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By: Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP

Latest from Taft Technology Insights - Page 3

Your data is valuable and ERP vendors know this.

  • They are including language in their contracts giving them not only the right to use your data to train their AI models, but the right to extract fees if you want other software products to access the data you input into your ERP system.
  • What is worse is that they will find a way to charge you to access data that you have input into your ERP system.

How can you prevent this?

  • What strategies can you use to mitigate risk and lower costs?

I discuss these issues in this clip…
Continue Reading ERP Vendors Want Your Data To Train AI – And They Will Charge Your For It

With the change in administrations and the rapid evolution of technology, business leaders and their legal advisors now more than ever need information to help them navigate the constantly shifting technology landscape.

In this one-hour presentation, Taft Partners Jackie Benson, Scot Ganow, Zach Heck, and Bill Wagner discuss some key things to know in the first quarter of 2025.

  • Getting Your Arms Around Data Privacy and Protection in 2025. Just. Get. Started.
  • Strategies for Cyber Insurance: Getting (and Staying) Insured.
  • AI Regulation in 2025: National.
  • AI Regulation in 2025: Colorado.

1.00 hour of CLE credit pending for Arizona, Colorado, Indiana,…
Continue Reading Webinar/Event: Morning Technology And Artificial Intelligence Quarterly Briefing

The Google Threat Intelligence Group revealed a chilling reality: nation-states are weaponizing AI tools like Gemini for sophisticated cyberattacks. This new frontier of AI-powered fraud demands immediate attention from business leaders and general counsel, who stand at the confluence of technology, data security, and governance.

Recent Incidents and the Evolving Sophistication of These Attacks

Generative AI, like the tools used by these cybercriminals, can create highly convincing text, images, voice recordings, and even video interactions that are nearly impossible to distinguish from genuine content. In the report Adversarial Misuse of Generative AI, the Google Threat Intelligence Group explains how more…
Continue Reading AI-Powered Fraud: Immediate Action Steps to Protect Companies From Next-Generation Payment Scams

Software audits are never random. If you are being targeted, the ERP vendor believes there is a revenue opportunity with your use of the software.

  • ERP vendors take advantage of ambiguous terms in the contract governing the scope of use of the software.
  • They also have no incentive to be accurate in their audit of the software.

If you are facing an audit, you need to have a plan to push back.

  • The audit report they generate to justify the imposition of additional fees is almost always exaggerated, unreasonable and one sided.
  • You can never take it at face value.

…
Continue Reading Pushing Back on ERP Vendor Software Audits

What Is It

A trademark holder may file a complaint alleging trademark infringement against hundreds of defendants identifying them as the “Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations” on Schedule A, which may be filed separately from the complaint or under seal. Infringers often use an alias and as a result, the actual names and locations of many of the defendants are unknown to the plaintiff. In such case, the plaintiff may list the assumed names on Schedule A.

Why File Schedule A Cases

After filing the complaint and Schedule A, the plaintiff may file an ex parte motion for…
Continue Reading Understanding Schedule A Trademark Litigation – A Step-by-Step Guide

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the insurance industry, prompting regulators to issue guidance for responsible use of AI. As AI transforms the insurance industry, insurers must balance innovation with regulatory compliance and consumer protection. Delaware and New Jersey have recently joined 21 other states and issued guidance on AI in insurance based on the AI Model Bulletin adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in 2023. Here’s what insurers need to know.

Delaware’s AI Bulletin No. 148

On February 5, 2025, the Delaware Department of Insurance issued Bulletin No. 148, providing regulatory guidance for insurers using Artificial Intelligence…
Continue Reading Navigating AI in Insurance: Delaware’s Bulletin No. 148 and New Jersey’s Bulletin 25-03

Software salespeople rarely look out for your best interests.

  • They minimize the complexity of the software’s implementation and mischaracterize it as an out-of-the-box solution designed to include industry best practices.
  • The likelihood that a software developer understands your best practices as well as you do and designed the software to incorporate your best practices into the software is zero.
  • Similarly, if you implement an enterprise software solution without any modification or customization to use it “out-of-the-box,” you are doing it wrong.

Their primary motivation is to sell software. They emphasize the look and feel of the software and technical “innovations”…
Continue Reading Top Misleading Software Vendor Sales Tactics

On Feb. 11, 2025, a federal judge granted summary judgment to a copyright holder, determining that a software company’s use of copyrighted content to train an AI legal research tool constituted direct copyright infringement and rejecting the AI tool company’s fair-use defense. Judge Bibas’s opinion departed from the seminal “intermediate copying” cases in Google and Sega and applied the Supreme Court’s “transformative use” analysis from Warhol.

Although we expect the defendant software company to appeal the grant of summary judgment, this opinion is one of the first to evaluate the use of copyrighted content to train and build AI tools.
Continue Reading Federal Judge Rules AI Training on Copyrighted Content Infringes Copyright, Rejects Fair Use Defense

Whether you call it a consulting agreement, a professional services agreement, or a master services agreement, it is the document that has the most significant impact on the success of your digital transformation.

In this YouTube video, I discuss key issues to consider.

#erplawyer #erpcommunity #erpfailure #saps4hana #oraclecontracts #softwarelawyer #sapservices #saphanacloudplatform #saas #erpcloud #teamtaft #sapcontracts #oraclelawsuit #oraclefailure #oracletermination #saptermination

Continue Reading Negotiating ERP Implementation Contracts

In an ERP software contract, there is a substantive difference between a warranty obligation and maintenance and support.

  • Having one does not negate the need for another.
  • ERP software warranties are for a limited duration. When that warranty period starts is critically important.
  • ERP software warranties are also warranties of reference. A typical warranty will obligate the vendor to provide services in accordance with generally accepted standards or software in accordance with “the documentation.”

What those standards are and what the documentation includes is critically essential.

  • As a customer, you want to ensure that the scope of “documentation” is broad

…
Continue Reading Negotiating ERP Software Warranties

The United States Copyright Office has released a watershed report on whether and how AI-generated outputs qualify for copyright protection under current United States copyright laws.  Departing from its previous policy stance, the Copyright Office now states that AI-generated outputs are eligible for copyright protection but with a key caveat: the human author requirement remains intact.

The report contains four main highlights, covered in more detail below.

  • AI-generated content will be copyrightable “in whole or in part” so long as “a human has been able to determine the expressive elements” the content contains.
  • Human involvement is still essential for obtaining

    • …
    Continue Reading Hello Hollywood: US Copyright Office Report Opens Floodgates For Seeking Copyright Protection On Ai-Generated Works (And The Prompts Used To Create Them)

    For a cloud solution, a service level agreement is critical.

    • A software vendor needs to contractually commit to making the software available to you for a certain percentage of time.
    • A service level agreement must specify the uptime guarantee, detail periods when the software might not be available, and provide substantive remedies if the software vendor fails to meet its uptime guarantees.

    In my latest YouTube video, I discuss why these agreements are essential and the issues you must address.

    #erp #erplawyer #erpcommunity #erpfailure #saps4hana #oraclecontracts #softwarelawyer #sapservices #saphanacloudplatform #saas #erpcloud #teamtaft

    Continue Reading Service Level Agreements: What Are They And Why You Need One

    In December 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court issued guidance on the use of AI (guidance) by judges and other lawyers.

    The guidance comes after several high-profile instances of misuse of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in litigation, including cases where lawyers used AI to draft briefs that later cited non-existent case law. For instance, in several cases, lawyers used generative AI to write a brief and file it with a court, only to discover afterward that the AI “hallucinated” caselaw that does not exist. See, e.g., Gauthier v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., No. 1:23-CV-281, 2024 WL 4882651, at *3 (E.D.
    Continue Reading Illinois Supreme Court Provides Guidance on AI Use in Legal Proceedings

    Make no mistake—your ERP implementation or Digital Transformation will be more difficult than expected.

    What are some common causes of project failure?

    • In the cases we litigate, we often see customers who have failed to adequately test deliverables and functionality, invest in change management, and devote enough time to training.
    • ERP implementations are not just software development projects.
    • Understanding what you are getting into and having reasonable expectations is critical.
    • If you delegate responsibility for the project’s success to your integrator and expect to flip the switch on go-live and have everything magically work, you virtually ensure your project will

    …
    Continue Reading What Are The Leading Causes of ERP Failure and Failed Digital Transformations?

    There is an old maxim that you should never get into a contract without the ability to get out of that contract. This is even more true with ERP-related contracts.

    • How do you walk away from an ERP contract with SAP or Oracle when that contract no longer works for you?
    • You may be unable to do it easily – especially if you failed to negotiate an expansive or flexible termination right.

    ERP vendors like SAP, Oracle, and Infor offer discounts off the list price, expecting customers to purchase software for the duration of the contract.

    • They often include language

    …
    Continue Reading Terminating Or Cancelling Your ERP Contract With SAP, Oracle, Or Infor

    Oracle is known for being aggressive during the sales cycle and dismissive of any issues or concerns arising during implementation. Oracle’s in-house legal department is often unreasonable and unwilling to compromise.

    • I’ve litigated against Oracle, negotiated with Oracle, and mediated disputes with Oracle throughout my career.
    • Make no mistake: Oracle is difficult to deal with. Their salespeople are aggressive, their lawyers are difficult to deal with, and they rarely make meaningful concessions.
    • It’s a culture that starts at the top.

    If you are considering suing Oracle for a failed digital transformation or ERP failure, make sure you know what you…
    Continue Reading Thinking About Suing Oracle? Here Is What You Can Expect