When California passed AB 566, the “Opt Me Out” Act, in October 2025, the tech world barely noticed. The law seemed straightforward enough: starting January 2027, browsers must include easy-to-use opt-out signals that let users tell websites not to sell
Sean Hogle Blogs
Latest from Sean Hogle
Avoid New York Law on Force Majeure
New York force majeure law for vendors and service providers is brutal. Here’s why.
You need a list.
The doctrine will excuse performance under New York law only if the force majeure clause specifically includes the event or occurrence that
AI-generated derivative works: the case for mandatory disclosure of weights and prompts
The courts are beginning to grapple with the issue of whether works generated by artificial intelligence, particularly music, art, and prose, can be characterized as derivative of the material on which the AI was trained.
Under US law, a derivative
What happens if the party you’re arbitrating against disappears?
This may be a hard truth to many of us: “Obtaining an award against a party that fails to appear in an arbitration may prove more costly and time-consuming than appearing in court.”
The backstory is that we represented a
Redline Tip o’ the Day: Use the Wayback Machine to Establish the Existence of Online Terms
Lawyers drafting online terms of use/service and privacy policies are well-advised to establish a record that allows the client to demonstrate the existence of such terms and the date they were in effect. Such a record will prove quite handy
The dilemma of choice of law and forum in employee NDAs with distributed staff
Clients with employees scattered far and wide pose challenges when it comes to selecting choice of law and forum in employee non-disclosure agreements or PIIAs (Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreements). Some clients may prefer to require arbitration for disputes governing
The Ethic of Zeal
From Charles Silver, A Private Law Defense of Zealous Representation, U. of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 638 (2020):
Moral philosophers object to the ethic of zeal, also known as the fiduciary duty and the principle of
Copyright assignment or work for hire: choose one
Many lawyers take a belt-and-suspenders approach to clauses that are intended to transfer copyright ownership from the developer-vendor to the customer with respect to the customer’s deliverables it is paying for. “Let’s call it an assignment,” they say, and “let’s
Ensuring the survival of your survival clause
A recent US district court decision in a lawsuit brought by Facebook and Instagram carries important lessons for counsel in the drafting and negotiation of survival clauses—clauses that purport to extend the operative effect of contractual obligations beyond the termination
Clauses for dealing with the chiseling customer
If your client is in the business of providing value in exchange for payment, whether the consideration offered is goods, services, licenses to IP, data, expertise, or anything else, there are certain must-have clauses that your client’s agreement should carry