My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
January 31st, 2014
The New Jersey Law Journal reports on two issues of first impression the Third Circuit reached in a copyright case:
* one, courts don't have the power to cancel copyright registrations;
* two, the three-year statute of limiations for copyright infringement claims do not start to run for alleged joint authors of copyrighted works "until a claimant is alerted to the potential violation of his or rights through a... Continue Reading
January 30th, 2014
A federal judge has certified a class action over the treatment of American Indian children in South Dakota's foster care system, the Associated Press reports: "It alleges the state is violating the Indian Child Welfare Act by holding improper hearings after children are removed from homes. It says the hearings are sometimes as short as 60 seconds and do not give parents the opportunity to introduce evidence showing their ability to... Continue Reading
January 30th, 2014
A federal judge has certified a class action over the treatment of American Indian children in South Dakota's foster care system, the Associated Press reports: "It alleges the state is violating the Indian Child Welfare Act by holding improper hearings after children are removed from homes. It says the hearings are sometimes as short as 60 seconds and do not give parents the opportunity to introduce evidence showing their ability to... Continue Reading
January 29th, 2014
The Lawrence Journal-World reports to repeal Kansas' ban on same-sex marriage have been accepted by a legislative committee. Kansas also is considering a bill to "provide legal protection to people who, because of religious opposition to gay marriage, would deny business and services to same-sex couples," the newspaper reports. Continue Reading
January 29th, 2014
The Indiana House approved putting a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage before voters, The Guardian reports. Now the measure has to be considered in the Senate. However, the proposed amendment was modified to remove language that would have banned civil unions and same-sex couples receiving benefits from their employers. Senators are expected to try to restore the language, The Guardian further reports.
January 28th, 2014
The Boston Business Journal reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the broadcasters' iteration of the legal issues in a lawsuit over whether Internet upstart Aereo's transmission of free broadcast TV through its Internet streaming services is copyright infringement. The issue, as drafted by the broadcasters, is being framed as "whether a company 'publicly performs' a copyrighted television program... Continue Reading
January 28th, 2014
At least three Republican legislators in Indiana have proposed a change to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that is pending in the House, Gannett's Palladium-Item reports. The change would strike a sentence that would ban civil unions for same-sex couples. The change would mean the measure would have to be approved a second time by the General Assembly before going to voters. Continue Reading
January 28th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a $1.2 million defamation judgment an airline pilot received after the airline reported that he could pose a security risk, Forbes reports. Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited the New York Times v. Sullivan in ruling that Air Wisconsin was entitled to immunity for statements its employees made to the Transportation Safety Administration as long they weren't materially false, Forbes further... Continue Reading
January 27th, 2014
The first "Twibel" verdict in the United States (or the first defamation verdict involving a tweet) resulted in a defense verdict for Courtney Love. An On the Media segment said the case "could become the social media equivalent of New York Times v. Sullivan," and Gigaom notes "the Love decision is significant because it comes in contrast to legal developments in the U.K., which threaten to chill the use of... Continue Reading
January 26th, 2014
Medical Economics reports that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is hindering the ability of healthcare providers to coordinate care, including with patients who want family and friends to have access to their health records: "According to a report in the January 22/29 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), privacy and security regulations aren’t keeping up with the convergence of technology... Continue Reading
January 26th, 2014
The Indianpolis Star is reporting that more than one-third of the Indiana House members who voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in 2011 now won't repeat their votes "or are wavering." "Those statistics reveal how far the debate over gay marriage has shifted in a state where only three years ago, House representatives overwhelmingly approved the ban 70 to 26," The Star concludes. Continue Reading
January 26th, 2014
The Associated Press reports that Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said she is reevaluating her office's defense of that state's ban on same-sex marriage. Masto, according to the AP, says that the state's arguments have been severely weakened after the 9th Circuit ruled that it is unconstitutional to exclude jurors on the basis of sexual orientation. Continue Reading
January 26th, 2014
Europe has reached an agreement to protect traditional knowledge held by indigenous peoples, according to an agreement on Balkans.com: "The regulation will oblige users, such as private collectors and companies, academic researchers or scientific institutions, to check that genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge have been accessed legally and that the benefits are shared fairly and equitably, on the basis of mutually... Continue Reading
January 26th, 2014
United Nations Special Rapporteur James Anaya said at a meeting earlier this month that one of the challenges for indigenous peoples' health is "how indigenous women living near oil, gas and mining operations are '"vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, which are often introduced with a rapid increase of extractive workers in indigenous areas,'" The First Perspective, Canada's... Continue Reading
January 24th, 2014
The Republican governor of Utah has announced an expansion of Medicaid, Huffington Post reports. Many Republican states have resisted the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare as too expensive. But Governor Gary Herbert "pointed to the 60,000 individuals in the state who will gain coverage under the state's expansion of the program, saying it's 'not fair' to leave them without a solution," Huffington Post... Continue Reading
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