Papers & Research

Examines what kind of human engagement with AI-generated text rises to the level of authorship for copyright purposes. Argues that editing must constitute genuine "collaborative writing" — not mere correction or selection — to satisfy the human cause requirement. Develops a three-tier framework comparing US and EU approaches.

The chapter from which this site takes its name. Argues that the "progress" IP law is meant to promote must mean human progress — human self-fulfillment through creative and inventive activity — and proposes a causation-based test for distinguishing works and inventions with a genuine human cause from those without. Engages copyright, patent law, and the philosophical foundations of IP across common law and civil law traditions.

A detailed examination of the authorship requirement in copyright law as applied to AI-generated works. Traces the historical foundations of authorship doctrine, surveys current approaches across major jurisdictions, and argues that granting copyright to machine outputs would undermine the human incentive structure that copyright is designed to support.

Examines how the EU's press publishers' right, introduced in the CDSM Directive, intersects with the use of AI in news production and aggregation. Considers whether automated journalism outputs can qualify for protection and what the press publishers' right can and cannot accomplish in the age of generative AI.

Argues that the misalignment between the global reach of AI systems and the territorial structure of national legal systems requires a coordinated transnational regulatory approach. Proposes institutional and normative frameworks drawn from experience with international IP law and other multilateral regulatory regimes.

Provides a detailed analysis of Articles 3 and 4 of the EU Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, covering text and data mining exceptions and the press publishers' right. Examines the interaction with collective management infrastructure and the challenges posed by AI training data at scale.

A landmark comparative study of the originality requirement in copyright law across major jurisdictions. Traces the divergence between the US "modicum of creativity" standard established in Feist and the "author's own intellectual creation" standard developing in EU law, with implications for how courts distinguish protectable expression from unprotectable information.

Examines the uneasy relationship between IP law and human rights frameworks, arguing that human rights can provide a principled normative foundation for IP protection — one that privileges the interests of human creators — in contrast to the trade-agreement-driven expansion that has characterized international IP law in recent decades.

A monograph developing the philosophical and legal foundations of the argument that law, including intellectual property law, should be oriented toward human progress in the full sense — human flourishing, self-realization, and the expansion of human capacities — rather than toward the maximization of output or economic efficiency alone.