What’s this sci-fi story about AI lawsuit bots?
May 6, 2023 8:20 AM Subscribe
I remember reading a sci-fi story where copyright lawsuits run amok, in which ordinary people are automatically sued for infringement every day by lawyer bots searching the internet, and then people using their own lawyer bots to settle the legal threats without any human interaction. Does this ring a bell?
I was 100% certain this was from a Cory Doctorow story a few years ago, but Cory himself just told me it wasn’t him!
The scenario I vaguely remember is the character waking up and checking their messages to see the daily overnight occurrence of dozens/hundreds of minor copyright/legal disputes that were automatically filed and settled by their legal bots, some in their favor and some not, netting out to break even for pennies.
This was presented as an ordinary occurrence. It may be a short story or part of a longer novel, I can’t recall. Maybe it was even a blog post, but it must have been at least 10 years ago. Any help would be appreciated.
I was 100% certain this was from a Cory Doctorow story a few years ago, but Cory himself just told me it wasn’t him!
The scenario I vaguely remember is the character waking up and checking their messages to see the daily overnight occurrence of dozens/hundreds of minor copyright/legal disputes that were automatically filed and settled by their legal bots, some in their favor and some not, netting out to break even for pennies.
This was presented as an ordinary occurrence. It may be a short story or part of a longer novel, I can’t recall. Maybe it was even a blog post, but it must have been at least 10 years ago. Any help would be appreciated.
I think I remember this story, was there a scene where everyone at a sports game was sued and fined for singing something like "Sweet Caroline?"
posted by muddgirl at 9:06 AM on May 6, 2023
posted by muddgirl at 9:06 AM on May 6, 2023
Response by poster: restless_nomad: Nope! It’s a classic about copyright, but not the one.
muddgirl: I don’t remember that specifically, but it's possible!
posted by waxpancake at 10:00 AM on May 6, 2023
muddgirl: I don’t remember that specifically, but it's possible!
posted by waxpancake at 10:00 AM on May 6, 2023
Best answer: Found, thanks to a kind person on Mastodon! It was Paul Ford’s “Nanolaw with Daughter” from 2011.
posted by waxpancake at 10:20 AM on May 6, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by waxpancake at 10:20 AM on May 6, 2023 [7 favorites]
Accelerando by Charles Stross mentioned this exact micro lawsuit concept in the first section.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 3:23 PM on May 24, 2023
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 3:23 PM on May 24, 2023
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posted by restless_nomad at 8:53 AM on May 6, 2023