2026 Intellectual Property Symposium: The Application of DMCA to Data Scraping Litigation
October 22, 2026
O’Melveny partner Mark Liang will be a guest speaker at the 2026 Intellectual Property Symposium hosted by The Bar Association of San Francisco. Liang is a leading litigator in AI-related disputes, with deep experience in data scraping, computer fraud and security statutes, agentic browsing, and standards-essential patent matters. He has successfully handled claims under the DMCA, CFAA, and terms-of-use and contract frameworks, and advises clients on cutting-edge F/RAND and standards issues. For this year’s IP Symposium, he will join a panel discussion on data scraping titled, “The Application of DMCA to Data Scraping Litigation.”
“As AI fuels the demand for massive quantities of web data, courts are increasingly being asked to apply the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (“DMCA”) anti-circumvention provisions to data scraping disputes. This panel unpacks the technical mechanics of data scraping and the fast-moving case law that is reshaping who controls access to content online.”
Topics include:
- Introduction to data scraping and its growing use alongside AI products and tools
- Background of how DMCA has emerged as a player in data scraping cases
- DMCA Section 1201 basics: 1201(a) v. 1201(b), the absence of a fair use defense, and the exemption process
- Recent DMCA data-scraping litigation and policy responses, including EFF and amicus positions
- What counts as a technical protection measure (“TPM”), including a discussion of YouT v. RIAA, Google v SerpAPI and Reddit v SerpAPI
- Circumvention doctrine and the access-control v. copy-control divide
2026 Intellectual Property Symposium
Thursday, October 22
11:30am – 6:00pm PT
The Application of DMCA to Data Scraping Litigation
Thursday, October 22
2:00pm – 3:00pm PT
Learn more and register here.