News & Media
This is Taking things a bit too Far
This just seems wrong… MANATEE — A young man who posted a naked picture of his ex-girlfriend on her MySpace page will be sentenced to 30 days in the Manatee County jail, a circuit judge said today. Anthony D. Rich, 19, pleaded no contest today to charges of child abuse and attempted child abuse — charges that were reduced from
The First Amendment Trumps the 21st (and "Adverse Secondary Effects" are more than mere Magic Words
The Sixth Circuit so held in Hamilton’s Bogarts, Inc., et al. v. State of Michigan, et al. ___ F.3d ___ (6th Cir. 2007) in a decision released on August 30, 2007. The State of Michigan imposed a new restrictive law regarding serving alcohol at nude dancing establishments. The Eastern District of Michigan essentially held that the 21st Amendment gave the
Hypocrites for Community Values Lose Round One
Citizens for Community Values is a hyper-right wing group of busybodies who are essentially the seeds of an American style Taliban who operate out of Cincinnati. The First Amendment be damned, they tirelessly work to try to decide what kind of entertainment that you and I can enjoy, or not enjoy. CCV’s lack of respect for the First Amendment reached
Today's Army… now with Soft Core Porn
When I was a kid, my history teacher, Jim Brennan, showed us a film that made Full Metal Jacket look tame. It was essentially a documentary made from home movies taken by soldiers in Vietnam. I must admit, it almost made going to Vietnam look like a non-stop frat party. Drinking, carousing, girls… I bet at least one of my
My God I love Molly Ivins
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYXUUsDGxkU]
I will not post the Miss Teen South Carolina Video
Yes, the Miss Teen USA blunder by Miss Teen South Carolina was funny. I did laugh. But then I realized, this is miss TEEN USA. In other words, this is a KID! Take any other kid, throw her onto a stage with millions of people watching on TV and thousands in the audience, and watch what she does. Her comments
What is it with the Hard Right and Bathrooms?
Lets start with what does not trouble me at all. 1. Two consenting adults getting it on. 2. Two consenting adults of the same sex getting it on. 3. Any number of consenting adults getting it on. Consenting adults getting it on in a public toilet? Well, it troubles me, but I don’t really have a humongous problem with it.
Professionalism: Rekindling Greatness
Aaron Thalwitzer, a law student at Barry University School of Law, recently won first place in The Florida Bar’s Standing Committee on Professionalism Student Essay Contest. I am very proud to say (as an adjunct member of the faculty at Barry) that this is the third year in a row that a Barry student has taken home that honor. His
Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Ass on the Way Out, you Swine
A-GONZ RESIGNS!!!!!!!!!!!!! WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned.(SOURCE) CNN Confirms it and so does Fox News. Now here’s the challenge. When Ashcroft resigned, I predicted that A-Gonz would be better, because you can’t do much worse than Ashcroft. Whoo… file
Fuck the FCC – in its Ass
I really can’t express myself in any other terms after reading this.
Top Ten Worst Prosecutors
10 Worst US Prosecutors I can’t claim authorship for this — that, and the Brass Balls award for the month goes to Bob Bennett!
Ice Sculptures and "Fixation"
In my Copyright Law class, a student held the opinion that an ice sculpture might qualify as “fixed” (as defined by the Copyright Act), depending on the climate. Of course, logically this makes sense. It would be difficult to argue that an ice sculpture placed in a sub-freezing room would not be a “fixed tangible medium of expression.” The Copyright
Originality and Copyright Theory
On Thursday, in my Copyright Law class, we pondered whether anything is truly “original” in art, be it music, film, literature, etc. We also batted around some alternative theories thrown into the mix by a couple of creative students. One student articulated a pretty cool hybrid theory whereby moral rights would extend perpetually, even if economic rights terminated at some
Congratulations to the TTABlog
Congratulations to John Welch and his TTABlog. The TTAB (incorrectly in my mind) determined that TTABlog is not an inherently distinctive mark, but determined that the TTABlog has acquired enough distinctiveness to be registered on the Principal Register under Section 2(f). Post here. Just a note about the TTABlog – not only is it distinctive (whether inherently or acquired), but
Barbie v. China Barbie Update
Regarding this earlier post on the Mattel v. China Barbie case. Fox just had China Barbie on to discuss the dispute with Mattel. They treated her as if she were being prosecuted for providing harmful material to minors. Interesting note. She said that prior to this lawsuit, she was getting about 100 hits a day. Now she gets about 100,000
Great Reply to my "Violent Femmes Turn on Each Other" Post.
In Violent Femmes Turn on Each Other, I lament the processing of the songs from my youth into ad jingles. The author of the Truth Be Told blog posted a great reply. After the Beatles broke up some British journalist asked Mick Jagger, “Do you think the Rolling Stones will ever break up?” He replied something like, “Nah, but if
Barbie® v. China Barbie
Note, to kink to this post, use this link: http://tinyurl.com/22vd8u. It seems that the use of the “®” in the title messes up the permalink for some browsers. Perhaps inspired by Nautica’s® attempt to stop Nautica Thorn from registering her name as a trademark, Mattel, manufacturer of the Barbie® doll, just fired a shot across the bow of adult entertainer,
Separation of Church and State on Lisa Macci
Lisa Macci gave me the privilege of sharing her airwaves yesterday to discuss the separation of church and state and some recent court cases in that department. Part 1 of the show Part 2 of the show
The Virtues of Inexperience
No matter who you support, you have to give Obama credit for this one. After being slammed for a lack of experience by his Democratic rivals, he replied: “Nobody had more experience than Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney and many of the people on this stage that authorized this war,” Obama said. “And it indicates how we get into trouble
