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Minnesota's Nudification Ban Survives Its Second Test
A federal judge denied xAI's bid for a preliminary injunction on September 4, keeping the strict-liability law in force. For models whose images fuel nudification abuse, that matters more than the headline about Musk.
If AI touched your design, prove what you did.
The Copyright Office protects human contributions — if you can document them. The Provenance Generator writes the record: how your design was made, signed under the E-SIGN Act, fingerprinted, and sealed into the Bitcoin blockchain. Free, no account, nothing uploaded.
Document your design →AI
Breaking at the intersection of AI & fashion law
Federal Court Lets MAC Cosmetics' Face-Scan Suit Move Forward
A federal court has allowed a biometric privacy class action over MAC's virtual try-on tool to proceed, a warning shot for every brand using face-scanning filters to sell product.
CLO Settled With Style3D's Maker, and Says It Admitted Infringing
CLO's announcement says Linctex conceded that Style3D Studio infringed three of its patents. The public docket shows a dismissal by agreement, no finding, and no response from Linctex.
Zara and Zalando's AI Try-On Push Carries a Biometric Price Tag
As major retailers roll out AI virtual try-on to cut returns, a wave of biometric privacy lawsuits against beauty and retail brands shows independent designers what liability rides along with the technology.
Latest
Law · Design · Tech
The EBY Deepfake Case Is Gone. Nobody Decided Anything.
We covered Molly Tranchin’s suit against the intimates brand EBY in July. On August 28 she dismissed it herself, eleven days after EBY argued the federal court had no power to hear it. The contract questions are all still open.
The Dupe Fight Became an Antitrust Fight, and Then It Stalled
A federal judge dismissed Quince’s antitrust case against UGG’s owner on August 28 — not because enforcement campaigns can’t be anticompetitive, but because Quince never said which lawsuits it meant. For small brands on the receiving end of template complaints, the reasoning matters more than the result.
The NO FAKES Act: What It Means for Models' Digital Likeness
A federal bill to protect faces and voices from AI replicas just cleared committee. Here's what independent designers need to understand now, while the law of model releases is still being written in court.
AI Design Tools and Who Owns What: CLO3D, Firefly, and IP
Terms of service and copyright law don't agree on what you own when AI helps build your next collection. Here's the gap between the two, and how to close it.
NY Fashion Workers Act: What Independent Designers Must Do
If you book models directly in New York, you're a "client" under this law now, with real duties on pay, safety, and AI-generated digital replicas.
Minnesota's AI Nudification Ban Faces Its First Real Test
The first law making AI companies directly liable for nudification tools took effect August 1. xAI's constitutional challenge now heads toward an August 19 hearing that could reshape the playbook for deepfake liability.
Before the Law
The whole book →What independent fashion knew first
Independent designers were practicing supply-chain transparency, substantiated claims, open licensing and consent years before any of it carried legal force. Twenty of them, documented in real time between 2005 and 2017, set against the law that finally caught up.
Read from the beginning →Illegal Art
One of my first posts ever, about the RIAA suing teenagers. It was the whole future of AI copyright in miniature.
No Better Time Than Nau
A 2008 love letter to a coat company that was disclosing its supply chain a decade before the law required it.
Chapter 02 · Linda LoudermilkLuxury Eco
She trademarked "luxury eco" because the words did not exist yet. Now the law decides which green words you are allowed to use.
Chapter 03 · Leila HafziThe Gown, Made Right
"Luxury" and "ethical" in the same breath, years before any marketing department dared pair them.
AI Law, State by State
31 states enacted, 6 in motion. Open the Tracker →
Follow the thread
One letter each Sunday: the story to pull on this week, and where it leads.
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