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Megan Rae Blakely

@meganraeblakely.bsky.social
294 followers 236 following 84 posts

All things IP, tech policy & intangible cultural heritage. JD & PhD on same, CREATe alumna, LULS.

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Reposted by Megan Rae Blakely
CREATe @create-glasgow.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
🎮 The end of physical games? The Fallout 4 meme captures the mood. The law explains why. Sony's move away from game discs isn't just nostalgia —it's about copyright, ownership, consumer rights and game preservation. As gaming goes digital, this debate has implications far beyond the games industry.
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Institute of Digital Games - University of Malta @indigitalgames.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Scholar’s Codex is a beautifully illustrated, philosophical exploration of the FromSoftware universes curated by game studies researchers @gua-le-ni.com @danielvella.bsky.social (U of Malta), @domford.bsky.social (U of Bergen), and @nelevdm.bsky.social (Tilburg U). www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/ac...
um.edu.mt
New book decodes FromSoftware’s Lore and Philosophy through discarded items
A new deeply philosophical exploration of the FromSoftware games by leading game scholars
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Reposted by Megan Rae Blakely
Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
You can pry my incredibly heavy and difficult to move library from my cold dead hands
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Well played @proton.me
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
This whole topic is extremely outside of my lane, but I’m definitely going to be adopting the phrase ‘invoking mandate fairies.’ Seems extremely relevant and transferable
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Reposted by Megan Rae Blakely
Amy Earhart @aearhart.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I am at this same conference and was shocked and angered at this admission. An hour of my life wasted- but what I like about this thread is the deep sadness expressed about ceding our expertise to a lackluster machine that produces mediocre output at best.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Such good news. Human beings are capable of magical and wonderful things. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given HPV vaccine
A new study finds that hundreds of lives have been saved since school-age girls were offered the HPV jab in 2008.
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Just trying to get some help with a lawnmower accessory and honestly. 'Are you an agent? Login here'... uh. (Also I failed 'I'm not a robot' more than once.)
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Law and Humanities @law-and-humanities.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
New issue marks 100 years since first publication of Kafka's brilliant unfinished novel 'The Castle': guest editorial (Ekaterina Yahyaoui Krivenko) and all research articles, essays, arts and book reviews now available on the website: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Shane Burke @drshaneburke.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
A short piece of mine for @wipo.int - Street Art, Graffiti and Intellectual Property: Who Owns Art on the Walls? www.wipo.int/en/web/econo... #streetart #grafitti #copyright
wipo.int
Street Art, Graffiti and Intellectual Property: Who Owns Art on the Walls?
Teaser
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 06/06/2026
This paper doesn't use the term "intentional stance," but it does really expose that imputation of consciousness is an act by the observer that's usually not based on dispassionate analysis of the observed's internal structures. It's just vibes, and those aren't sufficient. arxiv.org/pdf/2605.31514
Much research has been carried out on large language models (LLMs) and LLMpowered agentic workflows. However, many works within the field state emergence of, ascribe to, or assume, generalised anthropomorphic attributes to them (e.g., morality or understanding of natural language). Our goal is not to argue in favour or against the existence of these attributes, but to point out that these conclusions could be incorrect. For this we build and train a simple neural network on the videogame Age of Empires II, and note that any entity in a sufficiently-powerful substrate, such as LEGO or the Greater Boston Area, could also present such attributes. Hence, the purported anthropomorphic attributes of LLMs are empirically non-unique: although some properties (e.g., responses to prompts) could remain constant, others, such as the interpretation of their perceived behaviour, might change with the substrate. Thus, any empirically-grounded discussion requires explicit measurement criteria; otherwise the interpretation is left to the representation. We then show that assuming that these attributes exist or not in a system, independent of the substrate and in a generalised way, leads to either circular or uninformative conclusions, regardless of the experimenter’s viewpoint on the subject. Finally we propose a ‘null’ assumption, where one assumes LLM non-uniqueness instead of assuming anthropomorphic attributes to set up an experiment, along with examples of it. We also discuss potential objections to our work, briefly survey the field, and prove that Age of Empires II is functionally- and Turing-complete.
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
My new article, 'User Perspectives on T&Cs in Virtual Worlds' is published! www.elgaronline.com/view/journal... A sociolegal empirical work examining users’ understanding, motivation, and compliance with T&Cs in a persistent online community. More over at www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
elgaronline.com
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/05/2026
* A chatbot can't do your job, but an AI salesman can *absolutely* convince your boss to fire you and replace you with a chatbot that *can't* do your job: pluralistic.net/2025/03/18/a... 8/
pluralistic.net
Pluralistic: AI can’t do your job (18 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
The newest (and effective) rage bait
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Reposted by Megan Rae Blakely
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 04/05/2026
A big study that was cited as evidence that text generators are good for students has been retracted: www.linkedin.com/posts/ben-wi... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Retraction Note: The effect of ChatGPT on students’ learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking: insights from a meta-analysis
Jin Wang & Wenxiang Fan 
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 13, Article number: 528 (2026) Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 06 May 2025

Retraction Note to: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04787-y, published online 06 May 2025

The Editor has decided to retract this paper owing to concerns regarding discrepancies in the meta-analysis. These issues ultimately undermine the confidence the Editor can place in the validity of the analysis and resulting conclusions. The authors have not responded to correspondence regarding this retraction.
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BILETA @bileta.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Kicking off Day 2 with the BILETA-EJLT prize presentations. Many more updates on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/bile...
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
‘Why did the USSR, with its fantastic scientists and engineers and heavy investment in STEM, nevertheless stagnate?’ Excoriating from @geoffmulgan.bsky.social on the undervaluing of social science and humanities research blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Geoff Mulgan
April 14th, 2026
The myth of STEM only growth holds back the UK
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Full-funded (home or international) collaborative PhD studentship (Kew and Royal Holloway, University of London) available. Deadline 8 May. Topic: ‘Just acquisitions? Law and ethics over time in Kew’s overseas plant collecting history’ #Skystorians
royalholloway.ac.uk
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Reposted by Megan Rae Blakely
Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This is a comprehensive investigation of patent abuse of a Keytruda & the best I've ever seen patent data visualisation of evergreening practices and the resulting thicket until 2046 - another extra twenty years of patent monopoly right h/t @clancyny.bsky.social
icij.org
How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda's exorbitant price - ICIJ
Explore the U.S. patents Merck deploys to stymie competition and keep revenues for its blockbuster cancer drug flowing as long as possible.
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Aaron Moss @copyrightlately.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The Supreme Court's Cox v. Sony Music ruling is three weeks old. It's already being cited to defend an AI video generator that produces Darth Vader on demand. Full story, up now on Copyright Lately: copyrightlately.com/cox-v-sony-m...
copyrightlately.com
Cox v. Sony Music Comes to Hollywood
The Supreme Court’s newest copyright decision is already being used to argue that an AI video generator should be treated the same as an ISP.
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Māori weaving, or raranga, is a traditional art of identity, heritage and expression of spirituality. The patterns woven into items such as cloaks and baskets all have meaning #womensart
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Mrs. Detective PikaBOO, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 28/03/2026
“I'm not sure how we got here. I expect better of the United States Government. I expect better of the Department of Justice.” rip the presumption of regularity for doj, 1870-2025
MR. ABRAMS: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And the phrase "particularly
disfavored, " which is in quotes in your brief, "attributed to Planned Parenthood, " does not appear anywhere in Planned
Parenthood.
There is also in your briefs Planned Parenthood
cited for the proposition that under the mandatory --
heightened mandatory injunction standard, plaintiffs must
show not just a fair chance of success, but a substantial
likelihood or a heavy and compelling weight of evidence.
I don't view Planned Parenthood as standing at all
for that proposition. And then you also cite for the
mandatory injunction standard the case of Packard Elevator,
which does not discuss mandatory injunctions at all.
You also cite Nken v. Holder, 556 U.s. 418, for
the proposition that when a mandatory injunction interferes
with the government's core functions, the balance of
equities weighs more heavily against the movant. That's
your quote. Nken does not discuss mandatory injunctions or
core government functions.
In addition, you cite the case of 22nd Avenue
Station for the proposition that the requested relief would
force ICE to overhaul the operational and security protocolsof Whipple, and the public interest in efficient and secure
law enforcement outweighs plaintiffs' speculative claims of
harm.
The 22nd Avenue Station case concerns the
constitutionality of a zoning ordinance restricting adult
entertainment. It does not concern operational and security
protocols of a government facility, nor the public interest.
I'm not sure how we got here. I expect better of
the United States Government. I expect better of the
Department of Justice.
I am quite surprised that you are not ready to
address this today and that neither of you seemed to know
what I was talking about yesterday when it was fully set out
for you in the reply brief.
I do want an explanation. I expect an
explanation, and I expect it to come from someone who is senior to both of you in the Department of Justice.
We're going to take a 15-minute recess and then
see where we are.
THE CLERK: All rise.
(Recess taken at 1:45 p.m. till 2:19 p.m.)
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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Interesting thread on charging for museums (via @stephenkb.bsky.social excellent morning newsletter!)
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Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This is an incredibly important piece by @masnick.com about the verdicts against Meta and I really hope you read it, because I think very few people understand the situation. Two things can be true...Meta and Zuckerberg are terrible, but so are these verdicts. www.techdirt.com/2026/03/26/e...
techdirt.com
Everyone Cheering The Social Media Addiction Verdicts Against Meta Should Understand What They’re Actually Cheering For
First things first: Meta is a terrible company that has spent years making terrible decisions and being terrible at explaining the challenges of social media trust & safety, all while prioritiz…
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Marta Iljadica @martailj.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
PhD scholarship on copyright and private regulation supervised by @kathybowrey.bsky.social, UNSW and L. Buckingham, Arts Law Centre of Australia www.unsw.edu.au/law-justice/... Deadline: 13 April 2026
unsw.edu.au
ARC Discovery Project PhD Scholarship on Artists and Generative-AI: Copyright and Private Regulation of Creativity | Law & Justice - UNSW Sydney
UNSW Law & Justice wishes to offer up to three PhD Scholarships for applicants with outstanding research potential and a demonstrated interest in comparative constitutionalism and studies of law and s...
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Maybe we will get to see this litigated after all…
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
GDPR was designed for a world in which sensitive data had to be actively collected. But what happens when AI systems infer sensitive characteristics without ever being asked to do so? Paul Bouchaud and Pedro Ramacciotti say the social media platform X provides a stark illustration.
buff.ly
Are AI Systems Incompatible with Data Privacy?
It may not be possible to reconcile AI with data privacy without constraining what systems are allowed to learn, write Paul Bouchaud and Pedro Ramacciotti.
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Library Hentut 💙⭐🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ She/Her @emmahalford.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
By popular demand, here is the full, glorious message from Aberystwyth University Library, on their blog: wordpress.aber.ac.uk/librarian/?p... Hat tip to @walkyouhome.bsky.social for prompting me to realise it was a blog post, and thus available to you all ❤️
wordpress.aber.ac.uk
Wait a Minute…What If I Don’t Want to Use AI?
AI is everywhere right now. It writes summaries, explains theories, fixes grammar, and recommends playlists.But here’s the thing nobody says out loud: you’re allowed not to use it. Whether you feel…
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Aram Sinnreich @aramsinn.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
An interesting new IP front in the AI wars. Between this and the recent Grammarly debacle, I wonder whether trademark and rights of publicity will prove more potent bases for infringement claims than copyright
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
'Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation.' www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...?
theguardian.com
Where Duolingo falls down: how I learned to speak Welsh with my mother
The long read: Once violently defended from extinction, Welsh is still a part of daily life. By learning my family’s language, I hoped to join their conversation
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Will be interesting to see how contracting away the rights to your own name goes… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Jo Malone sued by Estée Lauder for using her name in Zara collaboration
The perfumier sold the rights to her name in 1999 but has previously said she regretted the move.
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Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 12/03/2026
The sneering arrogance coupled with their lack of knowledge/competence nicely sums up our path to trumpism.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
"More expensive oil is bad for Europe, Japan and Korea, all big importers. It is actually a net benefit to the U.S., as an exporter and the world’s biggest producer." Wall Street Journal...just saying it out loud
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I am reposting this for info/highlighting for others. I have already been operating at a baseline that is pretty high in fury lately. I *accidentally* watched some of these depositions earlier today and have still not stopped continously imploding with actual rage. Engage at your own risk I suppose.
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Julia Angwin @juliaangwin.com · 11/03/2026
I'm suing Grammarly over its paid AI feature that presented editing suggestions as if they came from me - and many other writers and journalists - without consent. State law requires consent before someone's name can be used for commercial purposes. www.wired.com/story/gramma...
wired.com
Grammarly Is Facing a Class Action Lawsuit Over Its AI ‘Expert Review’ Feature
The feature, which Grammarly shut down Wednesday, presented editing suggestions as if they came from established authors and academics—without their consent.
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Lawprofblawg @lawprofblawg.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I used to waste years preparing gourmet meals. It was creative, an expression of my humanity, and fostered zen. Thanks to McDonalds, I don't have to do that! #Satire
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Jennifer Romig @jennifermromig.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
I would love to be able to follow litigation on Grammarly’s use of expert names like this, but are they really going to try to defend it? Who signed off on this idea, seriously!
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Prof Damien Page @profdamienpage.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
paid internships must be the norm, transparently advertised and properly enforced. Opportunity shouldn’t depend on your parents’ bank balance. www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...
suttontrust.com
Sutton Trust reaction to the Government's response to consultation on unpaid internships - The Sutton Trust
The Government has published its response to the consultation on unpaid internships.
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BILETA @bileta.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
We have FOUR excellent paper prizes to be awarded at the conference: Paul Maharg Legal Ed; BILETA-EJLT; Taylor & Francis IRLCT; Ken Russell Prize (Best PG)... All with a £250 award, potential publication... & general fame & fortune. Full paper due 17 Mar. Details: www.bileta.org.uk/annual-confe...
bileta.org.uk
Prizes – BILETA
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Mara Wilson @marawilson.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
I mean, you’re not wrong! Shows my friends worked on for years were canceled and then used as tax write-offs.
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Dublin Inquirer @dublininquirer.com · 27/02/2026
Sixty years on, a Star Trek writer is still creating strange new worlds. Diane Duane’s early days writing fan fiction have led to a remarkable career as a novelist, comic writer and screen writer.
dublininquirer.com
Sixty years on, a Star Trek writer is still creating strange new worlds
Diane Duane’s early days writing fan fiction have led to a remarkable career as a novelist, comic writer and screen writer.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
This is amazing. www.getyourfuckingmoneyback.com
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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Pancake expert here. The annual rush to harvest pancakes on a single day has extremely deleterious effects on the local pancake ecosystem. By all means pick a few pancakes for your own use, but please leave some on the bush so that it can recover in its own time.
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Lar deSouza @lartist.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Cartoon: If anyone in Chicago knows this school or an anti ICE organization affiliated with them I would be happy to donate this art. I only wish I could have fully Sal Buscema-ed that punch :)
cartoon of the brown hoodie kid from Chicago who confronted Danny Spud in his high school
Caption: You're gonna get in trouble!
Brown: Ok.
FUCK ICE
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Today in non AI art and news… www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/....
bbc.co.uk
Ripon starlng murmuration captured with Victorian-era techniques
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Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Why Some People Think in Words, While Others Think in Pictures & Feelings
openculture.com
Why Some People Think in Words, While Others Think in Pictures & Feelings
The age of social media has shown humanity a fair few truths about itself, not all of them flattering. But once in a while, one of the waves of discourse that roll through the internet really does hel...
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Well, it's finally happened. Unable to create an account because the recaptcha won't recognise I'm not a robot by my clicking a button. I guess this is how we find out now?
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Megan Rae Blakely @meganraeblakely.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Teaching Wagatha Christie today on defamation… Vardys agent way ahead of the times…https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/19/rebekah-vardys-agent-dropped-phone-in-sea-to-hide-evidence-trial-hears
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Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
"The US is rapidly burning bridges with its trading parties ... that make it increasingly difficult for US to provide leadership and guidance on global norms for copyright exceptions and limitations for AI. This is not some minor issue."
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