"AI will bring new risks and disruptions. But it is also important not to lose sight of AI's tremendous benefits," the group said in a Sept. 11 open letter to Congress.
The letter was signed by professors from American University's Washington College of Law, St. Thomas University School of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Stanford Law School, Emory University School of Law, New York University School of Law and more than a dozen others.
On Monday, it was reported that a Politico investigation had found that Sy Damle, a Washington, D.C., and New York partner at Latham & Watkins LLP and former Copyright Office general counsel, organized the letter.
"Although Damle did not sign the letter, and did not reply to multiple attempts to contact him with questions about his involvement, data contained in a publicly posted PDF of the letter show the document was authored by 'SDamle,' and three signatories confirmed to Politico Damle was involved in its drafting and circulation," the report said.
Damle currently represents some of the biggest tech companies, including OpenAI, the maker of chatbot ChatGPT. A spokesperson for OpenAI told Politico the company had no involvement in commissioning or drafting the letter.
A Latham representative told Law360 Damle was not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, the letter to Congress noted that concerns about the impact of new technology on human creators and calls to impose intellectual property-based restrictions on emerging technology are not new, likening the current debate over AI to the concerns raised over photography and video when those technologies first debuted.
The groups told Congress that they acknowledge the concerns about AI raised by content owners.
"But there are many ways to address them outside copyright law," they wrote. "For instance, existing right of publicity and trademark law can address the use of AI to create deepfakes or political disinformation, or to unfairly misappropriate artists' voices or likenesses."
Here, Law360 takes a look at Damle's recent career highlights.
At the Cutting Edge of Copyright
Damle has been a partner in Latham's copyright practice, which is part of the litigation and trial department, since joining the firm in 2018.
A former software engineer, Damle specializes in technology matters, including those involving computer systems and networks and AI. He is also a sought-after music lawyer, according to his firm biography.
Among Damle's roster of clients are leading streaming services, software companies and online commerce platforms in high-stakes trials. He also represents companies and trade organizations in regulatory proceedings before the U.S. Copyright Office and Copyright Royalty Board, and has testified before Congress and the Copyright Office on issues around generative AI and copyright law.
On May 17, Damle testified on AI and fair use at a hearing by the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.
During the heated hearing about some of the copyright and other issues being raised by AI, Damle said "the training of AI models will generally fall within the established bounds of fair use." In response to questioning by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Damle noted that training by itself was fair use "under a long line of cases."
Those comments were later criticized by Jon Baumgarten, another former Copyright Office general counsel. In a May 23 letter to the House subcommittee, Baumgarten called Damle's comments "over-generalized, oversimplified and unduly conclusory."
He's a Seasoned Litigator
Damle's recent high-profile cases include being on the Latham team representing OpenAI in a proposed class action filed in California federal court by comedian and author Sarah Silverman. In that case, Silverman and other plaintiffs allege OpenAI ripped off their copyrights, arguing that the Copyright Act serves the public interest by granting rights to authors and that OpenAI is trying to "unilaterally rewrite U.S. copyright law in its favor."
He also represented cybersecurity company Vade Secure Inc., which was accused of willfully and maliciously misappropriating software maker Proofpoint Inc.'s trade secrets. Proofpoint scored a $14 million trade secret theft verdict against Vade Secure and an ex-executive, but its attorney fee request was denied by a California federal judge in September.
In addition, Damle was on the team that represented the Andy Warhol Foundation before the U.S. Supreme Court against photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who argued that Andy Warhol's "Orange Prince" did not constitute fair use of her copyrighted photograph of music icon Prince. On May 23, the high court found Warhol's portraits do not fall under copyright's fair use doctrine.
His Work Before BigLaw
Damle joined Latham after working at the Copyright Office for more than four years. As general counsel, he was responsible for the agency's litigation, regulatory and other legal work.
Before that, he was senior litigation counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He's also been a U.S. Department of Justice litigator focusing on IP, administrative law and constitutional matters; a law clerk for First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch; and a software developer and consultant for CGI Group and American Management Systems Inc., which CGI acquired in 2004.
Damle teaches copyright law at George Washington University Law School and is an adviser to the American Law Institute's Restatement of Copyright Law project.
Damle has a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he graduated first in his class. He also holds systems engineering and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, according to Latham.
--Additional reporting by Tiffany Hu and Dorothy Atkins. Editing by Alanna Weissman and Lakshna Mehta.
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