Artificial Intelligence Legal Issues International Paper Competition Results Announced

by CLCT Staff | April 30, 2018

Self-driving cars, literature produced by computers, autonomous military armaments, robotic child companions – and more – are already here. These developments and those to come all pose important legal issues, some of which are unprecedented. Supported by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (funded in turn by Cisco), William & Mary Law School’s Center for Legal and Court Technology’s international faculty have been studying the legal issues arising from Artificial Intelligence, the Internet-of-Things, Data Analytics, and associated technologies.

As part of its continuing work, the Center for Legal and Court Technology invited law students in the European Union, Canada, and the United States to submit papers setting forth novel legal issues posed by these rapidly expanding technologies.

The winners, all of whom will receive cash prizes funded by the Community Foundation grant, were announced in April 2018, and they are:

First prize was awarded to “Lights, Camera, AI; Artificial Intelligence and Copyright Ownership in the Entertainment Industry of Tomorrow” authored by Jordan Cohen from Florida International University College of Law.

Second prize went to “Perfect Enforcement & Filtering Technology” by Brian Mund from Yale Law School.
Third prize was awarded to “AI-‘Agents’: to be or not to be in legal ‘domain’?” jointly written by Federica Casano and Francesco Cavinato, both from Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna.

Two papers were also awarded a Special Mention:

“Enabling Big Data Despite GDPR Substantive Uncertainty: Compliance Programs and Article 25” by Filippo Raso from Harvard Law School.
“Platforms and States, Governance and Sovereignty” by Zi Xiang Tan from UC Berkeley School of Law.

All of the submitted papers were interesting and thought-provoking. They covered a broad spectrum of issues such as self-driving car liability, AI and foreign investment, Big Data and data protection, technology-focused labor market anti-trust claims, innovation externalities and societal costs, computer-generated artistic works and copyright law, and cybercrime to name a few.

The Center for Legal and Court Technology was so impressed with submissions that it plans to launch the second edition of the contest in the 2018-2019 academic year, which will be open to law students world-wide.

The Center for Legal and Court Technology is a joint initiative of William & Mary Law School, the oldest law school in the United States, and the National Center for State Courts. It regularly collaborates with other law and technologies pioneers such as its Canadian partner, the University of Montreal’s Cyberjustice Laboratory. Chancellor Professor of Law Fred Lederer, Director of the Center for Legal and Court Technology, notes that William & Mary’s age and illustrious history make its current work quite natural: “When you walk into our McGlothlin Courtroom, the world’s most technologically advanced trial and appellate courtroom,” he notes, “you see a graphic that welcomes you to where the past combines with the present to produce the future; that’s what we do, whether for our students or the world.”

About William & Mary Law School

Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.