In a generation that consistently relies on the internet and related digital technologies, maintaining digital equity becomes a critical element of social inclusion.[1] As various communities throughout the United States continue to lack access to the full range of digital technologies of the modern society, a new form of digital exclusion, the “digital divide,” ultimately results.[2] Such a digital divide exists when a specific group’s access to digital resources “differs along one or more dimensions of social, economic, cultural, or natural identity.”[3] Currently, around 42 million American ..read more

It is no secret that professional sports franchises have several things they want to keep secret, such as playbooks, scouting strategies, film meetings, and data that help their team make difficult decisions in such a competitive industry.[1] A common issue for sports franchises is that every year they lose players to other teams for various reasons,[2] which allows for the possibility of litigation if players misappropriate trade secrets. Players and other employees of a franchise are generally loyal to whatever team they play for, at least in the short term to win, and their interests will o ..read more

What do you hear when you look at a painting?  How would you sing a spiral?  And after that spiral song is sung, who expressed their creativity—the performer, or the person who put the shape on paper?  In the United States, musical notation typically looks like European staff notation: five lines, a clef, notes, various Italian words.[1]  Staff notation is designed to convey exactly how a piece of music is supposed to sound.[2]  Graphic scores, on the other hand, do roughly the opposite.  A graphic score is an abstract form of experimental musical notation that pr ..read more

What Is a “Dupe”? Dupes are gaining popularity amidst the new social media trend of “de-influencing,” spurred by Gen Z creators who urge their followers to think twice before spending large sums of money on the products shown on their feeds.[1] While “dupe” has traditionally been defined as a trick or deception, the trendy “dupe” of the fashion world is a less expensive duplicate of a premium or luxury product.[2] Dupes are not identical knockoffs of a competitor’s product, but rather a similar product that carries the same relative appearance.[3] Popular duplicates come in all types of mercha ..read more

The act of banning books has always been prevalent in our nation’s history and around the world.[1] This form of censorship occurs when individuals, organizations, or government officials remove public access to books to minimize or stop the exposure of their content, ideas, or themes to a group of individuals.[2] Although the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to receive and express ideas, the Supreme Court recognizes that schools are vital in preparing future generations to participate as citizens. Therefore, schools should be allowed to choose what ideas ..read more

Commentators hailed Tri-City ValleyCats, Inc. and Oneonta Athletic Corporation v. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball as potentially the most significant legal challenge to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) antitrust exemption in decades.[1] Two formerly MLB-affiliated minor league teams, the Tri-City ValleyCats and Norwich Sea Unicorns, allege the MLB had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act through a “horizontal agreement between competitors that artificially reduced and capped output in the market for Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams affiliated with MLB clubs.”[2] Despite the robust ..read more

If you are a music lover, concert goer, or festival fanatic and you have experienced emotional injuries from a ticket purchasing experience, you may be entitled to compensation. Well, not quite, but you should be. Lately, the live event ticket marketplace has had its fair share of time in the news. From Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift Eras tour debacle to Bruce Springsteen’s steep ticket prices of up to $5,000, those who love loud noises in crowded spaces have felt the chaos of the live ticket drop.[1] With racing hearts and slow internet speeds, many of these fans have returned broken-hearted or ..read more

The ongoing legal conflict between Epic Games and Apple could potentially redefine the very framework of digital commerce. To understand the gravity of this battle and what it means for digital consumers, this blog post dissects key aspects, legal provisions, case law, expert opinions, and global implications of the lawsuit. Background At the epicenter of this legal face-off is Apple's App Store policies, with the stipulated 30% commission on in-app transactions particularly in dispute.[1] Epic Games, the creator of the popular game Fortnite, sought to bypass this fee by introducing its own pa ..read more

College sports generally operate within athletic conferences, in which teams primarily play other members of that conference.[1] A school’s conference membership can bolster its reputation and name recognition, leading to positive outcomes such as increased admissions applications.[2] Recent developments in college football led to major shifts in conference membership and left Washington State (“WSU”) and Oregon State (“OSU”) in danger of being stranded without a conference.[3] These two schools turned to contract law to help save their prestige position in college sports, and won a pivotal la ..read more

You’ve probably heard the words ‘artificial intelligence’ more times in the past 12 months than you have in your entire lifetime. ChatGPT, a language chatbot developed by OpenAI, was released in November of last year and quickly surged in popularity.[1] This prompted many to consider the potential impacts, both positive and negative, that AI could have on our society as we begin to implement similar tools into our everyday lives.[2] However, attempting to govern the field of artificial intelligence is no easy task. Regulatory bodies must make every effort to harness the massive power of AI sys ..read more