Protecting Creative Style in the Age of AI: Copyright, Publicity Rights, and the “Vibe” Problem

Courtney Lytle Sarnow | CM Law

Courtney Sarnow is a partner in the Atlanta office of CM Law with over twenty-five years of experience in a broad-based transactional practice with a specific focus on intellectual property and technology. She has developed a distinctly creative and problem-solving approach to address client plans and issues. As a young attorney, Ms. Sarnow learned that focusing on what a client can’t do and shouldn’t do is unnecessarily limiting and seldom helps the client maximize corporate opportunities. Her approach of looking for ways to accomplish corporate goals within an informed legal framework is more valuable for growth focused, technology forward companies than a stereotypical corporate counsel who instinctively thwarts innovation.

Early in her career with Dow, Lohnes & Albertson in Atlanta, she worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group and in IP Licensing with traditional clients, as well as some unusual NASCAR and Professional Bull Rider representation thrown in from time to time. This gave her an appreciation for creative clients. After a sojourn in Philadelphia at Temple University as a Teaching Fellow earning an LLM in Law Teaching and studying developing issues in computer law and software licensing, she returned to Atlanta to teach as an Adjunct at Emory Law and develop a practice focused on intellectual property protection and general corporate strategies for artists, inventors and innovative entrepreneurial ventures.

I. What is protectable under copyright (expression) versus what isn’t (style, vibe, look-and-feel) | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

II. Right of publicity and NIL laws as alternative protection routes | 1:20pm – 1:40pm

III. State law expansions and overlaps with trademark | 1:40pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

IV. AI’s impact on authorship, originality, and “indistinguishability” | 2:10pm – 2:30pm

V. Federal legislative proposals to protect creative identity in the AI era | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

VI. Best practices for creators and rights holders to protect style and prevent misuse | 2:50pm – 3:10pm