PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Matthew Sag

Matthew Sag is a legal scholar of copyright and artificial intelligence whose idea of non-expressive use, introduced in 2009, now frames the debate over training AI on copyrighted works. Born and educated in Australia, he practiced law at Arnold & Porter in London and Skadden in Silicon Valley before teaching at DePaul and Loyola Chicago, where he was principal author of amicus briefs for digital humanities and law scholars in the HathiTrust and Google Books cases. Emory hired him in 2022 through its AI.Humanity initiative, and in July 2023 he told a Senate subcommittee that copyright law should not recognize AI systems as authors. A 2025 ruling in the Kadrey lawsuit against Meta Platforms engaged his 2024 essay “Fairness and Fair Use in Generative AI” directly and adopted its term “indirect substitution.” Today he is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science at Emory and the author of a free casebook, Copyright Law in the Age of AI.

Works
102
Citations
581
h-index
13
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1997–1998

    Law degree and a federal clerkship

    Born and educated in Australia, he graduates from the Australian National University in 1997 with a BA and an honours law degree. From 1997 to 1998, he is associate to Justice Paul Finn of the Federal Court of Australia.

  2. 1998–2004

    Practice at Arnold & Porter and Skadden

    From 1998 to 2004, he practices law in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. His posts include associate at Arnold & Porter in London and a role with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Silicon Valley.

  3. 2004–2009

    The theory of non-expressive use

    He starts teaching in 2004 as a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Law and joins DePaul University in 2006. His 2009 Northwestern University Law Review article, “Copyright and Copy-Reliant Technology,” argues that technologies such as search engines make non-expressive use of copyrighted works and should generally prevail on fair use. The concept now frames the debate over AI training.

  4. 2011–2015

    Loyola and the Google Books cases

    He joins Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2011. In October 2012, he writes a Nature commentary with Matthew L. Jockers and Jason Schultz, “Don't let copyright block data mining,” on why humanities scholars joined the Authors Guild v. Google lawsuit. From 2013 to 2015, he is principal author of amicus briefs for digital humanities and law scholars in the HathiTrust and Google Books cases.

  5. 2018

    Election to the American Law Institute

    He is elected a member of the American Law Institute in 2018.

  6. 2022

    An AI.Humanity hire at Emory

    In early 2022, he and Charlotte Tschider found the Legal Scholars Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence, which grows into an annual event hosted by Emory Law. In April 2022, Emory announces that he, then Georgia Reithal Professor of Law and associate dean for Faculty Research and Development at Loyola, will join its law faculty as Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science through the university's AI.Humanity initiative.

  7. 2023–2025

    Senate testimony and generative AI

    In July 2023, he testifies before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property that copyright law should not recognize AI systems as authors and that a properly trained large language model with safeguards makes fair use. His 2024 Fordham Law Review essay, “Fairness and Fair Use in Generative AI,” outlines a framework for judging such cases. The 2025 Kadrey v. Meta Platforms decision adopts its term “indirect substitution” in analyzing market dilution.

  8. As of October 2026

    Jonas Robitscher Professor at Emory

    He is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science at Emory University School of Law, where he teaches Copyright, Law & Artificial Intelligence. In October 2026, version 1.3 of the 2026 edition of his free casebook, Copyright Law in the Age of AI, appears, with AI running through its 28 chapters on U.S. copyright law.

Career

  1. Since 2012Emory UniversityJonas Robitscher Professor of Law in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science
  2. 2011–2020Loyola University ChicagoGeorgia Reithal Professor of Law; Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development
  3. 2006–2010DePaul University
  4. 2004–2006Northwestern UniversityVisiting assistant professor
  5. 1998–2004Arnold & PorterAssociate
  6. 1998–2004Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
  7. 1997–1998Federal Court of AustraliaAssociate to Justice Paul Finn

Education

  1. 1997Australian National UniversityBA and honours law degree

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. The New Legal Landscape for Text Mining and Machine Learning2019 · 70 citations
  2. Copyright Safety for Generative AI2023 · 58 citations
  3. Legal reform to enhance global text and data mining research2022 · Science · 42 citations
  4. Predicting Fair Use2012 · 40 citations
  5. Internet Safe Harbors and the Transformation of Copyright Law2017 · 27 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes Matthew Sag. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Emory University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Emory University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Emory University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Matthew Sag yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Matthew Sag - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Matthew Sag | Emory University School of Law | Atlanta, GA law.emory.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Non-Expressive Use – Matthew Sag matthewsag.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Impact and Influence – Matthew Sag matthewsag.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Don't let copyright block data mining | Nature nature.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Matthew Sag joins Emory Law faculty as part of university AI.Humanity initiative | Emory University School of Law law.emory.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Legal Scholars Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence – Matthew Sag matthewsag.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Sag testifies on AI, copyright before Senate subcommittee | Emory University School of Law law.emory.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Fairness and Fair Use in Generative AI | Fordham Law Review ir.lawnet.fordham.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Copyright Law in the Age of AI — Matthew Sag matthewsag.com. Checked 20 October 2026.