Long before there was even TikTok, there was a company called Sherwin-Williams. Their famous logo showed a planet-sized can of paint pouring onto a globe, with the tagline “Cover The Earth.”

They still use that logo today. But I think in spirt, if not in reality, they need to share their slogan with AI. Because AI is drenching its way into everything.

We have a guest today, and he’s our returning champion, attorney Rob Freund. Rob knows advertising and IP law for marketers as well as anyone I’ve ever met. And we’re going to have a wide-ranging discussion with Rob about AI and the law as it applies to copy and other topics of interest to you and me.

I am constantly impressed by Rob’s savvy posts on Twitter, and sometimes astounded by the stories and examples he comes up with. We’ll talk about some of them today. And I stand in the company of giants who are also impressed: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Law, Vox and Forbes. They’ve all quoted him.

Plus, he’s lectured about social media law at the University of Southern California and other major institutions, in the U.S. and in Europe.

We started by talking about an unusual and slightly disturbing thing that AI said regarding Ben Settle, which Ben posted on Twitter… and a really disturbing story about a lawyer who counted on AI in a way that may get him in trouble with the court. Rob found this story in The New York Times and posted it on Twitter as well.

We also tackled important issues like:

• Does using AI open a copywriter up to legal liability for plagiarism/copyright infringement? What can we do to make sure we’re on the right side of the law?

• From an intellectual property rights perspective -- if you use AI to help you write your copy, who owns the work?

• What are the legal implications of people using deep fake technology to create testimonials and phony images of celebrities? Or AI fake voices?

And, looking into the future, we asked Rob this question:

In the same vein as any developing technology that starts out with no regulation, like the wild west, but eventually starts to get regulated…

How do you see AI regulation, especially in the advertising and IP spaces, developing?

To connect with Rob:

Instagram @robertfreundlaw

Twitter @robertfreundlaw

https://robertfreundlaw.com

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