Episodes

  • Programming Note & UnCommon Law Episode: AI Trained on Famous Authors’ Copyrighted Work. They Want Revenge – Part 1

    Programming Note & UnCommon Law Episode: AI Trained on Famous Authors’ Copyrighted Work. They Want Revenge – Part 1
    May 3 2024
    Cases and Controversies is on hiatus for a bit while we create some great new episodes for you. Until then, we're pleased to offer a special presentation of our ABA Silver Gavel award-winning series, UnCommon Law. Generative AI tools are already promising to change the world. Systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT can answer complex questions, write poems and code, and even mimic famous authors with uncanny accuracy. But in using copyrighted materials to train these powerful AI products, are AI companies infringing the rights of untold creators? This season on UnCommon Law, we'll explore the intersection between artificial intelligence and the law. Episode one examines how large language models actually ingest and learn from billions of online data points, including copyrighted works. And we explore the lawsuits filed by creators who claim their copyrights were exploited without permission to feed the data-hungry algorithms powering tools like ChatGPT. If you like this episode and want to hear part 2, visit news.bloomberglaw.com/podcasts, or search for UnCommon Law in your podcast app. Guests: Matthew Butterick, founder at Butterick Law, and co-counsel with the Joseph Saveri Law Firm on class-action lawsuits against OpenAI and others Isaiah Poritz, technology reporter for Bloomberg Law James Grimmelmann, professor of digital and information law at Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School
    Show more Show less
    28 mins
  • Official Act Is Sticking Point in Trump Immunity Claim

    Official Act Is Sticking Point in Trump Immunity Claim
    Apr 26 2024
    Donald Trump may still get a victory even if the Supreme Court rejects his claim for blanket immunity from criminal prosecution. Several key justices seemed inclined during arguments on Thursday to send Trump’s case back to the trial court to determine whether he was acting in his official capacity when he tried to overturn the 2020 election and during the run-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by his supporters. Cases and Controversies hosts run through the lively and, at times, surprising arguments in Trump’s appeal, and discuss how the court’s decision could delay any future trial until after the November election. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    12 mins
  • Idaho Abortion Ban Getting Supreme Court Review

    Idaho Abortion Ban Getting Supreme Court Review
    Apr 19 2024
    The Supreme Court will hear its second abortion case of the term, this time on Idaho’s ban and the reach of federal law in anti-abortion states. The Biden administration argued that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires hospitals to provide an abortion when there is a serious risk of harm to the mother. Alliance Defending Freedom’s John Bursch joins Cases and Controversies to explain why Idaho says its state law requires an abortion only when necessary to save the mother’s life. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    23 mins
  • US Supreme Court Considers Novel Charges Over Jan. 6

    US Supreme Court Considers Novel Charges Over Jan. 6
    Apr 12 2024
    The Supreme Court will consider whether prosecutors went too far in charging Jan. 6 rioters with an Enron-era statute, in a case that could have implications for the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump. Former Boston Police officer Joseph Fischer, who participated in the Capitol breach, hopes to tap into concerns by some justices that prosecutors have too much discretion. It's something the court's pulled back on in recent terms. Bloomberg Law judiciary reporter Suzanne Monyak joins Cases and Controversies to discuss the implications for Jan. 6 defendants, federal courts, and Trump, whose bid for immunity from criminal prosecution over alleged election interference will be heard April 25. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has charged Trump under the same provision, which prohibits interference with an official proceeding. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    16 mins
  • Homeless Dispute Getting Rare Supreme Court Hearing

    Homeless Dispute Getting Rare Supreme Court Hearing
    Apr 5 2024
    A fight over an Oregon city’s attempt to outlaw homelessness would make headlines in any other term. But the case, said to be the first of its kind in decades and set for argument April 22, has flown under the radar. The justices are being asked if the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits Grants Pass from enforcing an ordinance that makes it unlawful to sleep on public property. “This is the first case the Supreme Court has taken up on homelessness in 40 years,” said Antonia Fasanelli, the executive director of the National Homelessness Law Center. Fasanelli joins Cases and Controversies to discuss what’s at stake in a case that raises an issue of national importance as cities try to find solutions to a rise in homelessness. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • Supreme Court Abortion Pill Argument Light on Merits

    Supreme Court Abortion Pill Argument Light on Merits
    Mar 29 2024
    Arguments in the challenge to the abortion drug mifepristone suggest the Supreme Court will nix the dispute on technical standing grounds. Justices from across the ideological spectrum suggested the anti-abortion doctors at the center of the case were asking too much. Cases and Controversies hosts run through the lopsided arguments that focused little on the merits and almost exclusively on whether the doctors could prevent access to the drug nationwide. They also discuss how the Supreme Court’s action—or inaction—means South Carolina can use an unconstitutional voting map in the upcoming election. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    16 mins
  • Government Censorship Focus of Supreme Court Disputes

    Government Censorship Focus of Supreme Court Disputes
    Mar 22 2024
    Lower court rulings that largely halted Biden administration communication with social media companies to combat misinformation about Covid and the 2020 election faced skepticism from Supreme Court justices. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Lydia Wheeler break down the March 18 arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo, a second First Amendment fight about alleged government censorship. They also discuss the legal whiplash over a Texas law that makes it a crime to illegally enter the US through the state. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    17 mins
  • Supreme Court Urged to Take Up Fight Over Trans Youth

    Supreme Court Urged to Take Up Fight Over Trans Youth
    Mar 15 2024
    The Biden administration and others are asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on state bans on gender-affirming care for transgender kids despite its refusal to resolve related disputes over youth sports and student bathroom use. The ACLU’s Li Nowlin-Sohl joins Cases and Controversies to discuss bans out of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Idaho pending before the court, and the chances that the justices will finally weigh in. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases & Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
    Show more Show less
    14 mins