I am writing this editorial just days after a furore hit the British (and world) press over whether the Princess of Wales had photoshopped a family photo issued to celebrate Mother's Day. Maybe she did, and maybe she didn't.
But the interesting point from a lawyer's perspective is whether, if she did indeed photoshop it, she owned the copyright in the photo she had created? The even bigger question that came to my mind was around the use of AI, deepfakes and how much should we believe of what we see online or in other images.
One of the benefits of legal training is that we are encouraged to be quizzical; to question what we are being told, by clients and opponents, and not just to take at face value what is presented to us. That is true for lawyers around the world, whether practising in a common law jurisdiction or a civil law system. The challenge we all face is to remain sceptical without being cynical and to question without dismissing everything as fake.
The items we have selected for this edition of Mishcon & the World will give you a flavour of the things that my colleagues have actually been writing. If you want to contact the authors, to agree or to disagree with them, do just reach out.