Asian Legal Review

Copyright works can subsist within AI models, the Regional Court of Munich has ruled, in a case that has potentially profound implications for AI developers and rights holders.

The US and China are ramping up crackdowns on cryptocurrency-related cross-border crimes with a flurry of actions against the suspected ringleaders of scam networks operating in Southeast Asia.
In recent years, the border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have become hubs for online fraud operations, in which syndicates either trick or coerce their targeted victims to invest in bogus schemes and transfer money via bitcoin, ether or stablecoins before these are processed through…

Juan Ponce Enrile, a shrewd political operator who helped usher in the darkest repression of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos Snr’s rule, died on Thursday at the age of 101, his daughter said.
Enrile, who was being treated for pneumonia, died at home at 4.21pm “surrounded by our family”, Katrina Ponce Enrile said on her Facebook page, adding there would be a public viewing.
Known as the architect of the brutal martial law used to crush opposition to Marcos’ rule, Harvard-educated…

Information about notifiable data breaches reported to the regulator in Australia is being published in a new online dashboard, in what will be a useful resource for businesses subject to reporting requirements, legal experts have said.

The year began with promise for US-India relations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington reinforced both countries’ intent to sustain the partnership’s momentum. Their personal rapport, forged during US President Donald Trump’s first term, appeared to offer political capital for a results-driven agenda. India entered 2025 buoyed by a bipartisan consensus in Washington that New Delhi was central to the Indo-Pacific balance.
Yet as the year closes, optimism has faded. A…

Malaysia’s top prosecutor said on Wednesday that investigations into the murder probe of Taiwanese influencer Iris Hsieh found no evidence linking Malaysian rapper Namewee to her death, and he would be released on police bail on Thursday.
Attorney General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar confirmed the information with This Week in Asia, saying that there was no lead to show that Namewee was involved in causing Hsieh’s death in Kuala Lumpur.
“The investigation is still ongoing, instructions for further…

Despite recent headlines highlighting risks in private credit, the asset class remains a vital and growing part of Australia’s debt market.

What a difference an administration change makes in Ottawa, even though both the current and preceding governments are from the Liberal Party.
Three years ago, Canada under Justin Trudeau labelled China a “disruptive global power”. Last month, his successor Mark Carney reached agreement with Beijing to revive the strategic partnership the two nations signed in 2005, with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand saying the framework would be “renewed and refocused”.
“We must be nuanced in our…

The student suspected of detonating blasts that injured dozens of people at a mosque in Indonesia’s capital last week was motivated by vengeance and inspired by attacks carried out by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, police said on Tuesday.
The blasts, which hit a mosque at a school complex in the capital Jakarta’s Kelapa Gading area during Friday prayers, left 96 people injured.
Police said on Tuesday that seven home-made explosives had been found by Indonesian authorities in and around the…

For US President Donald Trump to consent to South Korea building its own nuclear-powered submarines was unexpected – though a welcome decision for the many South Korean analysts who have long argued such vessels were urgently needed by the country’s navy.
It will have a huge impact on the US alliance with South Korea and its neighbours, not least North Korea, which is apparently building its first nuclear ballistic missile submarine with Russian technical support: not just any nuclear-powered…