Protecting Human Creativity from AI’s Grip (Haochen Sun Profiled in HKU Bulletin)

"Protecting Human Creativity from AI’s Grip"

Haochen Sun

HKU Bulletin
Published in May 2026

Professor Haochen Sun of the Faculty of Law has been looking at the threats to human creativity from AI, and possible legal and ethical remedies.

Every big AI platform has faced lawsuits for using existing creative works to train their models without permission or compensation, with plaintiffs ranging from Hollywood studios to media outlets to individual artists and authors. For Professor Haochen Sun, Founding Director of HKU’s Programme on Artificial Intelligence and the Law and an expert in technology law and policy, this use of creative works is a legal and ethical problem for both creators and society.

“These works are the foundation of our human civilisation. They embody human thought, from philosophy to literature, music and art, and they should be highly valued. When they’re used in the AI training process, it demeans their value by transforming them into tokens. What would be the implications, then, for the future of human creativity?” he asked.

Using content without permission is problematic on several fronts, he said. First, whoever controls the inputs to the AI training process can shape how AI develops and makes decisions, so the creators who provide that input could be excluded.

Second, there is the possibility that copyright protection could extend to AI-generated material, knowingly or not. While most jurisdictions do not allow this (apart from one judge in the Chinese Mainland who decided that an AI prompt was creative input), Professor Sun believes there is little to stop humans from presenting AI content as their own.

“It’s so easy to conceal this content and pretend it was made by a human,” he said. “I can foresee that an enormous amount of AI-generated content, ranging from text answers to images and videos, could end up being protected by copyright law because the threshold as the law stands – called the ‘originality requirement’ – is extremely low.”

In awe of AI

In such a scenario, ‘AI copyright trolls’ may be incited to launch lawsuits to see what they could extract. Most importantly, content flows to the public domain would be restricted, ultimately harming human creativity......

Click here to read the full text.

Haochen Sun on The Law and Ethics of AI Creativity (St. John’s Law Review)

"The Law and Ethics of AI Creativity"
Haochen Sun
St. John's Law Review
Published online: January 2025

Abstract: This Article comprises three parts. In Part I, after demonstrating that creativity is a social process, I explore the ethical principles of originality, attribution, and authenticity of creative activities. In Part II, I scrutinize the opacity of AI systems in the collection, utilization, and generation of works, highlighting the need for a greater focus on the legal and social problems arising from these black box processes. Lastly, in Part III, I explore why the ethical principles of originality, attribution, and authenticity should govern AI creativity, and how they would lead to the adoption by AI companies of filtering and watermarking responsibilities.

RGC Awards $4.8 Million in Research Funding to HKU Law 2023/24

Congratulations to our eight colleagues who were successful in the 2023-2024 round of research grant funding by Hong Kong's Research Grants Council (RGC). Six General Research Fund (GRF) projects were funded to study the abuse of dominance in the digital age; to examine the reformation of administrative law for the coming age of algorithmic government in Hong Kong; to evaluate the process of transnational law-making and its boundaries in trust and succession planning in Hong Kong and Singapore; to conduct field experiments of using cameras in Chinese trials; to study the implications for enhanced intellectual property protection in China through the Chinese music streaming market; to explore possible changes and impacts on the Hong Kong tax system after the social unrest, COVID-19 and PRC factor. Two Early Career Scheme (ECS) project were funded to study political crowdfunding in authoritarian regimes and to conduct a comparative study (Hong Kong, Australia, and England) of trustees’ discretionary powers in express private trusts and their possible control. The details of the new funded projects are as follows:

GRF:

Professor Thomas Cheng

Abuse of Dominance in the Digital Age, HK$664,340

Professor Eric C. Ip

Judging the Automated State: The Reformation of Administrative Law for the Coming Age of Algorithmic Government in Hong Kong under Chinese Sovereignty, HK$457,140

Ms. Rebecca Lee

Trust and succession planning in Hong Kong and Singapore: a critical evaluation of the process of transnational law-making and its boundaries, HK$405,800

Dr John Zhuang Liu

Cameras in the Courtroom: Field Experiments in Real Trials, HK$848,000

Professor Haochen Sun

The Rise of the Chinese Music Streaming Market: Implications for Enhanced Intellectual Property Protection in China, HK$608,400

Mr. Wilson Chow

Hong Kong tax system: New Era! New Wine in New Bottle?, HK$850,000

ECS:
Dr Julius Yam
Political Crowdfunding in Authoritarian Regimes, HK$570,000

Dr Hui Jing

Controlling Trustees’ Discretionary Powers in Express Private Trusts: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Australia, and England, HK$473,000

The Law and Technology Centre: the symposium “Regulating Social Media Algorithms,” Jan 17, 2023 (Tue), HKT 9am-12:40pm

The Law and Technology Centre is hosting the symposium “Regulating Social Media Algorithms” on Zoom on January 17, 2023. Below are the event details and the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you at our Zoom event!

Date/Time:	Tuesday, January 17, 2023 | 9am - 12:40pm (Hong Kong Time)
Zoom link:	https://hku.zoom.us/j/96381811161
Program:	https://www.lawtech.hk/regulating-social-media-algorithms/

For enquiries, please contact Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk / (+852) 3917 4727.

Congratulations to Professor Haochen Sun !

Congratulations to Dr Haochen Sun on his promotion to full professorship! Professor Sun is an active member of our IP/IT law research team and has published widely in top journals in related fields. His most recent book entitled Technology and the Public Interest is published by Cambridge University Press. Professor Sun is a well known scholar in his field of expertise and speaks frequently at international conferences and events.  Click here to read more about his scholarship and achievements.

New Book by Haochen Sun: Technology and the Public Interest (Cambridge University Press)

Technology and the Public Interest
Haochen Sun

Cambridge University Press

Published in April 2022

Book description: In this groundbreaking work, Haochen Sun analyzes the ethical crisis unfolding at the intersection of technology and the public interest. He examines technology companies' growing power and their increasing disregard for the public good. To tackle this asymmetry of power and responsibility, he argues that we must reexamine the nature and scope of the right to technology and dynamically protect it as a human right under international law, a collective right under domestic civil rights law, and potentially a fundamental right under domestic constitutional law. He also develops the concept of fundamental corporate responsibility requiring technology companies to compensate users for their contributions, assume an active role responsibility in upholding the public interest, and counter injustices caused by technological developments.

Reviews: 

‘It’s hard to imagine a more timely intervention. In this important and urgent volume, prominent intellectual property scholar Haochen Sun sets out a compelling case for recognition of the human right to technology and a blueprint for defending that right against the assaults of Big Tech.’

Barton Beebe - John M. Desmarais Professor of Intellectual Property Law, New York University School of Law

‘In this foundational book, Haochen Sun builds a new vision of corporate social responsibility in the digital era. He uncovers a nearly forgotten human right to the benefits of science, and argues that technology companies need to better ensure broad distribution of the benefits of technology.’

Anupam Chander - Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Technology, Georgetown University Law Center

‘As backlash against leading technology firms grows, it is time to think big about the future governance of intellectual property and internet platforms. Technology and the Public Interest more than meets the challenge, offering a comprehensive vision for law and policy to promote fundamental corporate responsibilities to protect and promote human flourishing. Sun’s first-rate work squarely addresses contemporary concerns like COVID vaccine disparities, while developing a normative framework of lasting relevance. Read this important book for an erudite and inspiring perspective on technology governance.’

Frank Pasquale - Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School

Three HKU Law Scholars Profiled in HKU Bulletin (May 2022)

The latest HKU Bulletin magazine (May 2022, Vol. 23, No. 2) features the accomplishments of several Faculty of Law colleagues: Dr Angela Zhang (Research, pp 28/29), Professor He Xin (Research, pp 30/31), and Dr Haochen Sun (Books, pp 44/45). 

"China's Jumpy Take on Tech"

For years, the Chinese government treated technology companies with kid gloves, encouraging them to get on the innovating and making money,  But in 2020, that changed.  Dr Angela Hueyue Zhang has been looking into the factors motivating the new hard-line regulation of techonlogy in Mainland China ...

'China's volatile style of policymaking is deeply ingrained in its authoritarian governance system, where regulatory authorities need to adhere to central policy initiatives and administrative power is subject to few institutional constraints.'  

~ Dr Angela Huyue Zhang

Dr Zhang also recently had a book published by Oxford University Press on the wide-ranging issues involved in China’s regulatory regime, Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How the rise of China challenges global regulation.

"Men Win Out in Divorce in China"
Professor He Xin's research shows that a combination of institutional constraints on Chinese judges, traditional values about gender, and income inequality frequently result in divorce decisions that are more favourable to men than women.

'The judges follow strictly the law and the instructions of the Supreme People’s Court and they think their decisions are neutral. But they are ignoring the underlying socioeconomic inequality between the two genders, which affects the outcomes.'

           ~ Professor He Xin 

Divorce in China: Institutional Constraints and Gendered Outcomes was published by NYU Press in 2021.

"Your Right to Technology" 

Access to COVID-19 vaccines, broadband connections and other beneficial technologies should be a human right, argues legal scholar Dr Haochen Sun in a new book.

'Technology has become the major driver of our economic, cultural and political life. We have to talk about access to technology as a human right so that everybody can benefit and we can prevent serious harm caused by improper application of the technology.'

          ~ Dr Haochen Sun

HKU Law Research Output Prize Winners 2020-21

Congratulations to the following University and Faculty of Law Research Output Prize Winners 2021-2022:

• Thomas Cheng has been awarded the University’s Research Output Prize 2020-21 (Faculty of Law) for his book Competition Law in Developing Countries (Oxford University Press, 2020)

• Dr Eric Ip was awarded a Faculty's Research Output Prize 2021 for his book Judging Regulators: The Political Economy of Anglo-American Administrative Law (Edward Elgar, October 2020)
• Professor Lusina Ho, with Professor Richard Nolan, was awarded the Faculty's Research Output Prize 2021 for their article The Performance Interest in the Law of Trusts (Law Quarterly Review, Vol. 136, pp. 402-426, July 2020)
• Dr Haochen Sun was awarded the Faculty's Research Output Prize 2021 for his work Reinvigorating the Human Right to Technology (Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 41, pp. 279-326, 2020) 
  

The Selection Panel, comprised of the members of the Faculty Research Committee, was deeply impressed with the awardees’ quality of outputs, especially their original insight and thoughtful presentation.

Law Tech Symposium: Redesigning Intellectual Property Protection in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (26 Jan 2022 Zoom)

Law Tech symposium: 

Redesigning Intellectual Property Protection in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

January 26, 2022 | 10am – 1:10pm (Hong Kong Time)
January 25, 2022 | 9pm – 12:10am (US Eastern Standard Time)
This symposium will be conducted via Zoom.

Panel 1: AI and Patent Protection (10am – 11:30am, HKT / 9pm – 10:30pm, EST)

Moderator & Commentator: Ruth Okediji, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Speakers:

Artificial Inventors
Ryan Abbott, Professor of Law and Health Sciences, University of Surrey School of Law

AI and IP: Putting the Doctrinal Cart before the Empirical Horse
Daniel Gervais, Milton R. Underwood Chair in Law, Vanderbilt University Law School

Algorithmic Bias in the Coming Patent System
Dan Burk, Distinguished and Chancellor’s Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law

Artificial Intelligence Inventions
Haochen Sun, Associate Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

Panel 2: AI and Copyright Protection (11:40am – 1:10pm, HKT / 10:40pm – 12:10am, EST)

Moderator & Commentator: Mark McKenna, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

Speakers:

AI Copyrights: No Longer a Toy Problem
Pamela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law and Information, UC Berkeley School of Law

Fair Learning
Mark Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

A New Sui Generis Right
Haochen Sun, Associate Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

The AI-Copyright Challenge: Tech-Neutrality, Authorship, and the Public Interest
Carys Craig, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

Please register as soon as possible at https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=79809.

For inquiries, please contact Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk / (+852) 3917 4727

International Conference: Intellectual Property, Covid-19, and the Next Pandemic: Diagnosing Problems, Developing Cures (5-6 Nov 2021)

Intellectual Property, Covid-19, and the Next Pandemic:

Diagnosing Problems, Developing Cures 

Dates: November 5 – 6, 2021 (Friday – Saturday) 

Time: 8am – 12:30pm (US Eastern Standard Time) 

This conference will be conducted via Zoom. 

This conference is co-organized by the Law and Technology Centre of the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center.  It will be conducted via Zoom and prior registration is required.  More information is available on the conference website: https://www.covidip.hku.hk/.

 Conference organizers

• Madhavi Sunder, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for International and Graduate Programs, Georgetown University Law Center
• Haochen Sun, Associate Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
  

Keynote speakers

• Edward Kwakwa, Assistant Director General, Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization
• William Fisher, WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Faculty Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School
• Ruth Okediji, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School
  

Panel speakers & moderators

• Kashish Aneja, Consultant, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• Olufunmilayo Arewa, Murray H. Shusterman Professor of Transactional and Business Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law
• Anupam Chander, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• Jorge L. Contreras, Presidential Scholar and Professor of Law and Director of Program on Intellectual Property Law & Policy, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
• Rochelle Dreyfuss, Pauline Newman Professor of Law and Co-Director, Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy, New York University School of Law
• Lawrence Gostin, University Professor and Faculty Director, O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• Calvin Ho, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director, Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
• Eric Ip, Associate Professor of Law and Research Fellow, Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
• Amy Kapczynski, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Global Health Justice Partnership, Yale Law School
• Matthew Kavanagh, Assistant Professor of Global Health and Director, Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative, O'Neill Institute, Georgetown University
• Priti Krishtel, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK)
• Sapna Kumar, Professor of Law, John Mixon Chair and Co-Director for the Institute for Intellectual Property and Information Law, University of Houston Law Center
• Peter Lee, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, University of California, Davis, School of Law
• Laura Pedraza-Fariña, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
• Nicholson Price, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
• Arti Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law
• Jerome Reichman, Bunyan S. Womble Professor of Law, Duke University Law School
• Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law
• Ken Shadlen, Professor of Development Studies, Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Jayashree Watal, Former Staff Member, WTO’s Intellectual Property Division and Honorary Professor, National Law University Delhi
• Peter Yu, Regents Professor of Law and Communication and Director, Center for Law and Intellectual Property, Texas A&M University School of Law

All are welcome!  More information about this event is available on the conference website.  Please register as soon as possible.

Please direct any inquiries to Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk or (+852) 3917 4727.

New Issue: HKU Law's SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (May and June 2021)

                                                                     

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG FACULTY OF LAW LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

Vol. 11, No. 3: May 24, 2021

DOUGLAS W. ARNER, EDITOR

SIMON N. M. YOUNG, EDITOR

Table of Contents

Digital Finance, COVID-19 and Existential Sustainability Crises: Setting the Agenda for the 2020s

Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law

Andrew M. Dahdal, Qatar University - College of Law

Dirk A. Zetzsche, Universite du Luxembourg - Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC), European Banking Institute

Can Hong Kong Remain a Liberal Enclave within China? Analysis of the Hong Kong National Security Law

Cora Chan, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Dispute Resolution in China: Litigation, Arbitration, Mediation and their Interactions

Weixia Gu, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

‘Hub-and-Spoke’ Bid-Rigging and Corporate Attribution Under Hong Kong Competition Law

Kelvin Hiu Fai Kwok, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG FACULTY OF LAW LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

Vol. 11, No. 4: June 21, 2021

DOUGLAS W. ARNER, EDITOR

SIMON N. M. YOUNG, EDITOR

Table of Contents

AFI Innovative Regulatory Approaches Toolkit

Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law
Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law
Dirk A. Zetzsche, Universite du Luxembourg - Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC), European Banking Institute
Eriks Selga, The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law, Students
Ghiyazuddin MohammadJaheed Parvez, Independent
Roberta Consiglio, University of Luxembourg, ADA Chair in Financial Law (inclusive finance)

Regulating Artificial Intelligence in Finance: Putting the Human in the Loop

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law
Dirk A. Zetzsche, Universite du Luxembourg - Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC), European Banking Institute
Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law
Brian Tang, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Judicial Responses to the National Security Law: HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying

Johannes M M Chan, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Patent Responsibility

Haochen Sun, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

New Book co-edited by Haochen Sun: The Cambridge Handbook of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions (CUP)

The Cambridge Handbook of Copyright Limitations and Exceptions

Edited by Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Ng-Loy Wee Loon and Haochen Sun

Cambridge University Press

Published in January 2021, 420 pp.                                

Book Description:  While copyright law is ordinarily thought to consist primarily of exclusive rights, the regime's various exemptions and immunities from liability for copyright infringement form an integral part of its functioning, and serve to balance copyright's grant of a private benefit to authors/creators with the broader public interest. With contributors from all over the world, this handbook offers a systematic, thorough study of copyright limitations and exceptions adopted in major jurisdictions, including the United States, the European Union, and China. In addition to providing justifications for these limitations, the chapters compare differences and similarities that exist in major jurisdictions and offer suggestions about how to improve the enforcement of copyright limitations domestically and globally. This work should appeal to scholars, policymakers, attorneys, teachers, judges, and students with an interest in the theories, policies, and doctrines of copyright law.

    HKU Law colleagues contribute to Chapters 14 ("Creating a Public Interest Principle for the Adjudiciation of Fair Use and Fair Dealing Cases" by Haochen Cun) and 19 ("From Fair Dealing to User-Generated Content: Legal La La Land in Hong Kong" by Alice Lee and Brendan Clift).

HKU Law Research Output Prize Winners 2019-20

Congratulations to the following University and Faculty of Law Research Output Prize Winners 2019-2020:

• Dr Eric Ip has been awarded the University’s Research Output Prize 2020 (Faculty of Law) for his book “Hybrid Constitutionalism: The Politics of Constitutional Review in the Chinese Special Administrative Regions” (Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-288, 2019).
• Dr Gu Weixia has been awarded the Faculty’s Research Output Prize 2020 for her work Hybrid Dispute Resolution Beyond the Belt and Road: Towards A New Design of Chinese Arb-Med(-Arb) and Its Global Implications (Washington International Law Journal, 29 (1), pp. 117-172, 2019) .
• Mr. Kelvin Kwok and Dr Ernest Lim have been awarded the Faculty’s Research Output Prize 2020 for their work Optimal Deterrence, the Illegality Defence, and Corporate Attribution (European Business Organization Law Review, pp. 1-24, 2019).
• Dr Haochen Sun has been awarded the Faculty’s Research Output Prize 2020 for his work Copyright Law as an Engine of Public Interest Protection (Northwestern Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, 16 (3), pp. 123-188, 2019).

The Selection Panel, comprised of the members of the Faculty Research Committee, was deeply impressed with the quality of the research that went into each of these outputs.

Dr Haochen Sun Awarded HKU Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award 2020

Congratulations to Dr Haochen Sun who was awarded the University of Hong Kong's Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award 2020 (Faculty of Law). The award recognises the impact his research has had on intellectual property in the interests of the public. Titling his application "Intellectual Property and the Public Interest " ("知識產權與公共利益"), the impact from his work was summarised as follows:

"A pioneer of the idea of public interest for copyright protection, which has a direct impact on policy debates in the international arena, Dr Haochen Sun is often interviewed by international and local press, including The Wall Street Journal and RTHK. His research on IP, technology and public interest is featured in international conferences and published in international legal journals. What impressed the selection committee is that Google adopted the wordings suggested by Dr Haochen Sun and by the impact his work has had on the debate in this area."

The Faculty KE Awards were introduced in 2011 in order to recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Nominations in each Faculty were considered by an Ad Hoc Faculty KE Award Selection Committee chaired by the Dean, and members included the Faculty representative serving on the KE Working Group, one of the Associate Directors of the Knowledge Exchange Office (KEO), and a member from outside the University. The selection criteria include evidence of the KE project’s link with excellence in research or in teaching & learning of HKU; evidence of an effective engagement process with the non-academic sector(s); and evidence of demonstrable benefits to the community, business/industry, or partner organisations.

Haochen Sun on Reinvigorating the Human Right to Technology (Michigan J of Int'l L)

"Reinvigorating the Human Right to Technology"

Haochen Sun

2020, 41 Michigan Journal of International Law 279

Published in August 2020

Abstract: The right to technology is a forgotten human right. Dating back to 1948, the right was established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) in response to the massive destruction wrought by technologically advanced weapons in the Second World War. This human right embodies one of the most profound lessons the framers of the UDHR learned from this war: Technology must benefit humanity rather than harm it.

     It has been more than seventy years since the adoption of the UDHR, and technology has advanced at a rapid pace and become more important than ever in our daily lives. Yet in this age of technology, the right to technology remains obscure, dormant, and ineffective. No other human right has received such scant attention, and the right to technology has indeed become an “orphan” in the international human rights regime. This article traces the origins of society’s disregard for the right and attributes it to the confluence of three main contributing factors: (1) the right’s inherent obscurity, (2) the ineffective human rights enforcement system, and (3) the international community’s overemphasis on intellectual property protection. The current human rights regime is unable to sufficiently address these complex factors, as it remains deeply rooted in the individual rights system and lacks a fully-fledged distributive justice vision.

     Against this backdrop, this article reinvigorates the right to technology by recommending its protection as a collective right. It considers how and why the right to technology should be redefined as a collective right that entitles people to enjoy the benefits of technological progress and minimizes the harms that such progress may cause. A collective right to technology can protect both larger societal interests in maintaining public freedom and dignity, as well as specific group interests in guarding against the use of technologies to prejudice group freedom and dignity. This new understanding of the right to technology, therefore, sets distributive justice agendas for promoting the development of intellectual property law into the public interest.

Haochen Sun on The Fundamental Right to Technology (Hofstra L Rev)

"The Fundamental Right to Technology"

Haochen Sun

2020, 48 Hofstra Law Review 445

Published in August 2020

Abstract: Waves of technological progress in recent decades have tremendously improved quality of life. Meanwhile, concerns about technology-driven injustices, such as unfair distribution of wealth and racial discrimination, have deepened. Experts have cautioned that new technologies could have potentially devastating effects, claiming for instance that artificial intelligence may lead to World War III. We are at a crossroads, and how we harness technology now will determine the future of humanity.

     This Article presents a thought experiment, proposing that a new fundamental right to technology be recognized under the U.S. Constitution. Given that technology is of fundamental importance to human dignity and equality, this new constitutional right is designed to promote equitable distribution of technological benefits and to prevent harmful applications of technologies. This proposal is made with the hope that other countries may also recognize this fundamental right in constitutional law, ensuring global protection of the right to technology.

     Based on an overview of fundamental rights protection under the U.S. Constitution, the Article first discusses how the U.S. Supreme Court has developed a liberal approach to identifying fundamental rights not enumerated by the Constitution. It then applies this liberal approach to a consideration of why the right to technology should be deemed an un-enumerated fundamental right. This Article further canvasses how this new fundamental right would protect collective interests in technological benefits. It also explores how to resolve the potential tension between the Intellectual Property Clause and protection of the right to technology.

New Issues: HKU Law's SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (July and August 2020)

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG FACULTY OF LAW LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

Vol. 10, No. 10: August 20, 2020

DOUGLAS W. ARNER, EDITOR

SIMON N. M. YOUNG, EDITOR

Table of Contents

1. Income Risks and Optimal Attention-Consumption Allocation

Yulei Luo, University of Hong Kong 

Penghui Yin, Goethe University Frankfurt

2. Reinvigorating the Human Right to Technology

Haochen Sun, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

3. The Fundamental Right to Technology

Haochen Sun, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

4. Decentralizing Dispute Resolution in Two-Sided Platforms: The Case of Review Blackmail

Yiangos Papanastasiou, University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business 

S. Alex Yang, London Business School 

Angela Huyue Zhang, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

5. Financial Stability, Resolution of Systemic Banking Crises and COVID-19: Toward an Appropriate Role for Public Support and Bailouts

Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

Emilios Avgouleas, University of Edinburgh - School of Law 

Evan Gibson, University of Hong Kong

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG FACULTY OF LAW LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

Vol. 10, No. 9: July 28, 2020

DOUGLAS W. ARNER, EDITOR

SIMON N. M. YOUNG, EDITOR

Table of Contents

1. Mediatory Versus Legalistic Discourse in Chinese Courts

Xin He, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

2. (Non)legality as Governmentality in China

Xin He, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

3. After Libra, Digital Yuan and COVID-19: Central Bank Digital Currencies and the New World of Money and Payment Systems

Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law 

Dirk A. Zetzsche, Universite du Luxembourg - Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC) 

Anton Didenko, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law

4. Three Decades of International Financial Crises: What Have We Learned and What Still Needs to be Done?

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law 

Emilios Avgouleas, University of Edinburgh - School of Law 

Douglas W. Arner, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

5. Expanding Asia-Pacific Frontiers for International Dispute Resolution: Conclusions and Recommendations

Nobumichi Teramura, University of Sydney Law School, Adelaide Law School 

Shahla F. Ali, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

Anselmo Reyes, Court of First Instance (Hong Kong)

Haochen Sun Interviewed on National Security Law Implications for Facebook, Twitter, Google in Hong Kong (WSJ)

"Facebook, Twitter, Google Face Free-Speech Test in Hong Kong: New national-security law means authorities can ask companies to delete users or their content"
Newley Purnell and Eva Xiao

The Wall Street Journal
3 July 2020

HONG KONG—U.S. technology titans face a looming test of their free-speech credentials in Hong Kong as China’s new national-security law for the city demands local authorities take measures to supervise and regulate its uncensored internet.

     Facebook Inc. and its Instagram service, Twitter Inc. and YouTube, a unit of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, operate freely in the city even as they have been shut out or opted out of the mainland’s tightly controlled internet, which uses the “Great Firewall” to censor information....

     “Tech companies will absolutely receive more requests to remove information that is allegedly harmful to national security from the relevant authorities,” said Haochen Sun, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong. He said companies will face difficulties especially with borderline cases, such as potential requests to remove songs, for instance, that protesters have used in antigovernment demonstrations... Click here to access the online article.

New Issue: HKU Law's SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (June 23 2020)

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG FACULTY OF LAW LEGAL STUDIES RESEARCH PAPER SERIES

Vol. 10, No. 8: June 23, 2020

DOUGLAS W. ARNER, EDITOR

SIMON N. M. YOUNG, EDITOR

Table of Contents

Corporate Fundamental Responsibility: What Do Technology Companies Owe the World?

Haochen Sun, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

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Haochen Sun on Corporate Fundamental Responsibility: What Do Technology Companies Owe the World? (U of Miami L Rev)

"Corporate Fundamental Responsibility: What Do Technology Companies Owe the World?"

Haochen Sun

University of Miami Law Review, 
April 2020, Volume 74, Issue 3, Article 6 

Abstract: In this digital age, technology companies reign supreme. However, the power gained by these companies far exceeds the responsibilities they have assumed. The ongoing privacy protection and fake news scandals swirling around Facebook clearly demonstrate this shocking asymmetry of power and responsibility. Legal reforms taking place in the United States in the past twenty years or so have failed to correct this asymmetry. Indeed, the U.S. Congress has enacted major statutes minimizing the legal liabilities of technology companies with respect to online infringing acts, privacy protection, and payment of taxes. While these statutes have promoted innovation, they have also had the unintended effect of breeding irresponsibility among technology companies. Against this backdrop, this Article offers a new lens through which we can deal with the ethical crisis surrounding technology companies. It puts forward the concept of corporate fundamental responsibility as the ethical and legal foundation for imposing three distinct responsibilities upon technology companies: to reciprocate users’ contributions, play their role positively, and confront injustices created by technological development. The Article further considers how these responsibilities could be applied to improve protection of private data and to encourage responsible exercise of intellectual property rights by technology companies. The tripartite conception of corporate fundamental responsibility, this Article shows, is built upon the ethical theories of reciprocity, role responsibility, and social justice. Therefore, corporate fundamental responsibility paves the way for technology law to embrace ethics whole-heartedly, creating new legal and ethical guidance for the benevolent behavior of technology companies. In developing technologies, collecting data, and regulating speech, technology company leaders must act responsibly for the future of humanity. Click here to read the full paper at SSRN.