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https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4...
Article . 2024 . Peer-reviewed
Data sources: Crossref
https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/ar...
Article . 2025
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
DBLP
Preprint . 2025
Data sources: DBLP
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Putting GenAI on Notice: GenAI Exceptionalism and Contract Law

Authors: David Atkinson;

Putting GenAI on Notice: GenAI Exceptionalism and Contract Law

Abstract

Gathering enough data to create sufficiently useful training datasets for generative artificial intelligence requires scraping most public websites. The scraping is conducted using pieces of code (scraping bots) that make copies of website pages. Today, there are only a few ways for website owners to effectively block these bots from scraping content. One method, prohibiting scraping in the website terms of service, is loosely enforced because it is not always clear when the terms are enforceable. This paper aims to clear up the confusion by describing what scraping is, how entities do it, what makes website terms of service enforceable, and what claims of damages website owners may make as a result of being scraped. The novel argument of the paper is that when (i) a site's terms of service or terms of use prohibit scraping or using site content to train AI and (ii) a bot scrapes pages on the website including those terms, the bot's deployer has actual notice of the terms and those terms are therefore legally enforceable, meaning the site can claim a breach of contract. This paper also details the legal and substantive arguments favoring this position while cautioning that nonprofits with a primarily scientific research focus should be exempt from such strict enforcement.

Keywords

FOS: Computer and information sciences, Computer Science - Computers and Society, Computers and Society (cs.CY)

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green