Loophole in Patent Law Brings ‘Miracle Drug’ to Patients Who Can’t Afford It; The New York Times, June 22, 2026

 Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times; Loophole in Patent Law Brings ‘Miracle Drug’ to Patients Who Can’t Afford It

A generic version of a breakthrough cystic fibrosis drug, manufactured in Bangladesh for a fraction of the American price, may give some families around the world an unlikely lifeline. 

"Now a Bangladeshi company has reverse engineered Trikafta and is using a loophole in global patent law to sell its version, called Triko, for a fraction of Vertex’s price.

Last week, the Lotterings joined a small group of other cystic fibrosis patients and their families who traveled to Dhaka to buy the first boxes of Triko that rolled off the production line of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.

Heather Nichols, a spokeswoman for Vertex, said that Trikafta is available in 75 countries — through sales or donations — and that the company provides it free in 15 countries; more than 7,000 people have received it at no charge.

But there are thousands more patients not covered by those programs, who have tried a variety of strategies to get the drug, including taking Vertex to court and petitioning their governments to allow a generic version of the drug to be imported or made locally, under a process known as compulsory licensing."

California Bar Revises AI Ethics Proposals After Public Feedback; Bloomberg Law, June 22, 2026

Quinn Wilson, Bloomberg Law; California Bar Revises AI Ethics Proposals After Public Feedback

"The State Bar of California is revising its proposed artificial intelligence guidelines for lawyers, raising the threshold for confidentiality violations and broadening competence requirements after receiving public comments in May.

The amended proposals were approved by the State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct on June 12 after taking a May 4 public comment session into account, the Bar said in a press statement Monday. 

The amended proposals will be up for another public comment session on Aug. 6."

Congress wants artists to own their aesthetic; Politico, June 17, 2026

 AARON MAK, Politico; Congress wants artists to own their aesthetic

"Artificial intelligence has made it incredibly easy to replicate the work of artists, with users generating images reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons or Studio Ghibli characters.

Congress is now looking to protect people from having their artwork aped by AI. A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced the CREATOR Act, which would grant visual artists control over how AI mimics their creative styles.

Existing intellectual property law generally doesn’t provide people with a right to their artistic styles. The CREATOR Act would significantly expand the scope of IP, and raises a number of unsettled questions about what exactly makes an artists’ work distinctive in a legal sense.

“There’s a lot of ambiguity about what we mean when we say ‘style,’” Cornell tech law professor James Grimmelmann told DFD. “Some elements of artistic style are things that are common in a genre … on the other hand, sometimes when we talk about artistic style, we really are referring to characteristics of somebody’s creations that are recognizably by them.”

The CREATOR Act would allow visual artists to sue those who purposefully use AI to profit from their creative styles without permission, as well as AI platforms that knowingly allow such conduct to occur."

Data centers become the face of AI backlash; Axios, June 22, 2026

 Megan Morrone, Axios; Data centers become the face of AI backlash

"Only a small fraction of data center opponents actually live near one, according to new polling by a consulting firm that counsels leading AI labs and tech startups.

Why it matters: The findings by Milltown Partners, shared first with Axios, highlight how data centers have become a stand-in for broader anger at an AI future many Americans don't want but fear they'll have to pay for.

By the numbers: The public is still divided on data centers, with direct opposition not yet a majority view. But nearly half of respondents support a temporary construction ban, according to Milltown's findings."

A Ukrainian family built a community in Cleveland. Now, they face deportation; The Guardian, June 21, 2026

Stephen Starr , The Guardian; A Ukrainian family built a community in Cleveland. Now, they face deportation

"Tamila Vashchuk and her husband, Mykola, are minor celebrities in this corner of Ohio.

The Ukrainian couple have appeared on the cover of local magazines and been invited onto morning television shows. En route to building a successful pierogi food business, they’ve met with the governor. A recent law graduate from Cleveland State University, Mykola is hoping to do his bar exams someday. Most Sundays, they volunteer at the local church.

But now, the family faces an immigration court hearing they believe could see them deported back to Ukraine, where they would struggle to treat their son’s illness and where Russia’s ferocious assault has increased in recent weeks."

Mozart manuscript discovered at French National Library to be performed for the first time; Le Monde, June 19, 2026

 Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde; Mozart manuscript discovered at French National Library to be performed for the first time

The music notebook, found in the archives, dates from the composer's final stay in Paris, in 1778. The seven short pieces for flute and harp it contains will be broadcast for the first time ever on June 22 on France Musique radio.

"The seven short pieces for flute and harp are part of an autograph manuscript by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, recently rediscovered in the music department of the French National Library (BNF). This is a major discovery, as the genius of the Austrian composer continues to shine at the heart of European culture."

Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity; The New York Times, June 19, 2026

Greg Jaffe and Kate Kelly, The New York Times ; Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity

A Black admiral fixed one of the Navy’s worst messes. Mr. Hegseth blocked his promotion anyway.

"In books and speeches, Mr. Hegseth has maintained that the Pentagon’s push over the past decade to build a more diverse force had elevated women and minority officers to senior jobs that they had not earned.

“When I think about my career in uniform, in almost every instance where there has been poor leadership or people in positions they’re not qualified for, it was based on either the reality or the perception of a ‘diversity hire,’” Mr. Hegseth, a former major in the Army National Guard, wrote in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors.”

As defense secretary, he has promised to install a new promotion system that will be “ruthlessly meritocratic” and “focused squarely” on “warfighting ability.”

In practice, though, his approach has made it harder for Black and female officers to get promoted to senior ranks, even when their records are exemplary."

Intellectual property supports the U.S. economy. It should be respected abroad.; The Washington Post, June 18, 2026

  

David Kappos

 and 

Jeffrey Gerrish

, The Washington Post; Intellectual property supports the U.S. economy. It should be respected abroad.

"Many countries proudly tout close economic ties to the United States — but when it comes to protecting the intellectual property rights that help make the American economy strong, those trading partners often prove unreliable. 

That failure comes at a steep cost. Intellectual-property-intensive industries support more than 62 million U.S. jobs and 41 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. When other countries ignore — or actively attack — IP protections and allow their domestic companies to illicitly profit off American innovation, it hurts U.S. companies, workers and investors."

Millions of Copyrighted Songs Were Fed to AI Music Generators – Now There’s Proof; Gadget Review, June 16, 2026

 Al Landes , Gadget Review; Millions of Copyrighted Songs Were Fed to AI Music Generators – Now There’s Proof

Atlantic databases name 21 million tracks fed to Suno and rivals as Sony, UMG, and Warner seek $150,000 per song in damages

"Searchable databases verify roughly 21 million copyrighted songs trained AI music generators.

Sony, UMG, and Warner lawsuits seek up to $150,000 per song from Suno and Udio.

HarmonyCloak tool lets artists protect songs by adding inaudible AI-blocking audio perturbations.

Millions of copyrighted songs — including chart-topping hits — verifiably trained AI music generators, and now there are searchable databases to prove it. The Atlantic, through an investigation by staff writer Alex Reisner, published four catalogs documenting exactly which music fed these models:"

A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone; The Guardian, June 18, 2026

 Donna Ferguson, The Guardian; A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone

"Over the past 20 years, more than 64m pages have been made freely available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) – a digital treasure trove for fans of the natural world. More than 680 museums, universities, libraries and scientific institutions from China, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand to Europe, Africa, Mexico, Canada and the US, have contributed to the library.

This week, a report from Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew revealed the crucial role digitisation is playing in “transforming our ability to understand and respond to the climate and biodiversity crises”, but it was the creation of the BHL 20 years ago that first demonstrated how bringing centuries of scientific knowledge online can unlock transformative discoveries and insights about the natural world.

David Iggulden, who chairs the BHL executive committee alongside his job as head of data and digital, library and archives at RBG Kew, describes the library as an invaluable and “absolutely essential” resource for scientists in the field. But it is also used by scientific researchers, environmental historians, educators, art historians, artists, citizen scientists and members of the public who – like Iggulden – simply enjoy browsing its contents on a rainy weekend.

“I just get caught up in it sometimes, looking at the various collections,” he says. “I think it’s amazing that we can explore such a vast array of different collections from very different institutions.”

As well as published biodiversity literature and journals, there are letters, illustrations, climate records, field diaries, ecosystem profiles, distribution records and manuscripts containing the original collecting stories of a particular species or detailing voyages of discovery."

AI helped diagnose 18 children whose rare diseases had stumped doctors; NBC News, June 18, 2026

 Hallie Jackson, NBC News; AI helped diagnose 18 children whose rare diseases had stumped doctors

"New research from Boston Children's Hospital’s center for rare diseases and the AI company OpenAI reveals that off-the-shelf AI tools can help identify which errors in patients’ genomes might be causing the children’s diseases. NBC News' Jared Perlo discusses the findings of the research."

CBS SIGNS DEAL TO AVOID LEGAL TROUBLE FROM STEPHEN COLBERT PLAYING COPYRIGHTED ‘PEANUTS’ SONG; Billboard, June 16, 2026

 Bill Donahue, Billboard ; CBS SIGNS DEAL TO AVOID LEGAL TROUBLE FROM STEPHEN COLBERT PLAYING COPYRIGHTED ‘PEANUTS’ SONG

"A month after Stephen Colbert played copyrighted Peanuts music during the final taping of The Late Show in a joking effort to get CBS sued, the TV network has signed a licensing deal to avoid any legal issues from the incident.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions — the owner of the music to the Charlie Brown franchise that just launched a legal blitz over its rights — said Tuesday (June 16) it had reached a resolution with CBS over the episode, in which Colbert deadpanned: “I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!”

The agreement will see CBS take a license for “Linus and Lucy,” the unofficial Peanuts theme that Colbert’s band played on the air during the show. The proceeds from the deal will be donated to the charity World Central Kitchen, run by Chef José Andrés."

How Amanda Askell is teaching Claude to make ethical decisions; Fast Company, June 18, 2026

REBECCA HEILWEIL , Fast Company; How Amanda Askell is teaching Claude to make ethical decisions

"As AI models move into a more agentic era, shifting from chat to completing tasks, they’ll be making real and increasingly consequential decisions.

Whether they bring any sense of morality to those decisions is the kind of problem Amanda Askell is exploring. A philosophy PhD from New York University, Askell spent two years at OpenAI before joining Anthropic in 2021, where she sits at the center of the company’s effort to instill in Claude an instinct for ethics—a responsibility that grows as the system’s capabilities expand...

Today, Anthropic communicates those values through a written and evolving constitution—an effort led by Askell and formulated as instructions to Claude—that outlines principles such as safety and helpfulness, along with guidance for resolving conflicts between them."

Randy Maniloff

, Wall Street Journal; I Have a Dream—and a Copyright

Clarence Jones had the presence of mind to protect Martin Luther King’s speech.

"Clarence Jones, lawyer and speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr., died last month at 95. King’s confidante is credited with helping the civil-rights leader draft the famous 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech."

Ethics and philosophy of A.I. with Dr. Alessandra Buccella; WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, June 17, 2026

WAMC, Northeast Public Radio; Ethics and philosophy of A.I. with Dr. Alessandra Buccella

"There have been many discussions about the technical underpinnings of Artificial Intelligence. Today we talk about the ethics and philosophy of AI with Dr. Alessandra Buccella, Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University at Albany. Ray Graf hosts. 

Dr. Buccella's main areas of expertise are the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of artificial intelligence.  Her current research develops along two main 'tracks'. The first track focuses on the ethical and social implications of AI technologies: how extensive use of AI impacts humans' ability to develop the critical thinking skills and emotional resilience needed to live a good life, and how the mere availability of powerful AI technologies affect people's conception of moral, social, and political responsibility. 

The second track is centered on the relationship between advanced AI systems like Large Language Models and the human brain: one of her ongoing research projects investigates whether we can really figure out how these machines 'think' and whether looking at the internal functioning of LLMs can provide any meaningful insight into how the human brain works."

Skill games are unlawful, Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds; Pennsylvania Capital-Star, June 15, 2026

 PETER HALL, Pennsylvania Capital-Star; Skill games are unlawful, Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds

"State Attorney General Dave Sunday issued a statement calling the decision a “significant victory for consumers, taxpayers and the rule of law in Pennsylvania.”

“The Supreme Court recognized what our office has argued from the beginning – these machines operate as gambling devices and cannot legally exist without the same oversight, regulation and accountability as other forms of legalized gaming in the Commonwealth. Pennsylvanians deserve protections that ensure games are fair, transparent and operated within the bounds of the law,” Sunday said."

11 Questions: Sarah Lamdan: Meet the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom; American Libraries, June 16, 2026

American Libraries; 11 Questions: Sarah Lamdan

Meet the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom

"Earlier this year, Sarah Lamdan was promoted to executive director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) after joining the Association in 2024 as OIF deputy director.

Prior to joining ALA, Lamdan was a librarian and law professor at City University of New York School of Law, where her research focused on information access, privacy, and other legal issues related to librarianship. She is author of two books, most recently Data Cartels (Stanford University Press, 2022), which looks at privacy and access as they relate to data analytics companies and platforms.

Lamdan answered our 11 Questions to introduce herself to ALA members...

Best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received is to be honest and transparent about what you know and what you don’t know. When you work with a team, everything goes better when nobody’s left in the dark. (I’ll make an exception for surprise parties!) It’s also okay not to know everything. Often, the best response is “I’m not sure, but I can find out.” There are so many things to know, and there’s no way you know them all!

What drew you to librarianship and ALA?

I decided to become a librarian after I started law school. A professor at University of Kansas sent me to the campus archives to transcribe some letters by Susan B. Anthony. The archivists and librarians were so helpful, and the letters were so neat. I wanted to do more work like that. The librarians at my law school took me under their wings as I pursued an MLIS and a law degree. At Emporia (Kans.) State University’s School of Library and Information Management, I was drawn to intellectual freedom topics. Working at ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) was a dream job! I feel so lucky to do this work."

Little Queer Libraries offer banned books across the Pittsburgh region; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 2026

SONO MOTOYAMA, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ; Little Queer Libraries offer banned books across the Pittsburgh region

The Pittsburgh Equality Center has stocked free libraries at community spaces in Pittsburgh and three counties

"Inspired by those colorful outdoor boxes that invite you to take books or small objects for free, the Pittsburgh Equality Center has launched a network of Little Queer Libraries in time for Pride Month.

“I saw all these little free libraries out there in people’s lawns and throughout neighborhoods, and I thought, well, we could put LGBTQ+ literature in those,” said Ray Sidney-Smith, president and board chair of the Pittsburgh Equality Center.

In keeping with the nonprofit’s mission to advocate and support the LGBTQ+ community, it is supplying a selection of adult, young adult and children’s literature in accessible sites around the region. Borrowers can take the books and then return them when they’re done.

Community members can also donate books by placing them inside the libraries or by contacting the center.   

The center has made a point of stocking the boxes with titles on the list of books banned by public schools and libraries compiled by the writers organization PEN America.

“We are saddened that our rights are under attack in a lot of ways, and the LGBTQ+ community deserves the ability to access books [that reflect] all of our identities readily and accessibly,” Sidney-Smith said...

The first five libraries — out of projected 10 — are at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg; Penn Hills Library; Garfield’s Soft Spot Café; SoulLumination, a Canonsburg spiritual and wellness center; and Proud Haven, a North Side organization serving LGBTQIA+ youth.

Each library holds 10-20 books and the first five were designed and painted by volunteers."

Dr. Philipp Mels, orka: "The biggest battle in the 21st century will be AI versus Copyright"; Leaders League, June 15, 2026

Leaders League; Dr. Philipp Mels, orka: "The biggest battle in the 21st century will be AI versus Copyright"

"Dr. Philipp Mels, Managing Partner at orka, comments on the use of AI in the context of intellectual property rights, trade secrets, and data protection.

LEADERS LEAGUE: In addition to the AI Act, which areas of law require particular attention when developing, operating, and using AI?

Philipp Mels: In addition to the AI Act, the most important areas of law regarding the use of AI are clearly intellectual property rights, trade secret protection, and data protection...

Why is the use of trade secrets in AI systems so legally risky?

In practice, the most relevant risk for companies is not so much the violation of third-party trade secrets, but rather the fact that employees may enter trade secrets into the AI system. This can be seen as evidence that the company, as the owner of the trade secret, has failed to take the necessary and appropriate measures to ensure confidentiality. As a result, the company loses the protection afforded to those trade secrets.

How significant is the conflict between AI providers and operators on the one hand, and creators or copyright holders on the other?

You may be surprised by my choice of words. The biggest battle that providers and operators of AI systems must fight in the 21st century is against copyright holders, who understandably want to take action against the infringement of their copyrights."

Why We Changed Our Code of Ethics to Address Prediction Markets; ProPublica, June 15, 2026

Diego Sorbara, ProPublica; Why We Changed Our Code of Ethics to Address Prediction Markets

In an era when people can bet on news events, we want readers to know we’re not willing to gamble with their trust.

"What would you think of me, the ProPublica editor responsible for newsroom standards, if I placed a bet on the baseball game I’m currently listening to on the radio? Probably that I’m doing something plenty of others do, and that my wallet will be lighter in a few innings.

What would you think of me if I stood to make a tidy sum based on the outcome of a news event ProPublica has been covering? You’d probably think that’s downright shady, because isn’t the job of a journalist to report the news and not make money off it?

Lest you think I’m an ethically compromised editor, you can rest easy. According to a recent update to ProPublica’s code of ethics, “no employee should wager on the outcome of news events on the prediction markets — regardless of whether or not they are involved in coverage of said event.”

ProPublica has always prohibited employees from profiting off inside information, so you may wonder why we amended our code of ethics to specifically single out prediction markets. We have not encountered any instances of this happening on our staff, but it has become harder and harder to deny the influence and reach of prediction markets beyond sports. In fact, deals between prediction markets and news organizations abound, such as Kalshi with CNN, Fox News and The Associated Press, and Polymarket with Dow Jones. 

But there have also been worrying examples of these markets at play."