by sean hogle, practicing lawyer
California's recently-enacted "Opt Me Out" Act is intended to require developers of "browsers" to include opt-out signals that tell websites not to sell or share their data. But is the Act's definition broad enough to capture much more than browsers? The post Reddit is a Browser appeared first on epiclaw .
New York law on force majeure is brutal for vendors and services providers. For better results, select California law instead. The post Avoid New York Law on Force Majeure appeared first on epiclaw .
The courts are beginning to grapple with the issue of whether works generated by artificial intelligence, particularly music, art, and prose, can be characterized as derivative of the material on which the AI was trained. Requiring disclosure of the weights used to train the model, and the prompts used to generate the output, would aid the inquiry considerably. The post AI-generated derivative…
We recently learned a hard truth: “Obtaining an award against a party that fails to appear in an arbitration may prove more costly and time-consuming than appearing in court." The post What happens if the party you re arbitrating against disappears? appeared first on epiclaw .
Lawyers drafting online terms of use/service and privacy policies are well-advised to establish a record that allows the client to demonstrate the existence of such terms and the date they were in effect. Such a record will prove quite handy in future litigation. The post Redline Tip o the Day: Use the Wayback Machine to Establish the Existence of Online Terms appeared first on epiclaw .
Clients with employees scattered far and wide pose challenges when it comes to selecting choice of law and forum in employee non-disclosure agreements or PIIAs (Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreements). The post The dilemma of choice of law and forum in employee NDAs with distributed staff appeared first on epiclaw .
Moral philosophers object to the ethic of zeal, also known as the fiduciary duty and the principle of partisanship, because it requires lawyers to ignore any adverse effects that lawful actions beneficial for clients may have on third parties. These critics have overlooked something important. The post The Ethic of Zeal appeared first on epiclaw .
Many lawyers take a belt-and-suspenders approach to clauses that are intended to transfer copyright ownership from the developer-vendor to the customer with respect to the customer’s deliverables it is paying for. “Let’s call it an assignment,” they say, and "let’s also call it a work for hire, just in case." The post Copyright assignment or work for hire: choose one appeared first on epiclaw .
A recent US district court decision in a lawsuit brought by Facebook and Instagram carries important lessons for counsel in the drafting and negotiation of survival clauses—clauses that purport to extend the operative effect of contractual obligations beyond the termination or expiration of the relationship. The post Ensuring the survival of your survival clause appeared first on epiclaw .
When your client is not getting paid for no good reason, there are certain clauses that your client's contract should have to maximize payment enforceability and leverage. The post Clauses for dealing with the chiseling customer appeared first on epiclaw .