Happy Nowruz 2025
A small newsletter about legaltech
AI
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court decision that the Copyright Office can deny registration to a work solely created by an AI system [Reuters | Opinion | Docket]
From Bloomberg Law [$]: “Trademark Law Is Awkward Fit in AI Prompt-Hacking Lawsuit”
The Detroit Police Department is being sued for arresting a woman for attempted murder on the basis of an ID based on a facial recognition system [TechDirt | Reason]
Amazon is integrating an AI song generator into Alexa, despite a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against developer Suno by the RIAA
Multinational law firm Clearly Gottlieb has acquired SpringBok, an AI company that builds attorney workflows using GenAI
AI Fabrication Follies
Alkuda v. McDonald Hopkins Co., L.P.A. [Docket | Opinion and Order (Lexis($))]
Blockchain/Digital Currency
From the Wall Street Journal [$]: “Trump Family Has Held Deal Talks With Binance Following Crypto Exchange’s Guilty Plea”
The CEO of cryptocurrency firm Ripple announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping its lawsuit against the company
A firm touted by U.S. intelligence agencies as a key asset for cracking crypto passwords turns out to have been secretly founded by a controversial hacker accused of sexually assaulting several women [Washington Post ($) | Mitrade]
Data Privacy
Amazon is removing a feature from its Echo smart speakers that allowed for local processing of voice commands - starting March 28th, all voice recordings on Echo devices will be sent to Amazon’s cloud [Wired ($) | The Verge | USA Today | Lifehacker]
Miscellaneous
Earlier this month, Utah became the first state to enact a law requiring app stores to verify ages of users
Long Reads
Posner, Eric A. and Saran, Shivam and RPS Submitter, Chicago Law, Judge AI: Assessing Large Language Models in Judicial Decision-Making (January 15, 2025). University of Chicago Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper No. 25-03, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5098708 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5098708