• January 1, 2025 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1929 are open to all, as are sound recordings from 1924 – On January 1, 2025, thousands of copyrighted works from 1929 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1924. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. This year’s literary highlights include The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. In film, Mickey Mouse speaks his first words, the Marx Brothers star in their first feature film, and legendary directors from Alfred Hitchcock to John Ford made their first sound films. From comic strips, the original Popeye and Tintin characters will enter the public domain. Among the newly public domain compositions are Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Ravel’s Bolero, Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, and the musical number Singin’ in the Rain. This expansive guide by Jennifer Jenkins selectively highlights a wide range of works that will be in the U.S. public domain in 2025. For librarians, educators and everyone who loves iconic books, music, film, plays, art and cartoons, this is a wonderful, welcome gift with which to begin 2025.
• AI in Finance and Banking, December 31, 2024 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government documents, NGO/IGO papers, conferences, industry white papers and reports, academic papers and speeches, and central bank actions on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Five highlights from this post: Report on the Uses, Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Services Sector; How AI could change the work of bank CEOs; US Treasury Releases Reports on AI in Financial Services; IMF – Artificial Intelligence, Dollar, Growth, and Debt Drove 2024 Blog Readership; and OECD – Artificial Intelligence and tourism.
• Artificial Intelligence, ABA Formal Opinion 512 And Access To Justice – Jerry Lawson evaluates the American Bar Association’s Formal Opinion 512, “Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools” as a mixed bag. Lawson states that the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility took a significant step in the right direction by legitimizing the idea that it is appropriate for lawyers to use AI. Equally important, it suggests guardrails necessary for the safe use of artificial intelligence. It also provides valuable guidance on other related topics, with client confidentiality significant. It should not be surprising that the ABA would face challenges regulating a complex new technology.
• What Lawyers Need to Know About the Bluesky Social Media Platform – Catherine Reach discusses how for lawyers, Bluesky represents an opportunity for lawyers on the platform to stand out in the fledgling space before it becomes overcrowded. You can establish your firm’s brand early, getting the best handle without cluttering your usernames with numbers and underscores, and stand out while shaping the platform’s culture. You can connect with clients, potential clients and colleagues on a less noisy and cluttered platform, where the algorithm doesn’t promote paid ads so your content is more readily seen.
• After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, photographs and keepsakes – The total damage from Hurricane Helene to North Carolina – be it physical, psychological or economic – is difficult to quantify. But the numbers reported by the Office of State Budget and Management are harrowing: over 100 deaths, $59.6 billion in damages and thousands of homes destroyed, as of Dec. 13, 2024. This interview with disaster experts Leah Bright and Brian Michael Lione identifies resources for survivors and explains how to salvage damaged belongings. Bright is an objects conservator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where she’s responsible for the long-term preservation of the collection, including preventive care and repairs. Lione manages the International Cultural Heritage Protection Program at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, supporting disaster response globally, including in Iraq and the U.S.
• Yes, I am a human’: bot detection is no longer working – and just wait until AI agents come along – Welcome to the strange battle between bot detection and AI, which is set to get even more complicated in the coming years as technology continues to improve. Professors Irfan Mehmood and Kamran Mahroof describe what the future after Captcha may look like.
• 1 in 6 Congresswomen Targeted by AI-Generated Sexually Explicit Deepfakes – A first-of-its-kind study highlights the stark gender disparity in AI-generated nonconsensual intimate images and puts into focus the evolving risks for women in politics and public life. By Barbara Rodriguez and Jasmine Mithan.
• No flood gauges, no warning: 99% of US streams are off the radar amid rising flash flood risks – we saw the harm in 2024 – Flooding is one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage each year. In 2024 alone, floods destroyed homes in over a dozen states and claimed more than 165 lives. Julie Arbit, Brad Bottoms and Branko Kerkez identify how thesedisasters underscore the importance of fast, accurate flood warnings. They’re also a reminder that extensive gaps still exist in the systems that monitor U.S. stream levels.
• Consider The Turkey: philosopher’s new book might put you off your festive bird – and that’s exactly what he would want – This article by Benjamin Curtis is an overview of Australian philosopher Peter Singer who has been a champion of animal rights for more than 50 years. His basic philosophical position has remained the same: the suffering of animals is just as important as the suffering of human beings. Pain is pain, whether it is in animals or humans. So, just as we think it is wrong to cause unnecessary pain and suffering in humans, it is wrong to cause the same in animals. To think otherwise is “speciesist”.
  
• AI in Finance and Banking, December 16, 2024 – This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government reports, NGO/IGO papers and conferences, industry white papers, academic papers and speeches on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Five highlights from this post: Generative artificial intelligence and cyber security in central banking; Research: How Gen AI Is Already Impacting the Labor Market; Wall Street’s AI-powered rally risks ‘correction’, Vanguard warns; Regulating AI in the financial sector: recent developments and main challenges; Large language models: a primer for economists; and AI and the Labor Market: Will Firms Hire, Fire, or Retrain?
• Election misinformation & AI disclaimer wording – In this essay, James Jordan and Joy Ruiz, second year law students at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, explore the growing influence of generative AI in politics, particularly focusing on deepfakes and their potential impact on elections. As AI technology becomes more advanced, it is increasingly used to create misleading content that can shape public perception. They examine both the dangers of this misuse and the role of disclaimers, which vary by state and AI platforms, in influencing how much trust or skepticism people place in AI-generated content. Through their analysis, they highlight the importance of transparency and neutrality in the wording of these disclaimers.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 28, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the operator of Zelle, as well as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo “for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud” at the payment provider; You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family; North Korean Hackers Deploy OtterCookie Malware in Contagious Interview Campaign; How to block Chrome from signing you into a Google account automatically; and Mobile Phishing Attacks Use New Tactic to Bypass Security Measures.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 21, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: The Breachies 2024: The Worst, Weirdest, Most Impactful Data Breaches of the Year; Lawmakers tell Apple, Google to prepare for TikTok ban; CISA lays out how agencies, industry should respond to major cyber incidents; and Warning: A New Scam Targets Consumers with Unsolicited Gifts and Malicious QR Codes.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 14, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: How Much Do I Need to Change My Face to Avoid Facial Recognition?; FCC Prepares to Block Companies That Don’t Block Robocalls; Your Bluesky posts could be training AI models right now; AI chatbot provider exposes 346,000 customer files, including ID documents, resumes, and medical records; and Google uses your personal info to tailor search results. Here’s how to stop it.
• Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 7, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: FTC Cracks Down on Tech Support Scams, Targeting Schemes That Prey on Cord Cutters; CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Data Brokers from Selling Sensitive Personal Data to Scammers, Stalkers, and Spies; FTC Says Data Brokers Unlawfully Tracked Protesters and US Military Personnel; Six password takeaways from the updated NIST cybersecurity framework; and How to prep your iPhone for unexpected medical emergencies.

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