Intellectual Property and Information Law
A series of speakers and events involving intellectual property (IP) and information law, hosted by faculty members of the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS) and Boston University (BU) School of Law, will begin in late September and run through early December.
The sessions, to be held at the CDS Building and the School of Law, will cover a diverse range of topics related to IP, information law, artificial intelligence (AI), copywashing, and more. Students are welcome to attend all events.
“This program shines a spotlight on many important topics related to data science and artificial intelligence that our students will find informative and engaging. We are happy to partner with BU School of Law in presenting these critical conversations about the impact of technology and the importance of encouraging ethical inquiry into those advancements,” says CDS Associate Provost Azer Bestavros, the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science.
The events include three separate speaker series:
IP Workshop
Date and time: 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursdays (except October 3 and November 28)
Location: Room 204, BU School of Law
BU Professor of Law Michael J. Meurer, the Abraham and Lillian Benton Scholar, will host the weekly IP Workshop featuring speakers whose work touches upon topics at the cutting edge of intellectual property law.
The workshop will kick off on September 26 with NYU Law School Professor Jeanne Fromer, who will present a paper entitled “First Ideas.” Other speakers will be:
- October 10: Professor Alexandra Roberts (Northeastern) discussing “Multi-Level Lies”
- October 17: Meurer discussing “Obvious Distortions of Patent Law”
- October 24: Professor Jacob Noti-Victor ( Cardozo Law School) discussing “Regulating Hidden AI Authorship”
- October 31: BU School of Law Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Intellectual Life Jessica Silbey and Questrom School of Business Clinical Assistant Professor of Strategy & Innovation Samantha Zyontz discussing “Deminimis Copying: An Empirical Study”
- November 7: Professor Michael Burstein (Cardozo Law School) discussing “The Law of the Direction of Innovation”
- November 14: Professor David Olson (Boston College) discussing “Are Patents to Blame for Excessive Drug Prices?”
- November 21: Professor David Simon (Northeastern) discussing “Off-Label Inducement”
- December 5: Professor Kristelia García (Georgetown Law School) discussing “Copywashing”
Social Justice for Data Science Lecture Series
Date and time: 4:30-6:15 p.m. on September 30, October 16, November 4, and December 2
Location: Barrister’s Hall at BU School of Law (September and October); CDS Room 1750 (November and December)
The monthly Social Justice for Data Science Lecture Series is hosted by Ngozi Okidegbe, Moorman-Simon Interdisciplinary Career Development Assistant Professor of Computing & Data Sciences and associate professor of law, and Allison McDonald, assistant professor of Computing & Data Sciences, who developed the program. It brings together leading scholars in law, computer science, humanities, and social justice to examine the complicated relationship between social justice and data science.
Presenters will be:
- Chaz Arnett, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, presenting on “The School-to-Surveillance Pipeline: Mass School Shootings, Digital Securitization, and the Struggle for Data Justice” (September 30)
- Petra Molnar, Refugee Law Lab at York University and Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, whose topic is to be determined (October 16)
- Muhammad Zaman, Center on Forced Displacement and BU, presenting on “Visible Barriers for Invisible People: Healthcare Access Among Stateless Populations” (November 4)
- Bennett Capers, Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham Law School, presenting on “Afrofuturism, Policing, and Justice” (December 2)
Registration is required for each individual lecture.
Cyber Alliance Series
Date and time: 3:30–5 p.m. on October 23 & October 30
Location: School of Law faculty lounge, 15th floor of law school building
Okidegbe, Professor & The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law Stacey Dogan, and CDS Associate Professor Mayank Varia are hosting the cyber alliance series, which brings together leading scholars on technology law, ethics, and public policy.
This fall, the series will feature:
- BU Clinical Associate Professor of Law Andrew Sellars, the founding director of the Student Innovations Law Clinic, a legal service for undergraduate and graduate students at MIT and BU, who will present “Independent Research as Regulatory Partner in Software Accountability” on October 23.
- Andrew Selbst, UCLA Professor of Law and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (fall 2024), who will speak on October 30.