Category Archives: Interpretation
Arbel and Becher, ‘How Smart are Smart Readers? LLMs and the Future of the No-Reading Problem’
ABSTRACT Large Language Models (LLMs) can be used to summarize and simplify complex texts. In this study, we investigate the extent to which state-of-the-art models can reliably operate as ‘smart readers’: applications that empower consumers to tackle lengthy, difficult-to-read, and inaccessible standard form contracts and privacy policies. Our analysis reveals that smart readers (1) reduce […]
Yonathan Arbel, ‘Time and Contract Interpretation: Lessons from Machine Learning’
ABSTRACT Contract interpretation is the task of estimating what distant in time parties meant to say or would have said about a specific contingency. For at least a century, scholars and courts have been debating how to best carry out this task. Conceiving of the interpretative task as one of prediction, I suggest that there […]
Charles Mitchell, ‘Mercantile Usage, Construction of Contracts and the Implication of Terms, 1750-1850’
ABSTRACT The paper discusses the circumstances in which eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English courts would admit evidence of mercantile usage as an aid to resolving disputes which turned on the construction of contracts and the implication of terms. Mitchell, Charles, Mercantile Usage, Construction of Contracts and the Implication of Terms, 1750-1850 (June 1, 2020) in Charles […]
Randy Gordon, ‘The Sources and Consequences of Disputes over Contractual Meaning’
ABSTRACT With some frequency, parties agree to the particular words used in a contract they sign, only to later disagree as to the meaning of those words and their legal effect. That is, they each assent to something, but that ‘something’ is something different for each of them. In this Article, I first categorize and […]
Ghodoosi and Kastner, ‘Big Data on Contract Interpretation’
ABSTRACT This Article introduces macro contract research, a new methodology using big-data analytics to study private law. In doing so, it reveals significant trends that suggest the outsized role of corporations and the slide towards textualism in the development of contract law. This Article thereby sheds new light on enduring questions in contract scholarship and […]
‘Upsetting Conventional Wisdom Of Copyright Scholarship In the Age of AI’
Oren Bracha, ‘The Work of Copyright in the Age of Machine Reproduction’, available at SSRN (24 September 2023). In our modern communication environment, conventional wisdom very swiftly captures and narrows our channels of thought. This is due in no small part to the unceasing production of commentary, which means that every perspective on any important […]
Sydney Hancock, ‘What’s Not Natural Phenomena? Let’s Consider a Three-Step Innovative Concept Test for Composition of Matter Claims’
ABSTRACT Biotechnology innovation is rapidly growing, especially in the realm of biotech. This growth leads to questions about patent subject matter eligibility of natural phenomena. For example, currently the human genome and microbiome are being extensively studied, bacteriophages are being edited, animals are being cloned, and CRISPR is widespread. Additionally, composition of matter patent claims […]
Guy Rub, ‘Copyright and Copying Rights’
ABSTRACT Federal copyright law limits the copying of certain informational goods. But can state laws also do that? Until recently, the dominant approach was that they could. However, two recent Second Circuit decisions seem to suggest that only copyright law is allowed to do it. In other words, the Second Circuit assumes that copyright law […]
Francisco Urbina, ‘Reasons for Interpretation’
ABSTRACT What kinds of reasons should matter in choosing an approach to constitutional or legal interpretation? Scholars offer different types of reasons for their theories of interpretation: conceptual, linguistic, normative, legal, institutional and reasons based on theories of law. This Article argues that normative reasons, and only normative reasons, can justify interpretive choice. While many […]
Jonathan Obar, ‘Unpacking “the Biggest Lie on the Internet”: Assessing the Length of Terms of Service and Privacy Policies for 70 Digital Services’
ABSTRACT … Key Findings: Overall, the privacy policies and terms of service across various digital services present individuals with a considerable amount to read. 57 of 70 services require an hour or more for the reading of both the terms of service and privacy policy materials. 34 of 70 services require two hours or more. […]