In 2019, Stephen Thaler developed an AI system he called The Creativity Machine. He generated output he called A Recent Entrance to Paradise. When he applied to register a copyright claim in the output, he listed the machine as the author. He claimed ownership of the work as a work made for hire. In his
Copyrights in AI-Generated Content
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued its long-awaited report on the copyrightability of works created using AI-generated output. The legality of using copyrighted works to train generative-AI systems is a topic for another day.
Key takeaways:
- Copyright protects the elements of a work that are created by a human, but does not protect elements that
Navigating AI Legal Uncertainty: Key Insights from Seyfarth’s 2025 Commercial Litigation Outlook
Now in its fifth year, Seyfarth’s Commercial Litigation Outlook continues to provide critical insights into the forces shaping business disputes. As we enter 2025, businesses are facing unprecedented legal and regulatory uncertainty. The second Trump administration is expected to reshape agency priorities, while AI-driven innovation continues to outpace the legal frameworks meant to regulate it.
Lauren Leipold to Appear on Panel of AI Experts at Georgia Tech’s 2025 Marketing Innovation Conference
Seyfarth Intellectual Property Partner Lauren Leipold will present as part of a panel of experts discussing the role of GenAI in marketing. The panel is part of the 2025 Marketing Innovation Conference (MIC@S) at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business on Friday, February 21, 2025.
This year’s theme, “Technology Meets Creativity: Shaping Marketing’s Next Chapter,”
Fair Use Decision in Thomson Reuters v. Ross
A court has handed down the first known ruling (to me, anyway) on “fair use” in the wave of copyright infringement lawsuits against AI companies that are pending in federal courts. The ruling came in Thomas Reuters v. Ross. Thomas Reuters filed this lawsuit against Ross Intelligence back in 2020, alleging that Ross trained its
Top Copyright Cases of 2024
Warner Chappell Music Inc. v. Nealy
The Copyright Act imposes a three-year period of limitations for copyright infringement claims. There has been a split in the circuits about whether this means that damages could be claimed only for infringement occurring during the three-year period or whether damages could be recovered for earlier acts of infringement
Pioneers and Pathfinders Virtual Roundtable Series: Understanding the Legal and Commercial Challenges of Disinformation and Deepfakes
On Thursday, November 7th at 1:30 p.m. CT, co-editor of our Gadgets, Gigabytes, and Goodwill Blog, Puya Partow-Navid, will participate in a panel for Seyfarth’s acclaimed Pioneers and Pathfinders Virtual Roundtable Series. Seyfarth’s Pioneers and Pathfinders virtual roundtable series has tackled critical topics intended to help our clients navigate the implications of generative AI and
Lauren Leipold and Owen Wolfe Write on Use of Generative AI Prompts in Litigation in Reuters Westlaw
Gadgets, Gigabytes, & Goodwill Blog editors, Lauren Leipold and Owen Wolfe, co-authored an article, “Rules for use of AI-generated evidence in flux,” in Reuters and Reuters’ Westlaw Today. The Seyfarth attorneys discussed how generative AI prompts and outputs are discoverable in litigation, even those that were part of pre-suit investigation, and that parameters around use of this type
Glimmer of Hope? Judge Suggests Some Claims in AI Image Case May Survive
We are still waiting for a formal ruling on the Andersen v. Stability AI defendants’ second round of motions to dismiss, but so far it’s looking like most of the case may be allowed to proceed to discovery. The judge heard oral arguments on May 8, 2024 in this case involving image-generating AI software, a
101 Whack-a-Mole – Yet Another Software Patent Falls Victim to Section 101
In 2014, the Supreme Court upended U.S. patent law in the landmark ruling for Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International. The Alice decision established new standards for determining whether inventions, especially those related to software and business methods, are eligible for patents.
Following the Alice decision, there was a significant increase in 101 rejections, particularly