Digital Review
A monthly round-up of legal tech news from MLRC deputy director Jeff Hermes.
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…
Digital Review May 2024
The Supreme Court decides NRA v. Vullo, Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, and Coinbase v. Suski | TikTok challenges the national ban | RFK Jr.’s legal team keeps busy | REPORT, KOSA, KOSMA, COPPA 2.0 and other child safety laws advance | ScarJo and OpenAI | Scraping law & copyright preemption | Monetary judgments in…
Digital Review April 2024
President Biden signs the “TikTok ban,” and a national data privacy bill is introduced | The Supreme Court denies a stay of the Fifth Circuit’s age gating decision, and denies cert regarding Elon Musk’s “Twitter sitter” | The Senate Judiciary Committee hears testimony on the NO FAKES Act, as generative AI continues to drive lawsuits…
Digital Review February & March 2024
The Supreme Court decides Lindke and hears NetChoice and Murthy | The House passes a TikTok bill | The Fifth Circuit looses Ken Paxton on adult websites | X’s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate is SLAPPed down | The DOJ launches its big antitrust lawsuit against Apple | Yes, but is it…
Digital Review January 2024
Everyone takes aim at AI-powered deepfakes | The FTC cracks down on data brokers | Tech CEOs visit Capitol Hill | The Second Circuit sets the Wayback Machine (no, not that one) to 1805 | The Ninth Circuit, agency principles, and Section 230 | The states and their amici weigh in on NetChoice | New…