In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Wednesday January 25, 2023

First, from copyrightlately.com: Artists Attack AI: Why The New Lawsuit Goes Too Far
A group of artists has filed a first-of-its-kind copyright infringement lawsuit against the developers of popular AI art tools. The lawsuit alleges that AI-generated art is a threat to creative livelihoods, but its legal theories and facts may not be accurate. The lawsuit claims that AI tools are a "21st-century collage tool" that remixes the copyright works of millions of artists, but AI tools actually use training images to create entirely new works. The lawsuit also misrepresents how AI tools store images, and claims that all outputs of AI tools are derivative works, which is legally suspect.

Next, from www.techdirt.com: How The Friedman Doctrine Leads To The Enshittification Of All Things
In a recent article exploring the "enshittification" of social media, Cory Doctorow outlines a process through which large companies eventually hit the "enshittification" stage. This process involves companies initially catering to their users in order to gain success, eventually having to pay back venture capitalists, and then struggling to please Wall Street with ever-increasing revenue and profit growth. Ultimately, this leads to companies seeking to capture all the value for themselves, in an effort to "maximize profits for shareholders" and appease Wall Street's short-term focus. As a result, companies may sacrifice long-term sustainability and profits, leading to users searching elsewhere.

Finally, from www.nytimes.com: Maya Rudolph Will Replace M&Ms Characters in Ads After Backlash
Mars Wrigley announced an indefinite pause from its “spokescandies,” cartoon characters that have been featured in the company’s ads for decades. This decision came after figures on the political right criticized the candy as “Woke M&M’s” because of cosmetic tweaks made in recent years. Mars Wrigley has decided to replace the spokescandies with actress and “Saturday Night Live” alum, Maya Rudolph. The decision has caused a controversy with Tucker Carlson of Fox News claiming that the candy is "unappealing and totally androgynous." M&M's has responded by saying that they are "all about bringing people together.”

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Today's paper of the day is Defeating the Empire of Forms by David A. Hoffman. For generations, contract scholars have tried to combat form contracts, which are seen as unread and full of terms that courts won't or shouldn't enforce. While these contracts have become a major part of modern commercial life, the article argues that their prevalence is itself an issue that requires a new diagnosis and reform. Hoffman proposes a statute of frauds which would make low-stakes written form contracts unenforceable. He argues that this would reduce the supply of cheap forms, externalize fewer harms, and protect important legal values.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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