After several weeks of handwringing about the fate of SB 1047 – the controversial AI safety bill that would have required developers of powerful AI models and entities providing the computing resources to train such models to put appropriate safeguards and policies into place to prevent critical harms – California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that
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California Enacts Generative AI Law Addressing “Digital Replicas” of Performers
On September 17, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2602 into California law (to be codified at Cal. Lab. Code §927). The law addresses the use of “digital replicas” of performers. As defined in the law, a digital replica is:
a computer-generated, highly realistic electronic representation that is readily identifiable as the voice or visual
Court Rules That Scraping of Public Data by Competitor Constitutes Trade Secret Misappropriation
In an ongoing dispute commenced in 2016, the Eleventh Circuit for the second time in the lifetime of the litigation considered trade secret misappropriation and related copyright claims in a scraping case between direct competitors.
The case involved plaintiff Compulife Software, Inc. (“Plaintiff” or “Compulife”) – in the business of generating life insurance quotes on
Colorado Expands “Right-to-Repair” Law
On May 28, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law the “Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment” bill (HB24-1121). The legislation expands the state’s 2023 right to repair law, which currently applies to agricultural equipment and powered wheelchairs. Generally, the law will broaden the ability of consumers to repair their own
A Final Bow for Section 230? Latest Plea for Reform Calls for Sunset of Immunity Law
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (the “CDA” or “Section 230”), known prolifically as “the 26 words that created the internet,” remains the subject of ongoing controversy. As extensively reported on this blog, the world of social media, user-generated content, and e-commerce has been consistently bolstered by Section 230 protections.
The King is Back (in the Digital Era) | The ELVIS Act, Generative AI and Right of Publicity
On March 21, 2024, in a bold regulatory move, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (“ELVIS”) Act (Tenn. Code Ann. §47-25-1101 et seq.) – a law which, as Gov. Lee stated, covers “new, personalized generative AI cloning models and services that enable human impersonation and allow users to
California Court Issues Another Noteworthy Decision Dismissing Breach of Contract and Tort Claims in Web Scraping Dispute
On May 9, 2024, a California district court dismissed, with leave to amend, the complaint brought by social media platform X Corp. (formerly Twitter) against data provider Bright Data Ltd. (“Bright Data”) over Bright Data’s alleged scraping of publicly available data from X for use in data products sold to third parties. (X Corp.
Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Looking Ahead to Potential Practical and Legal Issues When AI Gets Autonomous
Generative AI has been most synonymous in the public mind with “AI” since the commercial breakout of ChatGPT in November 2022. Consumers and businesses have seen the fruits of impressive innovation in various generative models’ ability to create audio, video, images and text, analyze and transform data, perform Q&A chatbot functions, and write code, to
Data At Issue: FTC Focus on Browsing Information and Location Data
Since the start of the year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought actions against – and reached proposed settlements with[1] – three business ventures engaged in the collection, use and sharing of certain consumer information.
- In re X-Mode Social, Inc., FTC No. 2123038
- In re InMarket Media, LLC, FTC No. 2023088
Web Publisher Seeks Injunctive Relief to Address Web Scraper’s Domain Name Maneuvers Intended to Avoid Court Order
Late last year, Chegg Inc. (“Chegg”), an online learning platform, obtained a preliminary injunction based on allegations that the various operators of the Homeworkify website (“Defendants”) – which allows users to view Chegg’s paywalled solutions without creating an account – violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). (Chegg Inc. v. Doe, No.