, 2025 Lx 449507, 2025 Wl 2410283 (D. Mont. Mar. 27, 2025), Luke A. Zagar

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Western Watersheds Project v. Schultz delineates what the Forest Service is required to consider for revising Allotment Management Plans as prescribed by NEPA. Environmental plaintiffs sued, arguing that the Forest Service’s reliance on an older baseline assessment was arbitrary and capricious and that the revised AMP failed to consider major impacts on the grizzly bear population. The District of Montana held that the reliance on an older baseline assessment was acceptable but simultaneously found the AMP to be arbitrary and capricious under the “hard look” standard.

San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper V. Cnty. Of San Luis Obispo, 161 F.4th 590 (9th Cir. 2025), Erika C. Rader

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper v. Cnty. of San Luis Obispo, the Ninth Circuit addressed how to consider a mandatory preliminary injunction for an Endangered Species Act claim when multiple listed species may be affected by the requested relief. The Plaintiffs brought ESA and state law claims to compel the County of San Luis Obispo to change its operation of the Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, which they claimed adversely affected South-Central California Coast steelhead trout. The tidewater goby and California red-legged frog, both listed species, are also present in Arroyo Grande Creek. The Ninth Circuit determined the …

Unleashing Consultation: Tohono O’Odham Nation V. Department Of Interior And The Case For Reforming The National Historic Preservation Act, Elizabeth Tobey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ninth Circuit’s 2025 decision in Tohono O’odham Nation v. Department of Interior highlights an ongoing failure by federal land management agencies to consult meaningfully with tribal nations as mandated by the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. This article argues that the NHPA’s framework for tribal consultation enables federal land management agencies to sidestep meaningful engagement with tribes, undermining both cultural resource protection and the federal Indian trust responsibility. To address these deficiencies—particularly in the context of renewable energy development on federal public lands, directly at issue in Tohono O’odham Nation—this article proposes amendments to the NHPA informed by …

Wilderness Watch V. U.S. Forest Service, No. Cv 23-133-M-Dwm, 2025 Wl 2985292 (D. Mont. Oct. 23, 2025)., Gardner Dee

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This comment argues that the District of Montana’s decision in Wilderness Watch v. U.S. Forest Service correctly applied the Ninth Circuit’s Kofa framework to strike down a multi-agency native trout restoration project in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, holding that the Forest Service unlawfully prioritized Yellowstone cutthroat trout conservation over the Wilderness Act’s mandate to preserve wilderness character. Dee further contends that while large wilderness watersheds offer valuable climate refugia for native coldwater fish, watershed-scale restoration projects will continue to conflict with the Act’s prohibitions on motorized and mechanized intrusions so long as agencies rely on helicopter transport and rotenone application at …

Off-The-Shelf Danger: The Need For Overhauling Faa Regulations To Combat The Misuse Of Commercial And Recreational Drones, Ka Ching "Cyrus" Au

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

This article discusses how FAA Part 107 has not kept pace with

advances in drone technology and advocates for a tailored solution for

drones. The increasing accessibility of sophisticated drone technology

presents significant national security and public safety challenges.

Regulatory frameworks posed by the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) are insufficient to address these growing concerns. The drone

technology originally marketed and developed for photography,

agriculture, and package delivery is now being repurposed for military use

and illegal activities. In the Russo–Ukrainian war, drones are now used to

carry advanced reconnaissance capabilities or are equipped with remotely

detonated explosives. Along a …

Masthead

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned From The Gemini.Com Ipo, Lawrence J. Trautman

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

On August 15, 2025, Gemini Space Station, Inc. filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) contemplating the offering of up to 16,666,667 shares of Common Stock. After receiving comments from the Commission and the additional filing of amendments to the prospectus, the offering of about 15.2 million shares was priced before market opening on September 12, 2025, at $28 per share. Gemini’s “shares opened at $37.01 . . . at which it raised $425 million,” valuing the Company at $4.4 billion. Gemini’s disclosure documents provide an excellent description of the many new …

“It Wasn’T Me”: The Right Of Publicity In The Age Of Generative Ai, Erin Mcguinness

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Liability Standards In Autonomous Robotic Surgery, Hee Jung Cho

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Pertanggungjawaban Hukum Pemerintah Terhadap Insiden Siber Kebocoran Data Pribadi, Shafira Meutia Syahrial, Edmon Makarim, Zahrashafa Putri Mahardika, Ayu Galuh Anggraini

Technology and Economics Law Journal

The United Nations declared the internet a global facility. Over the past decade, the urgency of efforts to protect the safety and security of cyberspace has increased exponentially with numerous malicious cyber incidents impacting infrastructure that provides services to the public. The internet is a communication channel related to the lives of many people, so all countries have a role to protect the internet. The preamble to the 1945 Constitution mandates the formation of a government to protect the Indonesian nation. The government is responsible for state administration based on Article 40 of the ITE Law, particularly in the case …

Patentability Of Ai-Assisted Inventions: Guidance, Case Law, And A Roadmap Forward, Zhipeng Zhu

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Muth's Law: Anticipating Ai Model Collapse, Karl T. Muth

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Molecules And Monoclonals: The Two-Tiered Patent System, Candi L. Lasarge Ph.D.

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Generative Ai Training And Fair Use: Can Chatgpt Turn Your Favorite Meme Into A Stupid Ghibli Animation?, Liam Donovan

The University of Cincinnati Intellectual Property and Computer Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Deterrence Through Financial Controls: Anti-Money Laundering Laws, Lawfare, And The Prc Cyber Threat, Owen T. Tremblay

William & Mary Law Review

This Note argues that anti-money laundering (AML) laws have the potential to serve as powerful tools in disrupting and degrading the support networks that enable and sustain PRC offensive cyber operations. [...] Part I provides an overview of the PRC’s cyber force structure and the national objectives it seeks to achieve through state-sponsored cyber operations. Part II examines the existing legal mechanisms employed to combat PRC MCA [Malicious Cyber Activity], including criminal charges, sanctions, export controls, investment restrictions, civil lawsuits, and other regulatory measures. Part III introduces AML laws as an additional tool in the legal and regulatory toolkit used …

Welcome To The Dollhouse: New Ai Technology Poses Ethical Issues In Prison Systems, Bailey Mccoy

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Ai Companions On Family Law, Clare Huntington

Cardozo Law Review

People of all ages and backgrounds regularly use AI companions—virtual friends, lovers, and confidantes powered by artificial intelligence. As a new form of relationship, this development poses novel doctrinal and policy questions for family law. As a doctrinal matter, what does child neglect look like when a parent delegates caretaking to an AI companion? How should standards for elder neglect adapt to the widespread use of robotic caregivers? Should lawmakers impose mandatory reporting requirements on therapy bots if children share experiences of abuse or neglect? And can people designate an AI companion as a health care proxy? As a policy …

How Ai Destroys Institutions, Woodrow Hartzog, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

Civic institutions—the rule of law, universities, and a free press—are the backbone of democratic life. They are the mechanisms through which complex societies encourage cooperation and stability, while also adapting to changing circumstances. The real superpower of institutions is their ability to evolve and adapt within a hierarchy of authority and a framework for roles and rules, while maintaining legitimacy for the knowledge produced and the actions taken. Purpose-driven institutions built around transparency, cooperation, and accountability empower individuals to take intellectual risks and challenge the status quo. This happens through the machinations of interpersonal relationships within those institutions, which broaden …

Metrics Not Thresholds: How To Regulate Ai And Other Expert Methods For Use In Criminal Investigations And Proceedings, Rebecca Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

Should regulators set performance thresholds for AI tools used in the criminal legal system? This Article draws on U.S. evidence law for guidance. Its answer is ... don’t. Instead of gatekeeping with ex ante performance thresholds, regulators should require or incentivize metrics of reliability that can be clearly communicated to end-user decisionmakers.

A Constitutional Black Box: Critically Assessing The Constitutional And Algorithmic Implications Of The Netchoice Cases, Sam Merkatz

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

In 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States jointly heard Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton, cases challenging Florida and Texas statutes that restricted the capacity of social media platforms to moderate content. While remanding the cases, the Court reaffirmed that content moderation and curation qualify as protected expression under the First Amendment. This paper critically assesses the Court's majority opinion and its nonbinding dicta regarding the expressive nature of algorithmic moderation.

Specifically, drawing on Justice Alito’s concurrence in judgement only, this paper argues that the Court fails to account for fundamental differences between traditional …

Ai Mistakes: "Confabulation" And Abduction, Not "Hallucination", Stephen M. Mcjohn, Ian Mcjohn

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

"Hallucination" has become the common term for errors by AI systems, yet it implies a misleading analogy to human perception. LLM's process tokens. They do not have conscious experience or conscious perception. A hallucination is an experience, and (to our knowledge, to date) LLM's do not experience anything. This paper suggests that legal scholars follow the lead of a small number of AI researchers who have suggested that "confabulation" is a more accurate term, a metaphor grounded in psychology. People confabulate when they unknowingly invent spurious explanations or facts. We then take this terminological question and stretch it into a …