Moderator Abby North and panelists John Riley, Damien Riehl, and Crispin Hunt discussed the challenges and opportunities of generative AI technology and provided an overview of the latest developments in the field.
Speakers
• Damien Riehl
Damien Riehl is a lawyer, musician, and technologist with experience in complex litigation, digital forensics, and software development. A coder since 1985 and for the web since 1995, Damien helps lead the design, development, and expansion of Fastcase’s data-science efforts, integrating AI-backed technologies to improve legal workflows and to power legal data analytics. In 2019, Damien gave a TEDx Talk about his All the Music project, which to date has computationally composed over 400,000,000,000 (400B) melodies, has written them to disc (fixed in a tangible medium), and has given the public access through Creative Commons Zero (CC0), which provides rights similar to rights to works in the Public Domain. Damien’s project has contributed to discussions between lawyers, musicians, and industry professionals regarding (1) copyrightability of machine-created works and (2) copyrightability of melodies alone.
• Crispin Hunt
Crispin Hunt is a multi-platinum selling songwriter and record producer. He has written or worked with or for Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Ellie Goulding, Jake Bugg, Maverick Sabre, Newton Faulkner, Natalie Imbruglia, Bat For Lashes, Razorlight, Estelle, Rod Stewart and many others. He is a global advocate for Creator Rights and is a Director of PRS , former Chair and current board director of The Ivor’s Academy, former PPL Director and FAC CEO. He was lead singer of the 90’s Britpop band Longpigs and worked in the UK House Of Commons as a Parliamentary Researcher and Campaign Coordinator.
• John Riley
John Riley is an Assistant General Counsel at the U.S. Copyright Office where he has contributed to the U.S. Government’s Supreme Court briefs in the Aereo and Petrella cases, district court briefs including in Thaler v. Perlmutter, the Office’s policy reports including Copyright Small Claims, Copyright and the Music Marketplace, and Unclaimed Royalties: Best Practice Recommendations for the Mechanical Licensing Collective, and, among other regulatory work, rules implementing the Music Modernization Act, Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (“CASE”) Act of 2020, and the Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music (“GRAM”) registration option. He also frequently advises Congress on copyright law. Prior to joining the Copyright Office, John worked as the Senior Manager of Intellectual Property Enforcement at the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center. John earned his LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law from the George Washington University Law School and his JD from the Dickinson School of Law. He holds BA degrees in Political Science, English, and Communication Arts & Sciences from Penn State University. He has been recognized by the American Intellectual Property Law Association for his distinguished service and contributions in the field of intellectual property law.
Moderator
• Abby North