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Mark Lemley

@marklemley.bsky.social
34K followers 659 following 1.9K posts

William H. Neukom Professor, Stanford Law School. Partner, Lex Lumina LLP. I teach and write in IP, antitrust, internet, and video game law

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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 1h
Microsoft Word suggests replacing all references to "tarnishment cases" with "garnishment cases" and now I'm imagining what havoc AI could wreak with trademark law
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Michael Froomkin @mfroomkin.bsky.social · 15h
Relative got a $500 check from US Treasury and a shocking letter full of lies signed by Trump and ending with "May God bless you". Basically a pre-electoral bribe. News reports say they're sending almost a million of these. Full text in alt below. (I told him to cash it quick before it bounces.)
Dear [name],

For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!

With this Historic Action, my Administration is taking the surplus funds that accumulated from the Obamacare ''Premium Tax" and issuing a one-time $500 REFUND to Americans who use the HealthCare.gov platform to purchase their health insurance, but who do not receive Taxpayer Subsidies to help pay for their Coverage. You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back.

Healthcare Dollars should benefit Patients, not Insurance Companies or Government Bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower Healthcare Costs, increase Accountability, and Put Patients First. Through TrumpRx, we are delivering massive discounts on Household Prescription Drugs, and my Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Agreements have already saved Americans more than 1 Billion Dollars on much-needed Medications. We also secured an unprecedented 50 Billion Dollar investment to transform Rural Healthcare, expanded access to Health Saving Accounts for millions of people on Obamacare, and restored Pnce Transparency, all while roofing out the Waste, Fraud, and abuse across our Healthcare System.

I am proud to return your money to you, and I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare.

May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America!

Sincerely,

[signed] 

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Amanda Levendowski Tepski @tepski.tech · 15h
My Intellectual Property and Information Policy Clinic is hiring a new teaching fellow! If you find joy in iPIP work; share our enthusiasm for collaborating; and demonstrate creativity through your work—maybe it could be you? Apply by the end of the month: apply.interfolio.com/194762 Share broadly!
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Chris Sprigman @cjsprigman.bsky.social · 11h
The centrist/non-partisan talking shops that have popped up lately like mushrooms are attacking the wrong thing. America isn't suffering from "polarization." It's suffering from right-wing radicalization against pluralism and democracy. Here's a great explainer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwW9...
youtube.com
Forget about "polarization"; the real problem with American politics is the radicalized right-wing
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Here is a (more) accessible summary of my new work with A. Feder Cooper and others expanding memorization research from verbatim extraction of content from AI models to include extraction of works that are similar but not identical afedercooper.info/near-verbatim/
afedercooper.info
How much more extraction risk do we find when we count near-verbatim cases?
Measuring near-verbatim probabilistic extraction reveals significantly more extraction risk than its verbatim counterpart.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The Thomson v. ROSS Intelligence opinion is now published, and it mostly does no harm. In particular, it doesnt rule on AI training in general or on the market dilution theory. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
#214 in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. Ross Intelligence Inc (3rd Cir., 25-2153) – CourtListener.com
PRECEDENTIAL OPINION. Coram: RESTREPO, MONTGOMERY-REEVES and BOVE, Circuit Judges. Total Pages: 32. Authoring Judge: Montgomery-Reeves (SB) [Entered: 09/30/2026 12:28 PM]
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The Trump administration launched a new centralized AI answer service, which immediately went off the rails. This particular bug now seems fixed
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scosky.bsky.social @scosky.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
how do you kill RSS and believe you're a good guy.
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Graham Webster @gwbstr.com · 30/09/2026
for posterity, the output I got after writing "play minecraft" in the america.gov chatbot window
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BK @bkelsey91.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Here, I fixed it for you: "Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because it wants the exclusive power to sell your content to AI bots"
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#RatepayerProtectionAct
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
WTAF? This is a real thing (just type "play Minecraft" at America.gov
america.gov
America.gov
Find answers from official government sources and clear next steps for the services you need with America.gov.
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A. Feder Cooper @afedercooper.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
With @marklemley.bsky.social and others, we developed a novel and efficient approach for measuring verbatim memorization in LLMs (via extraction in outputs). There are a lot of findings and takeaways, so I'll only cover a few of them (briefly):
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A. Feder Cooper @afedercooper.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Working with @marklemley.bsky.social et al. has been a career highlight. It's a privilege to have our papers referenced in research, litigation, policy, and the press. I'm grateful others acknowledge our work as setting the standard for rigorous empirical research on copyright and generative AI.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Yeah, sorry, this was a joke that was a bit too obscure. Opinion to come, and then all bets are off
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It's a sign that the fix is in: "we grant certiorari on anything the government wants us to consider"
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
And as icing on the cake, granting certiorari on "[s]uch other questions that the Government determines are appropriate for the proper disposition of the case" is a giant flashing neon sign that the fix is in www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
supremecourt.gov
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Supreme Court majority once again demonstrates it has no understanding of (or perhaps just no interest in following) the law of stays. "Sure, kill and torture a bunch of innocent people while we decide whether doing so is legal" is NOT how stays are supposed to work. 1/2
supremecourt.gov
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I don't think that is the assumption at all. The fact that you used to be part of a country doesn't mean that country can legitimately conquer you if you don't want to rejoin. I oppose a Chinese invasion of Taiwan for the same reasons I oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"The Party insisted that you defy the evidence of your own eyes..." www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
the-independent.com
DoorDash driver shot by ICE in Texas is charged with assaulting officers
Wilber Garcés Pérez is accused of striking an agent with his rear-view mirror before he was arrested with a bullet near his spine
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
One thing to be said for the Third Circuit's one-line decision in Thomson v. ROSS Intelligence is that at least they didn't make bad law on AI copyright
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Unsurprisingly, most Taiwanese disagree
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Remember, on November 3, a vote for Republicans is a vote for Elon Musk
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
October is speech and conference month here in New Zealand. Kicking off the first of six public panels and lectures on October 7 with a talk on Competition or Cooperation in AI? www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/competitio...
eventbrite.co.nz
Competition or Cooperation in AI?
Professor Mark Lemley discusses competition in AI and what we might expect from the laws that aim to regulate it.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Trump is holding up arms sales to Taiwan but seems happy to sell weapons to China www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Trump asked Xi Jinping if China would like to buy US weapons, American ambassador says
David Perdue’s remarks come after a Taiwanese minister spoke of the ‘severe’ military threat posed by Beijing to the self-ruled island
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S Peter Davis @speterdavis.com · 26/09/2026
Streisand the fuck out of this thing
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
From the report it seems the lead author of the new study suggesting memorization could reach 85-90% was paid $100,000 by plaintiffs' lawyers to do the study and the lawyers didn't disclose that fact when they submitted it
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
@afedercooper.bsky.social's critique of the methodology is here: afedercooper.info/whack-a-mole/
afedercooper.info
Playing Whack-a-Mole with misconceptions about memorization, extraction, and copyright
A response to Alignment Whack-a-Mole and some broader thoughts on the field
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Our work on how (and how not) to measure memorization is here: arxiv.org/abs/2607.12649
arxiv.org
Extractable Memorization From First Principles
Recent work on extractable memorization in LLMs suffers from two contrasting validity problems. Some studies overstate extraction, e.g., relying on sequences too short to distinguish memorization from...
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This looks bad, particularly when coupled with Cooper's pretty devastating critique of the methodology. Cooper's critique, and our work on how you end up with false positives, linked in comments news.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw...
news.bloomberglaw.com
Bloomberg Law
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Facebook really doesn't want you to see the new documentary exposing Elon Musk Neither do TikTok or Google or the eX social media site. Since they won't accept paid advertising, let's do some free advertising. Go see Musk in theaters October 9 www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
hollywoodreporter.com
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)
YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
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Barry Yeoman @barryyeoman.com · 25/09/2026
A Stanford law professor reacts to our investigation.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Mechanical Turk redux www.404media.co/meta-tests-m...
404media.co
Meta Tests Muse AI Agent Calls That Are Actually Made By Humans in a Call Center
"This has potential for so much negative PR. It could portray us as ‘their AI is not good enough so they still need humans’ kind of coverage for this launch."
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is systematic fraud, and some executives belong in jail www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers
Guardian investigation: 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at pump and register for gas, snacks, and other items
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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It's more than just tricky: The mental state isn't satisfied, so there's no criminal liability under the CFAA.
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donna007.bsky.social @donna007.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Justice Department Decision to Allow Paramount Deal Surprised Staff Investigators
Department staffers investigating the Warner acquisition were leaning toward recommending a challenge to the merger, people familiar with the matter say.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
CNN is now owned by MAGA. But don't worry, it will be journalistically independent of the neo-Nazis who control it, just like CBS under Bari Weiss . . . www.cnbc.com/2026/09/21/p...
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Look out, @nytpitchbot.bsky.social -- the flies are gathering www.wired.com/story/i-trai...
wired.com
I Trained a Fly’s Brain to Generate WIRED Story Ideas
I used an open-source map of a fruit fly’s brain to vibe code a website called PitchFly. Its headline suggestions were delightfully bananas.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
With Phil Malone and the Juelsgaard IP & Innovation Clinic at Stanford Law, I filed an amicus brief on behalf of 38 law professors urging the Supreme Court to take up the PTO's effort to prevent meritorious IPRs from being considered on the merits www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26...
supremecourt.gov
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Important ruling from the Ninth Circuit today foreclosing a particularly common (and noxious) misapplication of the DMCA to try to prevent AI training. The court rightly says creating new works isn't "removing" copyright management information from trained works cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
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Dan Farber @dfarber1950.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Trump says: "“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT." Someone needs to put up the Bat Signal for Barack.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Voting is still legal, 7-2 Alito and Thomas will do anything to keep Republicans in power. Very happy to see the rest of the Court didn't go along www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
supremecourt.gov
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NBC News headline says: "Trump says AI doesn’t need guardrails, only a ‘high IQ’ president"
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14/09/2026
look at how bored the people behind Vance are as he pushes rank homophobia and tells terrible jokes
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#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
*New edition of NEUROMANCER in the Austin airport is being described as "a classic of the twentieth century" *Because it's, you know, a classic of the 20th century
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Courtney Love Lies Bleeding 🫦 @hexadecibelle.fyi · 12/09/2026
im really hoping this is the end of the “trans man gotcha” argument. people didn’t listen to trans men when they asked us all to stop it, but this should bring the reality into sharp fucking focus.
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Yeah, we tend to assume other people are basically like us and every once in a while we get a glimpse into just how alien they are
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 11/09/2026
Trump: "Please right your right hand. I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States. That loves us so much he can't even breath. That I will go out with my family, my friends, I'll do it any way - I don't care if I'm registered or not, I'm going to try to cheat like hell..."
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Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Donald Trump finally said something I agree with: this election is all about him. A vote for a Republican - any Republican - in 2026 is a vote for Trump www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
nbcnews.com
‘I’m on the ballot’: Trump tries to energize his base by placing himself front and center
Trump spoke on the first night of the GOP midterm convention, where he promised — without specifics — that Americans would get dividend checks if Republicans keep Congress.
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