Digital Review
A monthly discussion of legal tech news from MLRC deputy director Jeff Hermes.
For detailed legal developments after January 2026, please see the MLRC Digital Media Law Database.
MLRC Digital Review July 2026
IN THIS ISSUE: Musk’s xAI Sues over Minnesota’s Ban on Nudification Apps; Pleading DMCA 1201 Claims on Scraping for AI; Stupid Influencer Stunts; Claude’s Thematic Analysis.
MLRC Digital Review June 2026
The Risks of Othering Algorithmic Content | Cox v. Sony: Echoes of Packingham? | Stupid Influencer Stunts | Claude’s Thematic Analysis
MLRC Digital Review December 2025-January 2026
The Supreme Court takes a VPPA pixel-tracking case and a geofencing warrant case, and hears Cox v. Sony | DHS is hunting for ICE critics online, but backs off when confronted | The DOJ and DHS are sued for jawboning for the removal of ICE-tracking apps | Onward to trial in the social media addiction…
MLRC Digital Review October-November 2025
Jeff contemplates the future of the Digital Review | Eleventh Circuit allows Florida’s social media age-gating law to take effect | “Dude With Sign” is actual dude, has ROP rights | Copyright decisions on AI-generated summaries of fiction and news | Facebook defeats FTC antitrust lawsuit | Tracking ICE and tracking by ICE | Bad…
MLRC Digital Review September 2025
The Ninth Circuit strikes down California’s ban on visible “like counts” for minors while upholding privacy defaults | The Trump administration cuts a deal to keep TikTok online under Oracle oversight | Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal bring new AI-training infringement suits in California | FTC and ICE actions renew concern over warrantless data access…
MLRC Digital Review July 2025
The VPPA fight barrels toward the Supreme Court as pixel-tracking rulings diverge | Courts split AI copyright into acquisition, training, and outputs | FSC v. Paxton cracks the door to sweeping state age-gating laws | Anderson v. TikTok faces a chilly reception in New York | Payment processors tighten the screws on controversial speech platforms…
MLRC Digital Review May-June 2025
The justices uphold Texas’s adult content age-gating law in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton | Kadrey and Bartz on AI training and fair use | Did a Copyright Office report spark the Register’s ouster? | Cox copyright case heads to SCOTUS | Trump’s FTC ramps up pressure on platforms | Clearview AI settles long-running biometric…
MLRC Digital Review January-February 2025
Jeff tries out a new assistant for the Digital Review | The Supreme Court blesses a TikTok ban, then two presidents back down | The justices wrestle with Texas’s age-gating law | Trump’s second-term assault on content moderation | Section 230 takes some hits thanks to Anderson | The FCC and FTC pivot toward platform…
MLRC Digital Review September 2024
California Gov. Newsom’s pen gets a workout; The D.C. Circuit hears TikTok; Another chance for KOSA and COPPA 2.0; The Second Circuit rejects a fair use defense for the “Free Digital Library”; The copyrightability of AI-generated works; Hold On, a Seven Nation Army is Comin’ on Electric Avenue; A federal bill to kill Alice; Another…
Digital Review June-July 2024
The Supreme Court decides Murthy, Moody, and more, and takes an age-gating case | Briefing heats up in the TikTok case | KOSA is dead for now | The NO FAKES Act gains support from Hollywood studios | Copyright battles over AI continue | Justice Thomas comments on Section 230 yet again | Net neutrality…