The European Example: A Comparative Look at Antitrust Standards in the US and EU

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to be the next major battleground for antitrust law, and the industry’s unprecedented expansion and high economic concentration pose a unique challenge to existing legal frameworks worldwide. The European Union (EU) stands out as a leader in the regulation of the digital economy, having already passed legislation that limits “gatekeeper” corporations (large digital platforms that provide core services like web browsing) in the form of the Digital Markets Act and bringing numerous suits against Big Tech companies for anticompetitive behavior.

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Joaquin Recinos
“Tough on Crime” or Just Barbaric? Louisiana’s Surgical Castration Law and the Erosion of Constitutional Rights

In the past few months, a new tough-on-crime approach to justice has led Louisiana to pass legislation eliminating parole and resuming electric-chair executions — which have not been used since the state moved to lethal injections in 1991 — but in June, the state enacted a new law that threatens to set ethical standards of criminal justice back centuries. As of August 1, 2024, Louisiana is the first state to allow surgical castration as a punishment for sex crimes.

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Nicholas Vanderveen
Unlocking the Canvas: A Legal Analysis of AI Patents in the US and UK

In the rapidly evolving realm of technology, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a revolutionary force, fundamentally altering industries and redefining our understanding of creativity. However, As AI experiences rapid growth and exerts a profound influence across various sectors, legal questions surrounding the patentability of AI-generated works have come to the forefront. This explosion in AI’s creative capabilities comes with a legal conundrum: can AI-generated art and ideas be subject to patent protection?

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Love Patel
Flawed Treaties or Legal Safeguards? Examining the Prospects for Increased Tribal Rights

As of January 2024, the United States government formally recognizes five hundred and seventy four Native American tribes. While this may appear to be an insignificant, bureaucratic tally, federal recognition is actually quite important: in obtaining it, tribes become eligible for specialized benefits and an elevated degree of autonomy. As such, given the coveted nature of these privileges, it should come as no surprise that indigenous communities are in constant legal competition to secure them. In fact, in recent years, nearly every Supreme Court docket in recent memory has included at least one indigenous-related case. Most recently, the Court heard arguments in Arizona v Navajo Nation (2023), which dealt with the United States’ obligation to provide water to the Navajo tribe.

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Yusuf Arifin
Social Media Surveillance of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Right to Privacy

Following the publicized police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans, there was a nationwide resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. As community members organized marches and other forms of civil disobedience on social media, notably X (formerly known as Twitter), organizers grew concerned that law enforcement officers were using X as a medium to collect information on these protests. Specifically, they claimed that the information would be used in order to arrest participants or quell protests via social media surveillance. Surveillance is “the act of observing another in order to gather evidence” and is a frequent method used by law enforcement to gather evidence for an investigation. With the fears of covert surveillance via social media, Black American community members are now concerned about their privacy rights when engaging in protest, assembly, and expression–acts protected by the First Amendment. Law enforcement’s utilization of X and digital data from other social media sites as a form of surveillance should be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy of protestors.

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Munirat Suleiman
The Legal Protection of Pachamama: The Implications of Environmental Personhood in Ecuador

When adopting their new constitution in 2008, Ecuador became the first country to recognize the legal personhood of nature, or Pachamama. Specifically, Chapter 7 “Rights of Nature” ensures the “maintenance and regeneration of [nature’s] life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes” and calls for “[a]ll persons, communities, peoples and nations” to protect this right. This clause in the Constitution has provided a legal pathhood for the conservation of nature; theoretically, any person can act as a representative of Ecuador’s environment and file a lawsuit to prevent the harmful degradation of a specific body or region. 

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Audrey Carbonell
Legal Frontiers: Navigating the Complex Landscape of Generative AI Regulation

Since the release of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, classrooms and workplaces have been revolutionized by the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). Whether used for searching information, prompting creativity, or even homework solutions, it is on a fast track to becoming an integral part of our lives. However, as AI technologies continue to permeate different areas, it has also brought forth complex legal challenges, particularly in the sectors of intellectual property and antitrust law. While the current frameworks of copyright law sufficiently govern copyright issuance relating to artificial intelligence, the recent and ongoing AI lawsuit explosion raises important questions regarding copyright infringement disputes and concerns over fair competition within the generative AI space.

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Michelle Lian
Stolen Dance Steps in Fortnite’s Fortune: Resisting Ineffective Choreography Copyright Protection in Hanagami v. Epic Games, Inc.

In contrast to the well-known copyright lawsuits in art disciplines such as music, it is rare to come across a copyright case in dance. Indeed, it was not until 1976 that choreography even became a category qualifying for copyright registration and protection. Although the limited copyright lawsuits in dance since 1976 have mostly involved defendants that were other choreographers or artists, the video game Fortnite has become a “plagiarizer” of dance moves causing choreographers to seek legal redress.

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Laura Jiang
A Legal Analysis of Big Pharma’s Evasion and Weaponization of Copyright Law

United States’  copyright laws were first established with a clear goal outlined in the United States Constitution: "...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Copyright law was enshrined in the Constitution as a way to motivate intellectual creativity and progress through legal protections, however, large pharmaceutical companies operating in United States’ markets have manipulated this fundamental principle of intellectual property to bolster their profit margins. By exploiting United States’ copyright law, these pharmaceutical companies depart from the original intent of the law, prioritizing economic gain over the greater well-being of humanity. Specifically, pharmaceutical companies have found ways to weaponize United States’ patent law and FDA policies. This manipulation of copyright law undermines its foundational ideals and compromises its intended purpose.

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Reese Taylor