Some Like it Digital: AI-Generated Art, Litigation & the Law
April 25, 2024
About this Event
The Some Like it Digital Series hosted by the Center for Art Law dove into the complex landscape of AI-generated art and its intersection with the law. Our speakers, Michael D. Murray, Spears Gilbert Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky, J. David Rosenberg College of Law, and Dan Jasnow, Partner at ArentFox Schiff LLP, along with moderator Atreya Mathur, Director of Legal Research at the Center for Art Law, led a comprehensive discussion on the multifaceted legal challenges surrounding AI-generated art.
The webinar explored the many issues of copyright registration and authorship in the realm of AI-generated art, shedding light on the concerns voiced by artists, engineers, and legal professionals. Drawing from recent lawsuits and class actions, our speakers analyzed the merits of these cases, examining questions of infringement and fair use within the context of AI-generated artistic creations. The session also looked into the contracts governing AI, including user agreements for AI software platforms, licensing agreements for AI-generated materials, and other contractual arrangements that define the relationship between creators and their AI counterparts.
From a policy perspective, the webinar offered perspectives on the way forward for AI art litigation and the broader implications for the future of AI-generated creativity. The session explored potential regulatory pathways and policy considerations aimed at fostering innovation while safeguarding the rights of creators and stakeholders in the digital age.
About the Speakers:
Michael D. Murray
Michael Murray is the Spears Gilbert Associate Professor of Law. He has been teaching full-time at the College of Law since his appointment in 2018. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor of Law from 2016-2017, when he taught Legal Writing, Professional Responsibility, and Advanced Legal Research and Writing at the College of Law. Professor Murray graduated from Loyola College in Maryland and from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He was a member of a national champion Jessup International Law Moot Court team at Columbia, and Notes Editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. After law school, he clerked for United States District Judge John F. Nangle of the Eastern District of Missouri, who was then the Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Murray also practiced commercial, intellectual property, and product liability litigation for seven years at Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis. After leaving private practice, Professor Murray taught at the law schools of Saint Louis University, University of Illinois, Valparaiso University, University of Michigan, and University of Massachusetts, and internationally in Florence, Italy, and Cambridge, UK. Professor Murray currently has published twenty-seven books and numerous law review articles on advocacy, legal research and writing, rhetoric, copyright, art law, and other topics.
Dan Jasnow
Dan is a partner at ArentFox Schiff and co-leader of the firm’s AI, Metaverse & Blockchain industry group. With a background in intellectual property and advertising, Dan advises clients in the entertainment, fashion, sports, consumer electronics, and professional services industries on the adoption and use of emerging technologies, including advising on metaverse activations and marketing, the use of generative AI, negotiating NFT and blockchain SaaS agreements, and IP protection and enforcement. Dan has been at the forefront of the AI and metaverse space, drawing on his experience as in-house marketing counsel at Meta Reality Labs, where he advised on next generation consumer electronics and AR/VR software products. He also helped ArentFox Schiff become the first major law firm to establish an office in the metaverse.
Atreya Mathur
Atreya Mathur is the Director of Legal Research at the Center for Art Law. She received her Master of Laws from New York University School of Law where she specialized in Competition, Innovation, and Information Laws, with a focus on copyright, intellectual property, and art law. She is an attorney from India and at the Center she conducts legal research on an array of art and law-related topics including copyright law, artificial intelligence and art, contracts, artists rights, estates, and legal issues in contemporary and digital art. She conducts and teaches art & law workshops; addresses legal inquiries, contract reviews, and conducts interviews with artists on general legal concerns.
Handouts and Reading Material
Read the handouts HERE.
