The Copyrights of Christmas Christmas has a musical tradition like no other holiday. Celebrating the season with songs and carols dates back centuries. Now, the close association of music and Christmas extends to today’s most popular communication medium – the Internet. Sharing content using social media has become part of the fabric of our holiday celebrations. When you share a
Most people get married truly believing that it will be forever. Divorce statistics, however, indicate that “forever” is not always the case. Family law practitioners usually recommend that couples protect themselves by entering into a contract which spells out exactly what each party is entitled to in the event of divorce – pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements. Although this is the
“All in all, it was a pretty exciting Christmas, what with the relatives and the presents and the fun and the cops and Aunt Hazel’s dog blowing up in our living room.”This opening line to John Hughes’ short story “Christmas ‘59” (and the inspiration for National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation”) so perfectly captures the melee of holiday dysfunction. Add divorce and
As protection against tenant defaults, commercial landlords rely primarily on three devices: security deposits, letters of credit and guaranties of the leases. This article will focus primarily on the third, from the perspective of the landlord. A guaranty is a promise to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another (California Civil Code Section 2787). Key considerations with lease
California employees are protected against discrimination based on their own protected conditions, including age (over 40), sex, pregnancy, race, national origin, physical or mental condition, religion or having an industrial injury (Labor Code 132a). (California Government Code Section 12960, et seq.) A more difficult issue presents itself when the employee is “associated” with a protected individual but does not have
Prior to a recent statutory change, Section 110 of the Utah Adoption Act provided a practitioner with all of the notice requirements in relation to an unwed biological father (or putative father) of a newborn child being placed for adoption. Under section 110, a putative father was entitled to notice of adoption proceedings only if he had, prior to the
Let’s talk about confidentiality, in the context of filings made by applicants at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). When are such filings publicly available? What can be learned from such filings? Why should you and your clients care? Patents All original U.S. patent filings are confidential, at least for a while. Design patent applications – No information
Copyright law can be a labyrinth, an infringement minotaur waiting to jump on the unwary. Your head may spin when trying to determine infringement, non-infringement and fair use. Fair use, or the limited unauthorized reproduction of copyright material, is a legal doctrine codified in The Copyright Act of 1976. 17 U.S.C. § 107 states, “[T]he fair use of a copyrighted
In today’s world, businesses and their owners need to be prepared for legal threats from various sources. For example, competitors may engage in various conduct to obtain an unfair business advantage. Former employees may attempt to compete directly with their former employer in violation of restrictive covenants. Business owners may have partners that cause more harm than good to the
There are many types of false and misleading advertising tactics. For example, bait and switch advertising, high pressure sales tactics, artificially inflating prices, deceptive form contracts, and the failure to disclose certain facts. Our focus in this article is how to deal with the situation where your client, a business owner, comes to you and says, “My competitor has published
The Copyrights of Christmas Christmas has a musical tradition like no other holiday. Celebrating the season with songs and carols dates back centuries. Now, the close association of music and Christmas extends to today’s most popular communication medium – the Internet. Sharing content using social media has become part of the fabric of our holiday celebrations. When you share a
Most people get married truly believing that it will be forever. Divorce statistics, however, indicate that “forever” is not always the case. Family law practitioners usually recommend that couples protect themselves by entering into a contract which spells out exactly what each party is entitled to in the event of divorce – pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements. Although this is the
“All in all, it was a pretty exciting Christmas, what with the relatives and the presents and the fun and the cops and Aunt Hazel’s dog blowing up in our living room.”This opening line to John Hughes’ short story “Christmas ‘59” (and the inspiration for National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation”) so perfectly captures the melee of holiday dysfunction. Add divorce and
As protection against tenant defaults, commercial landlords rely primarily on three devices: security deposits, letters of credit and guaranties of the leases. This article will focus primarily on the third, from the perspective of the landlord. A guaranty is a promise to answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another (California Civil Code Section 2787). Key considerations with lease
California employees are protected against discrimination based on their own protected conditions, including age (over 40), sex, pregnancy, race, national origin, physical or mental condition, religion or having an industrial injury (Labor Code 132a). (California Government Code Section 12960, et seq.) A more difficult issue presents itself when the employee is “associated” with a protected individual but does not have
Prior to a recent statutory change, Section 110 of the Utah Adoption Act provided a practitioner with all of the notice requirements in relation to an unwed biological father (or putative father) of a newborn child being placed for adoption. Under section 110, a putative father was entitled to notice of adoption proceedings only if he had, prior to the
Let’s talk about confidentiality, in the context of filings made by applicants at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). When are such filings publicly available? What can be learned from such filings? Why should you and your clients care? Patents All original U.S. patent filings are confidential, at least for a while. Design patent applications – No information
Copyright law can be a labyrinth, an infringement minotaur waiting to jump on the unwary. Your head may spin when trying to determine infringement, non-infringement and fair use. Fair use, or the limited unauthorized reproduction of copyright material, is a legal doctrine codified in The Copyright Act of 1976. 17 U.S.C. § 107 states, “[T]he fair use of a copyrighted
In today’s world, businesses and their owners need to be prepared for legal threats from various sources. For example, competitors may engage in various conduct to obtain an unfair business advantage. Former employees may attempt to compete directly with their former employer in violation of restrictive covenants. Business owners may have partners that cause more harm than good to the
There are many types of false and misleading advertising tactics. For example, bait and switch advertising, high pressure sales tactics, artificially inflating prices, deceptive form contracts, and the failure to disclose certain facts. Our focus in this article is how to deal with the situation where your client, a business owner, comes to you and says, “My competitor has published
