In this week’s News of Note, Disney and Universal target alleged copyright infringement, OpenAI and Mattel team up to bring artificial intelligence to toymaking and China launches its production of the world’s first non-binary AI chip. Elsewhere, Nvidia announces its major expansion into Europe with its first industrial AI Cloud.
After years of contractual entanglements, public disputes and strategic reinvention, Taylor Swift has achieved something few global recording artists have: She now owns the master recordings of her entire musical catalog.
Quantum computing (QC) is poised to disrupt cybersecurity in ways that business leaders and legal professionals cannot afford to ignore. But what exactly is quantum computing, why does it pose such a significant threat to encryption, and what should businesses be doing about it today?
After a decade of litigation and a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from 2023, the legal battle between Jack Daniel’s and VIP Products has taken yet another turn, this time back in favor of Jack Daniel’s. On remand from the Supreme Court in the case VIP Products LLC v. Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc., the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued an amended order on January 21, 2025, finding that VIP’s “Bad Spaniels” dog toy is not likely to cause consumer confusion with Jack Daniel’s whiskey brand and trade dress, thereby not constituting trademark infringement. However, the district court found that it nevertheless dilutes the fame and distinctiveness of the whiskey maker’s reputation, thereby still running afoul of the Lanham Act’s anti-dilution provisions. The amended order follows the Supreme Court’s decision ending the application of the more liberal Rogers First Amendment test in trademark cases involving expressive works used as source identifiers. In doing so, while finding that the parody of the “Bad Spaniels” dog toy decreased the likelihood of confusion with Jack Daniel’s by modifying the analysis of certain factors in a light more favorable to VIP, the district court ultimately found VIP’s parody of the famous whiskey brand to be a double-edged sword that contributed to finding dilution by tarnishment.
Imagine you’re an associate at a consulting firm. You’re surprised to see a new “AI Assist” button appear in your email application one morning. Without any training or guidance from your firm’s IT department, you decide to try it out, asking the AI to draft a response to a client’s inquiry about tax implications for a proposed merger. The AI confidently generates a response that looks professional and well-written, which you quickly review and send. Three days later, your managing partner calls you into their office—the AI cited outdated tax regulations and recommended a structure that would create significant liability for the client. The incident triggers an urgent internal review, revealing that dozens of employees have been using the undisclosed AI feature for weeks, potentially exposing the firm to professional liability and damaging client relationships.
We recently discussed a number of updates in the world of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights. Among those recent developments was the signing by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp of an executive order that, inter alia, prohibited the NCAA and athletic conferences from taking “adverse action” against Georgia schools for directly compensating their athletes for NIL.
As 2024 comes to a close, permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness (NIL) impacting collegiate athletics continue unabated.
Most prominently, Northern District of California District Judge Claudia Wilken preliminarily approved the proposed settlement agreement to resolve the trio of pending antitrust cases known colloquially as Carter, House, and Hubbard. While a number of judicial hurdles must be cleared before the settlement is finalized and implemented, Judge Wilken’s ruling is a significant step toward a new system of rules and athlete compensation for collegiate athletics.
The latest trend in generative AI is the rise of “AI Assistants” or “Chatbots.” These tools are increasingly trained on internal company data to interact directly with consumers and aim to improve customer service by generating responses on behalf of the organization. However, this brings new legal challenges, especially regarding data privacy. Because “biometric” data or information is often broadly defined, compliance with privacy regulations becomes critical when chatbots and AI agents use voiceprints, cameras (capturing or processing hand or facial geometry) or other sensors to provide a personalized service. Companies should implement safeguards to meet legal requirements, avoid penalties, and secure insurance coverage to mitigate financial risks related to compliance with data privacy laws and regulations.
The California legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 2013 (AB 2013) on August 27, 2024, a measure aimed at enhancing transparency in AI training and development. If signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, developers of generative AI systems or services that are made available to Californians would be required to disclose significant information on the data used to train such AI systems or services. This, in turn, may raise novel compliance burdens for AI providers as well as unique challenges for customers in interpreting the information.
Moments before former President Donald Trump took to the stage at a Montana rally this August, Celine Dion’s 1997 hit, “My Heart Will Go On,” blasted over the speakers while a clip appeared onscreen. It took less than 24 hours for the five-time Grammy winner’s team and Sony Music Entertainment Canada to issue a statement on social media saying that “in no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.” Amid a heated political season, it’s not unusual for candidates to clash with the artists whose music they promulgate on the campaign trail. In Trump’s case, though, using a video compounded the legal complications. While political licensing for music typically needs approval from the recording artist, video playback requires approval from both the artist and composer. In theory, this fact would make it less risky for campaigners to stick with audio-only soundbites of their favorite crowd-pumping tunes. However, there are still questions around general music licensing dos and don’ts when it comes to politics, even as performing rights groups work to clarify things. For now, the intersection of artists’ rights and political campaigns remains a murky legal crossroads, at best.
