Journal Home Browse Issues Search Articles Submissions About the Journal Copyright Fixation Podcast Subscribe Go back to Issues SECTION 1202(B) AND AI: IMPLICATIONS FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUITS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR DIGITAL CREATORS 72 J. Copyright Soc'y 480 (2025) Maria Crusey J.D. (2025), Washington University School of Law; A.B. (2022), Washington University in St. Louis. Abstract Section 1202(b) of the DMCA imposes liability–including potentially sizeable statutory damages awards–on users who remove or alter copyright management information (CMI) or knowingly distribute works with removed CMI. Until now, Section 1202 had been seldom used by plaintiffs, but there is a recent uptick driven by suits filed against developers of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology alleging violation of Section 1202(b) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This Student Note provides a summary of Section 1202(b)’s history and caselaw and explains how recent AI cases have started to develop a clearer sense of Section 1202’s limits. Earlier courts that considered Section 1202(b) issues adopted a wide range of views of the statutory scope based on the plain language of the statute and its legislative history, while later courts fashioned discrete requirements for viable Section 1202(b) claims, such as the “double scienter” and “identicality” requirements. But there is very little precedent caselaw and the scope of Section 1202(b) and potential defenses, such as Article III standing, fair use, and First Amendment rights, which remain unsettled. The Note concludes with observations about how users may insulate themselves from liability in the face of an evolving Section 1202(b) litigation landscape. Full Article 72(2) Section 1202(B)Download Related Content Journal May 1, 2026 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR COPYRIGHT LAW TO CATCH UP WITH TECHNOLOGY? SOME DATA POINTS FROM THE MUSIC INDUSTRY 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 213Download Bill Rosenblatt, Howie Singer Creativity & Technology Collide Creativity, Culture & the Arts Music, Musicals & Performing Arts Technology, Innovation & the Future Journal May 1, 2026 TRAINING ON TRIAL: INSIGHTS FROM BARTZ AND KADREY 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 261 (2026)Download Barbara Bruni AI & Copyright Journal May 1, 2026 THE UNEASY NEW (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) RELATIONSHIPS: TECH, PUBLISHERS, AND AUTHORS IN ACADEMIC PUBLISHING 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 299 (2026)Download Agnes Gambill West AI & Copyright Keeping Up With Copyright Preservation, Archives & Memory