The holiday season brought an early gift for Mariah Carey as she successfully defended against a copyright infringement lawsuit that threatened one of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time. The case serves as an important reminder for practitioners about the stringent requirements for proving musical copyright infringement and the risks of pursuing weak … Read more
The Supreme Court upheld Texas’s H.B. 1181, a law requiring commercial websites that distribute sexually explicit content to verify that users are at least 18 years old. The law targets material considered obscene for minors but not necessarily for adults. Petitioners representing the pornography industry challenged the statute as a violation of the First Amendment, … Read more
This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of New Jersey Lawyer, a publication of the New Jersey State Bar Association, and is reprinted with permission. Recent developments, such as the California Bar’s 2024 guidelines on AI use in legal practice, underscore the urgency of challenges faced by law firms in balancing technological … Read more
Disney and NBCUniversal have initiated a landmark federal lawsuit against Midjourney, a generative AI company, accusing it of massive copyright infringement involving unauthorized use of their copyrighted characters to train its AI and generate images and soon videos. The 110-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that … Read more
Amara’s Law, coined by futurist Roy Amara, encapsulates a critical observation about our perceptions of technological advancements: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.” This principle serves as a guiding framework for understanding the lifecycle of new technologies, highlighting both the … Read more
The television show Shark Tank provides an engaging glimpse into the world of business investing, but the reality of venture capital is considerably more nuanced than the show’s dramatic portrayal suggests. While the series captures the excitement of entrepreneurial pitches and deal-making, it significantly simplifies the actual processes of venture investment. The television show typically … Read more
The emergence of AI-generated content platforms like SORA has ushered in a new era of creative possibilities, simultaneously unveiling a complex legal landscape fraught with challenges. At the forefront of these challenges lies defamation, a critical issue that highlights the tension between technological innovation and personal reputation. Defamation law has long protected individuals from false … Read more
In a striking development, Marvel Characters, Inc. and DC Comics have lost their trademark registrations for “SUPER HEROES” and “SUPER HERO” through a default judgment issued by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) on September 26, 2024. The Historical Journey of “Super Hero” The path to this moment began not with Marvel or DC, … Read more
In a case that echoes recent AI-related intellectual property disputes like Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit over her voice being used without permission in AI training, Alcon Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBDI) over the unauthorized use of Blade Runner 2049 imagery during Tesla’s cybercab launch event. The drama … Read more
In a stark reminder of the challenges facing our world, the Doomsday Clock remains set at a mere 90 seconds to midnight. This sobering assessment, made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, reflects the ongoing high risk of global catastrophe that we face today. The threats driving this dire prediction are multifaceted and interconnected. … Read more
Isaac Asimov, renowned for his science fiction works, introduced the “Three Laws of Robotics” as cornerstone ethical guidelines for artificial intelligence. These laws have significantly shaped discussions on AI ethics, offering a conceptual framework that continues to influence our understanding of the moral challenges posed by advanced technologies. Asimov’s Three Laws state: These laws have … Read more
When we delve into the history of artificial intelligence, we usually focus on the scientists and engineers who developed the algorithms and hardware that power modern AI systems. However, the cultural foundations that shape our understanding and approach to AI have roots in unexpected places. One such influential figure is Fritz Lang, the visionary Austrian-American … Read more