Editor’s Note: The State Bar of Texas is providing this collection of important links, blog posts, and media stories to keep its members and the public informed of the latest news and resources related to the novel coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the legal community. Important links State Bar of Texas Coronavirus Legal Resources … Continue Reading
A litany of rule changes have been made and ethics opinions issued by bar associations across the country in order to catch up with the pace of social media. A South by Southwest panel covered changes regarding competence, unintentionally transmitted communications, and disappearing data.… Continue Reading
As demand for augmented reality and virtual reality continues to rapidly expand, inevitable legal issues abound. For example, are companies in the clear for using in a VR short Ryan Gosling’s voice, taken from content from the movie First Man? The panelists of “Virtually Legal: Insights on AR, VR, and the Law”—Mary Innis, managing partner … Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act, signed into law on October 11, 2018, was designed to update U.S. copyright law to make sure artists and publishers were getting proper credit for their music running on streaming services. Publishing experts during the SXSW panel “The MMA Passed: Now What? Navigating the New Licensing Landscape” said the law comes … Continue Reading
The SXSW workshop Privacy by Design and by Directive tested audience members’ knowledge of the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, and the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Both measures are designed to protect people’s personal data that is collected by businesses. The panel aimed to show attendees how, as business owners, they can … Continue Reading
A recent panel at South by Southwest examined some prominent copyright cases from the last year and delved into the changes in effect and coming into effect from the Music Modernization Act, or MMA. The panel started with a focus on the 2019 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 4th Estate Public Benefit … Continue Reading
A panel of attorneys discussed the ever-evolving galaxy of space law, including disabusing the notion that space law is “unregulated,” during a panel session at South By Southwest. Franceska Schroeder, a principal in Fish Richardson, provided an overview of the laws governing space and space exploration including the Commercial Space Launch Act, or CSLA; the … Continue Reading
Myth No. 1 of music licensing: Just because you are not making money on a project, does not mean you can use music for free. Austin lawyer Amy E. Mitchell, of Amy E. Mitchell PLLC, and Roanna Gillespie, a music supervisor at WOW Sounds, educated the South By Southwest audience during a panel titled “Music … Continue Reading
A private attorney, a federal prosecutor, and a legal scholar tackled the challenges of combatting invasive online crimes such as sextortion, doxxing, and cyberstalking during a South by Southwest panel titled “When the Internet Turns Violent and Abusive.” Mona Sedky, a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section, … Continue Reading
The harvesting of data via artificial intelligence, biometrics technology, and digital data collection is currently outpacing laws regulating its use according to a recent panel at the South by Southwest Conference & Festivals taking place in Austin this week. Myriad information is created through many means, such as posting to or having profiles on social … Continue Reading
Check out the May issue of the Texas Bar Journal for a recap of SXSW legal panels, the First Amendment and social media, cyberspace estate planning, and lawyers’ role in the future of cryptocurrencies. Don’t forget to catch up on Movers and Shakers, Memorials, and Disciplinary Actions.… Continue Reading
Panelists Tracy Gardner, senior vice president of digital strategy and global business development for Warner Music Group, Bobby Rosenbloum, vice-chairman of global entertainment and media practice at Greenberg Traurig, and Ted Suh, vice president of digital music at musical.ly, discussed some of the hot-button issues in social media music licensing at SXSW session this month. … Continue Reading
Depending on whom you talk to, the footprint you leave online, whether it is the websites you visit or the emails you send, is essentially private and shouldn’t get in the hands of advertisers or anyone else. But to others, that history is merely business—data that can be used by companies to tailor ads to … Continue Reading
Face recognition has its benefits in securing iPhones or, in the case of artificial intelligence company Kairos, its use in helping people with Alzheimer’s identify family members without feeling embarrassed or helping law enforcement identify criminals as founder and CEO Brian Brackeen said of his business’ work at a panel discussion at the Fairmont during … Continue Reading
Changes in patent law over the past five years have created some relief in the number of cases filed but big problems remain. Colleen Chien, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law; Evan Engstrom, executive director of Engine; U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and chairman of … Continue Reading
The amount of initial coin offerings, or ICOs, has increased with the success of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over the past two years. A lack of a government regulatory structure has created a playing field ripe for scammers.… Continue Reading
It seems everyday there is a new report about bitcoin and the amount of value it continues to generate on the market. The tremendous amount of wealth being driven into initial coin offerings, or ICOs, is creating a new generation of barons similar to the financial influence exerted by John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and … Continue Reading
With the growing presence of artificial intelligence in daily life—self-driving cars, facial recognition, personalized Amazon search results, and smart personal assistants like Alexa and Echo—there are questions forming about what rules should be followed.… Continue Reading
Don’t think for a second that South by Southwest doesn’t have anything to do with the legal world. SXSW has been offering continuing legal education and other law-related programming since 1998—and this year proves to be just as informative, with sessions on everything from government policy and augmented reality to startups and blockchain.… Continue Reading
Attorneys had the opportunity to learn about new trends and topics in the law at many sessions at South by Southwest March 10-19. Here we provide a recap of some of the panels. Read some of our past coverage about others involving crowdsourcing for access to justice, privacy and the Fourth Amendment in an evolving … Continue Reading
From recounting infamous music copyright cases to predicting what the future of policy in Washington, D.C., holds, several sessions at South by Southwest tackled hot-button issues in the industry. Copyright infringement “This is about deep-pocket defendants,” entertainment attorney Stan Soocher said as he opened the March 17 panel “Copyright Infringement: Get a Hit, Get a … Continue Reading
With wide interest in closing the access to justice gap, lawyers at South by Southwest’s “Crowdsourcing Justice” panel on March 13 discussed creative ways to use technology to meet the rising demand for legal assistance. The panel focused on how lawyers have used several new crowdsourcing projects—which consist of gathering information from a large number … Continue Reading
In simple terms, laws addressing electronic privacy are moving at a speed far slower than the Pony Express while businesses and law enforcement agencies grapple with who should have access to people’s data, according to experts on the South By Southwest panel “When Should My Data Become the Government’s Data?” Panelists clearly laid out the conundrums … Continue Reading
The first of several panels about technology surveillance at South By Southwest this year kicked off Friday with a piece of the U.S. Constitution. Moderator Scott Shackford, an associate editor at Reason.com, opened “Get a Warrant: The 4th Amendment and Digital Data,” by reciting the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure … Continue Reading
