Generative AI has brought a number of gifts and burdens to the world, particularly in the field of intellectual property law. AI has challenged norms about what can be patented, who (or what) can create artwork, what rights of publicity celebrities have to defend themselves regarding AI imitations of their likeness, and where those rights and limits begin and end.

Dupe companies are increasingly copying luxury brands’ advertising to sell duplicate products, raising questions about intellectual property and fair competition. As consumer interest in high-end fashion skyrockets, driven by claims such as Birkin bags outperforming gold as an investment, luxury brands are seeing record-breaking sales. These companies spend millions on tailored advertising campaigns. In contrast, dupe companies, which sell inexpensive copies of luxury goods, cut costs by copying the advertising that luxury brands invested significant time and money to develop.

Games Workshop (GW), a UK based company, is the author and owner of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniature game, which is also played significantly in the United States. Each set of models, or “army unit,” comes unassembled, requiring the player to assemble and paint the models before playing. The hobby involves substantial creativity from fans; players paint the armies different colors, often use hobby materials to alter the appearance of models, or mix and match different modeling kits. Both the creative element and the cost of the hobby have created a market for selling alternative 3-D prints on third-party websites like ebay or etsy.

“I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that [AI] is an insult to life itself.” —Hayao Miyazaki

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation company established in 1985 by artist Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli crafted a distinguishable artistic style of animation with international appeal. Today, the studio is worth $245 million and maintains strict licensing and film distribution rights throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

With the emergence of generative AI in entertainment media, the right of publicity in relation to actors’ likeness is becoming increasingly prevalent. Modifying voices using generative AI (“genAI”) has become a serious concern amongst voice actors, and it is important to examine whether voices are a part of identity protected by public use law.

Taken in 1801 by Lord Elgin, then British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, the Parthenon Marbles remain encased in the British Museum, nearly 2,000 miles away from their original home in Athens, Greece. In a lost firman (permit), Elgin allegedly obtained permission from the imperial Ottoman Authorities to cast, draw, and erect scaffoldings of the Parthenon’s statues. However, debate surrounds whether he was actually authorized to remove the Marbles, including almost half of the famed frieze. After falling into severe debt, Elgin sold the sculptures to the British government in 1816.

In 1899, Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased a strip of marshland to house the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Ninety-one years later, the Gardner hosted the most infamously expensive museum heist ever—$500 million worth of art including a Rembrandt seascape, Degas sketches, a Vermeer, and ancient Chinese pottery was stolen over St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 1990. Despite a Netflix documentary and substantial increases of reward money, the trail remains frigid. To this day, the museum has empty spaces where the art once was, “placeholders” representing the hope that the paintings will return.