Legal Issues of Generative and Agentic Artificial Intelligence

Legal Issues of Generative and Agentic Artificial Intelligence charts the fastest-moving issues in American law, from the "ChatGPT moment" that put generative models into every office and courtroom, to the arrival of autonomous agents that research, negotiate, draft, and file on their own. One question runs through all fourteen chapters: when an AI system challenges rights or causes civil or criminal harm, what are the principles of law that should apply directly or by analogy, who should be held responsible, and what should be the consequences, remedies, or punishments?The book follows that question across the entire doctrinal map of areas of law that are the most profoundly impacted by generative and agentic AI: -Copyrightability of AI-assisted work -Infringement vs. fair-use fights over training data-Patents and Trade Secrets-Trademarks and Unfair Competition-Cybersecurity -Evidence -Deepfakes in privacy, publicity, and First Amendment law-Employment and Labor law-Legislation and Regulatory actions-Ethics and Professional Responsibility Rules for lawyers and judgesThis is a practical book, but it is not written for one "side" of the contested issues discussed here. A book written for this moment must do more than summarize doctrine. The goal is to give readers a shared vocabulary, reliable guidance for issue-spotting, and practical frameworks for decisions made under uncertainty. It must also teach methods: how to evaluate competing arguments, how to predict which existing rules are likely to be extended to AI disputes, and how to build an evidentiary record that will matter when courts finally decide issues. The book's research is current through July 10, 2026.Its analytical compass is a liability map - who did what, and why it matters - laid across the value chain from model developer to deployer to end user. And where the law is unsettled, the book says so. The text separates holdings from live theories, presents genuine splits as splits, and dates every fast-moving statute and agency position so readers can watch the ground shift in real time. It is written for the classroom and the practice alike, it gives students, practitioners, and judges a durable framework for problems the cases have not yet reached.