Law Commons^™

The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Large Language Models In Zero-Shot Semantic Annotation Of Legal Texts, Jaromir Savelka, Kevin D. Ashley

Articles

The emergence of ChatGPT has sensitized the general public, including the legal profession, to large language models' (LLMs) potential uses (e.g., document drafting, question answering, and summarization). Although recent studies have shown how well the technology performs in diverse semantic annotation tasks focused on legal texts, an influx of newer, more capable (GPT-4) or cost-effective (GPT-3.5-turbo) models requires another analysis. This paper addresses recent developments in the ability of LLMs to semantically annotate legal texts in zero-shot learning settings. Given the transition to mature generative AI systems, we examine the performance of GPT-4 and GPT-3.5-turbo(-16k), comparing it to the previous …

Navigating The World Of Tiktok Influencers And Using Adr Methods To Negotiate Brand Deals And Contracts, Peri Ayzidor

CJCR Blog

Anyone using social media in the last three years has been exposed to or heard of TikTok. With over 1.4 billion monthly active users, the social media platform TikTok has taken the world by storm. It allows users to create videos lasting from 15 seconds to three minutes, covering thousands of categories, from makeup tutorials to tutoring explanations. The app has been a particular hit for influencers. An influencer is someone who has the power to impact the purchasing decisions of others because of a certain appeal or relationship with the audience. Many influencers have taken advantage of the app’s …

California’S 2023 Legislative Cycle: Governor Newsom Provides Victories And Losses For The Labor Movement, Victoria Chan

GGU Law Review Blog

During the 2023 legislative cycle, the California Legislature sent more than 900 bills to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for his review. Of the 900 bills, thirteen bills were sponsored by the California Labor Federation (CLF) in support of major labor initiatives. The CLF is a coalition of 1,200 unions dedicated to protecting workers. The CLF indicated that this past legislative year was a “fantastic year for organized labor in the [California] State Legislature,” specifically, thirteen of its sponsored bills passed the California Legislature and arrived at the Governor’s desk for his review.

Below is a preview of two workers’ rights …

Promises And Pitfalls: Former Lprs Quest For A Second Chance, Jeanin Alvarado

GGU Law Review Blog

Every year, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removes thousands of immigrants from the United States. In the fiscal year between October 2021 and September 2022, ICE executed the removal of 72,117 noncitizens, which is a 22% increase from the previous fiscal year. Of those removals, 44,096 noncitizens had criminal convictions or pending charges. According to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as of January 2022, an estimated 12.9 million lawful permanent residents (LPRs) live in the United States. About 970,000 of these LPRs obtained status before 1980, while the remaining 11.9 million obtained status …

Applicants Beware: Chinese Trademark Fraud Is Rampant, And It Is Affecting U.S. Trademarks, Lily Barash

CICLR Online

If you are looking to file a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you should raise your vigilance. When the COVID-19 pandemic sent people in the United States into emergency lockdown, brick and mortar businesses closed their doors and people started opening their minds. People found new, and more, ways to be creative and e-commerce began to boom. With budding ideas, creators and companies recognized the imperativeness of protecting their intellectual property. The USPTO announced that as of June 17, 2021, it had experienced an increase of roughly 63% in trademark applications filed over the …

Historical Kinship And Categorical Mischief: The Use And Misuse Of Doctrinal Borrowing In Intellectual Property Law, Mark Bartholomew, John Tehranian

Journal Articles

Analogies are ubiquitous in legal reasoning, and, in copyright jurisprudence, courts frequently turn to patent law for guidance. From introducing doctrines meant to regulate online intermediaries to evaluating the constitutionality of resurrecting copyrights to works from the public domain, judges turn to patent law analogies to lend ballast to their decisions. At other times, however, patent analogies with copyright law are quickly discarded and differences between the two regimes highlighted. Why? In examining the transplantation of doctrinal frameworks from one intellectual property field to another, this Article assesses the circumstances in which courts engage in doctrinal borrowing, discerns their rationale …

Defeating The Empire Of Forms, David Hoffman

Articles

For generations, contract scholars have waged a faint-hearted campaign against form contracts. It’s widely believed that adhesive forms are unread and chock full of terms that courts will not, or should not, enforce. Most think that the market for contract terms is broken, for both employees and consumer adherents. And yet forms are so embedded in our economy that it’s hard to imagine modern commercial life without them. Scholars thus push calibrated, careful solutions that walk a deeply rutted path. Notwithstanding hundreds of proposals calling for their retrenchment, the empire of forms has continued to advance into new areas of …

Who Cares Whether A Monopoly Is Efficient? The Sherman Act Is Supposed To Ban Them All, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

Section 2 of the Sherman Act was designed to impose sanctions on all firms that monopolize or attempt to monopolize regardless whether the firm engaged in anticompetitive conductor, and regardless whether the firm is efficient. This conclusion emerges from a textualist analysis of the language of Section 2. This article briefly analyzes contemporaneous dictionaries, legal treatises, and cases, and demonstrates that when the Sherman Act was passed the word “monopolize” simply meant that someone had acquired a monopoly. The term was not limited to monopolies acquired through anticompetitive conduct or monopolies that were inefficient. An attempt to monopolize also had …

Time To Enumerate The Slave Trade As A Distinct Provision In The Crimes Against Humanity Treaty, Patricia Viseur Sellers, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Alexandra Lily Kather

Online Publications

The proposed Draft articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity under consideration at the United Nations General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) are bereft of a distinct provision to address the international crime of the slave trade.

Long-Term Immigration And The Path To Citizenship, Ángela Sánchez-Gago

Immigration Law Blog

This article narrates the personal experience of the author with the American immigration system and provides an insight into the emotional scope of the naturalization process.

Copyright, Data Mining And Developing Models For South African Natural Language Processing, Chijioke Okorie

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

This paper sets out the issues of copyright ownership and risk of copyright infringement liability raised by data science research use of data held by public bodies (in particular, public service broadcasters) in South Africa. Considering both the fair dealing exception in South Africa’s Copyright Act of 1978 and the proposed fair use provision in its Copyright Amendment Bill B13F-2017, the paper discusses these issues elaborating on the reasons why data science researchers in public research institutions should not require a copyright licence or be considered to be infringing copyright when they use copyright-protected materials held by public bodies for …

Out Of The Shadows: The Need For Increased Scrutiny Of Shadow Banking In China, Benson M. Clements

CICLR Online

Zhongrong International Trust Co., a Chinese investment trust with significant real estate exposure, has missed payments on dozens of corporate trust products since late July. Retail investors are left with frustration and panic as they fear they may have lost their life savings. Regulators are concerned they may have to further tame an already faltering economy. It may be time to question the free reign with which shadow banks have enjoyed for decades.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review on November 14, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link …

Djs, Ip, And Nfts, Oh My!: A Closer Look At The Changing Music Industry Landscape Of Today, Sara Casey

AELJ Blog

In generating over eleven million dollars and a lawsuit, the legal implications of American DJ, 3LAU’s, record-setting Non-Fungible Token (NFT) auction in 2021 have yet to be fully understood by the music industry. DJ 3LAU, or Justin Blau, is one of many artists convinced that NFTs are the catalyst to transforming the status quo of the industry’s business model. For Grammy-nominated DJ Steve Aoki, NFTs offer new expansive connections as Aoki communicates, and even collaborates with, fans through NFTs’ digital realms.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on November 14, 2023. The …

Torts In Sports: Exploring The Boundaries Of Assumption Of Risk, Ben Gross

AELJ Blog

In the thrilling world of sports, we are accustomed to witnessing athletes push their bodies to the limits, seeking glory on the field, court, or rink. Alongside these incredible feats, however, come the inevitable injuries. Whether it’s a bone-jarring tackle, a slide into home base, or a body check in ice hockey, the risk of injury is part and parcel of competitive sports. Injuries can manifest in numerous forms and under diverse circumstances, spanning from physical environmental factors to those stemming from the actions of fellow participants. Yet, when is an injury just an unfortunate consequence of the game, and …

The Sports Betting Advertising Boom: Possible Regulations To Avoid The Bust, David Zack

AELJ Blog

Whether you watch sports or not, you’ve likely experienced a bombardment of sports gambling advertisements. Since the federal ban on sports betting was lifted, there has been a marketing blitz by the gambling industry in an attempt to capture new consumers in their emerging and rapidly growing industry. It has been estimated that the total ad spend for sports wagering in the United States will reach $2 billion in 2023, which is an 8% increase from the previous year.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on November 14, 2023. The original post …

Emerging Stronger: How Uae’S Arbitration System Adapts To Post-Covid International Norms, Jacob Horowitz

CJCR Blog

On September 29th, 2023, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) published Federal Law No. 15 of 2023 (“Amendment Law”). This law effectively amended Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 On Arbitration (“Arbitration Law”) in a manner that demonstrated the country’s aim to further improve and modernize its arbitration system. Although the Amendment law consisted of numerous changes to UAE’s arbitration system, the most significant was its permittance of modern electronic technologies. In other words, the UAE now allows arbitration hearings to be conducted through technological platforms such as Zoom. This change reflects the post-COVID-19 pandemic trend of preference of virtual hearings …

Week Of November 13, 2023 - November 17, 2023, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Today at Cardozo 2023

No abstract provided.

Mmu: 11/13/23–11/19/23, Student Bar Association

Monday Morning Update

This Week @ NDLS

Mass Times

Commons Daily Menu

General Announcements

Ndls Communicator Week Of 11.13.23, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Our Notre Dame Law School delegation completed their visit to Cape Town and are now in Johannesburg.
• In honor of Veterans Day, we are honored to showcase profiles of a few of the veterans and active duty military members who are part of the ND Law community.
• Notre Dame Law Professor Jimmy Gurulé will be speaking at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday, November 13.
• Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative hosts the Law & Religion Junior Faculty Conference in Chicago.
• Mary Ellen O’Connell wrote an op-ed, "Biden needs to call for a ceasefire and …

Vol. 65, No. 12 (November 13, 2023)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

How Does The Us Media Frame Personal Experiences Of Termination Of Pregnancy, Christina Relacion

Student Works

Limited studies have examined the lived experience of those facing termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomaly in the U.S., particularly after the 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There exists a body of research elsewhere around the world studying how the media frames these experiences, but little is known about the role American media organizations play as health educators for critical reproductive healthcare topics, such as the termination of pregnancy. This critical analysis sought to understand how the U.S. media frames personal accounts of those who have experienced termination of pregnancy due to fetal anomaly, or …

Either The Law Will Govern Ai, Or Ai Will Govern The Law, Margaret Hu

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Cardozo Law News Brief: November 10, 2023, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Brief 2023

Featured Faculty:

• Jessica Roth
• Matthew Wansley
• Pamela Foohey
• Ellen Drucker-Albert
• Young Ran (Christine) Kim
• Edward Zelinsky

Events:

• A Major Development to End Impunity for Mass Atrocities
• The FAME Center Presents: Thoughts on the Future: LLMs Staying in the United States

Environmental And Natural Resources Law Symposium: Assessing The August 2023 Amendments To The Waters Of The United States Rule In The Wake Of Sackett V. Epa, Ryan Day

Maurer Law Events

In 1982, the Army Corps of Engineers adopted the EPA definition of “waters of the United States.” This brought an end to a smoldering interagency conflict over the definitions under the Clean Water Act. This relationship was formalized with a 1989 Memorandum of Agreement between the EPA and the Corps; the Corps has largely ceded definitional decision making to the EPA, which develops guidance and supporting materials, while the Corps is responsible for most case-specific jurisdictional determinations under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. In 2023, the agencies embarked on their latest round of rulemaking. In January, the Biden …

101 Lawyers: Attorney Appearances In Twitter V. Musk, Andrew K. Jennings

Duke Law Journal Online

In summer 2022, Twitter sued Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, in Delaware’s Court of Chancery over his refusal to close his agreed-to $44 billion acquisition of the social-media company. Twitter v. Musk had the makings of corporate law’s trial of the century. Leading law firms represented Twitter, Musk, and third parties in a dispute with enormous financial, social, and political implications. In the lead up to trial, however, Musk relented and closed the deal. The corporate trial of the century was a bust, over almost as soon as it began.

But in the meantime, in Twitter’s eighty-six days of …

Writer V. Big Pharma: How John Green, Author And Youtuber, Fought The Evergreening Of A Drug Patent, Rachel Bier

CICLR Online

Tuberculosis (TB), an illness caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the deadliest disease in human history. In the 1950s and 1960s, scientists developed several drugs that could treat TB. These developments meant that TB became a curable disease. However, TB remains a terrible epidemic in poor communities around the world. About 4,000 people die from TB every day, with over eighty percent of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review on November 9, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button …

Strength In Numbers: Negotiating To Mitigate Disputes Between Musicians And Digital Service Providers, Ryan Ashe

CJCR Blog

The music industry landscape was forever changed when it implemented the streaming model. While digital service providers (“DSP”) like Spotify or Apple Music essentially saved the industry from music piracy, the royalty distribution method of these companies has been a major disappointment for songwriters and musicians. Despite providing consistent revenue, most of the revenue earned by DSPs is not shared with musicians. For instance, Spotify retains 30% of every dollar it generates, paying the remaining 70% back to rightsholders as royalties, with 55% of revenue towards record labels and 15% to publishing companies. Despite songwriters and recording artists’ significant contributions …

The Uncertain State Of Navajo Water Rights After Arizona V. Navajo Nation, Ezra Littlewood

ERSJ Blog

Between 30-40% of Navajo households lack access to running water, and many households haul water from communal wells, which is expensive and time-consuming. Navajos use approximately one-tenth as much water as the average American household. To this day, the Navajo Nation has been unable to get its water rights quantified and converted into usable water for its citizens despite the Navajo Reservation’s founding treaty implicitly reserving “necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Nation.”

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website on November 9, 2023. The original post can …

The Philosophy Of Ai: Learning From History, Shaping Our Future. Hearing Before The Committee On Homeland Security And Government Affairs, Senate, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, First Session., Margaret Hu

Congressional Testimony

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property And “The Lost Year” Of Covid-19 Deaths, Madhavi Sunder, Haochen Sun

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Protecting intellectual property (IP) is a question of life and death. COVID-19 vaccines, partially incentivized by IP, are estimated to have saved nearly 20 million lives worldwide during the first year of their availability in 2021. However, most of the benefits of this life-saving technology went to high- and upper-middle-income countries. Despite 10 billion vaccines being produced by the end of 2021, only 4 percent of people in low-income countries were fully vaccinated. Paradoxically, IP may also be partly responsible for hundreds of thousands of lives lost in 2021, due to an insufficient supply of vaccines and inequitable access during …