News & Media
Banish "I can't" from your vocabulary!
Susan Carter Liebel is a solo practitioner and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law. I stumbled upon her blog this morning and found this posting to be supremely inspirational. I’ve stricken the phrase, “I can’t” from my vocabulary and banished it from my household. If my husband says those words, I give him the raised eyebrow. If
Scott Moss on the Imus Defamation Suit & Client Control
Professor Scott Moss of the University of Colorado has a great comment on the Imus defamation suit This is a classic case of a plaintiff who’s justifiably enraged about something that’s not illegal (racist insults) and therefore filed a lawsuit dubiously asserting something that is illegal (false factual statements about sexual practices). When I was a full-time plaintiff’s lawyer, I
Nautica® v. Nautica Thorn
The adoption of a nom de plume is a time-honored tradition. Francois Marie Arouet became Voltaire, Samuel Clemens became Mark Twain, Theodore Geisel is known to us all as Dr. Seuss. Movie actors ran with this tradition from the earliest time that celluloid fell to a cutting room floor. Moses Horwitz, Louis Feinberg, Jerome Horwitz, and/or Samuel Horwitz, couldn’t get
Prisoner Byline Rights
The Federal Bureau of Prisons decided that federal inmates publishing news articles under their own byline presented a “security risk.” A Federal Court in Colorado disagrees, and the First Amendment wins. The government argued that inmates who act as reporters or publish under a byline could rise to undue prominence within the inmate population, thereby becoming a security risk. Also,
Banish “I can’t” from your vocabulary!
Susan Carter Liebel is a solo practitioner and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University School of Law. I stumbled upon her blog this morning and found this posting to be supremely inspirational. I’ve stricken the phrase, “I can’t” from my vocabulary and banished it from my household. If my husband says those words, I give him the raised eyebrow. If
Scott Moss on the Imus Defamation Suit & Client Control
Professor Scott Moss of the University of Colorado has a great comment on the Imus defamation suit This is a classic case of a plaintiff who’s justifiably enraged about something that’s not illegal (racist insults) and therefore filed a lawsuit dubiously asserting something that is illegal (false factual statements about sexual practices). When I was a full-time plaintiff’s lawyer, I
Violent Femmes Turn on Each Other
The 1980s are officially over. Well, I guess they were over 17 years ago, but don’t tell my CD collection that. Brian Ritchie, bassist for the Violent Femmes, filed suit against vocalist Gordon Gano in the Southern District of New York claiming that he did not receive proper songwriting credit for some of the band’s works, and that (this makes
Miami Shuts Down Home-Based Adult Site
Most people are familiar with the “Voyeur Dorm” concept. As an adult-oriented “reality show,” not unlike “Big Brother,” a producer sets up a home with cameras all over, and the viewers can act as voyeurs — looking in on the lives of the entertainers. In the adult entertainment context, that means watching them have sex with each other. One Miami
SFX Sports v. marianorivera.com
It seems that someone has registered www.marianorivera.com. SFX Sports, Mariano Rivera’s talent agency and marketing company sent this cease & desist letter to the registrant of marianorivera.com.
Presley Intervention
“Do what’s right for you, as long as it don’t hurt no one.” -Elvis Presley. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ disappearance, I offer the following homage to the King.
I Hate it when Jon Katz is Right
Ok, not really. I actually love that Jon Katz is right. I frequently link to his blog because he has a sense of justice mixed with a Buddhist sense of balance and this Gandhian “be the change you want to see in the world” view. Jon has a marvelous post about the importance of remaining calm here. I think I
Chadder's on the Outs with In-N-Out
An interesting trademark/trade-dress case from the District of Utah. Most of the opinion is a relatively dull discussion of trade dress. Here’s the fun part.
Man Faces Prison for "Dirty" Comic Book
Sherman, set the wayback machine to Halloween night, 2004. On that evening, Gordon Lee decided to give away 2,000 free comic books to the children of Rome, Georgia. Among those he distributed was “Alternative Comics #2,” which included drawings of Pablo Picasso’s allegedly erect penis. A copy was handed out to two brothers, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old, according to
Chadder’s on the Outs with In-N-Out
An interesting trademark/trade-dress case from the District of Utah. Most of the opinion is a relatively dull discussion of trade dress. Here’s the fun part.
Man Faces Prison for “Dirty” Comic Book
Sherman, set the wayback machine to Halloween night, 2004. On that evening, Gordon Lee decided to give away 2,000 free comic books to the children of Rome, Georgia. Among those he distributed was “Alternative Comics #2,” which included drawings of Pablo Picasso’s allegedly erect penis. A copy was handed out to two brothers, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old, according to
More Imus – Lame Defamation Suit – The Winds of Censorship Change Again
I personally think that Don Imus’ statements about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team were mean, nasty, uncalled for, and just plain un-cool. Nevertheless, I think the outcry over them and his firing were not justified. Most of those shrieking were more interested in promoting themselves than actually protecting the women. Well, someone has managed to actually put me 100% on
Judges Like Adult Entertainment Too
A Colorado Federal Judge is in the news because his wife of three years left him after discovering that he racked up a $3,000 tab over two separate nights in a Denver strip club. “I’m ashamed and mortified just telling you that is the Diamond Cabaret . . . a topless establishment,” he testified. He also reportedly said he couldn’t
Dying in a Plane Crash (I did not write this)
I did not write this, but it made me laugh so hard that I knocked a pile of papers off my desk. Therefore, I thought I would share.
Wasting your Money, Policing your Morality
The New York Times reportsabout a federal privatization of its neo-con censorship program. Original article here A retired Indianapolis detective, Tom Rogers, is paid $150,000 to surf porn sites and make his own personal determination as to whether they are obscene, and thus should be referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. His work is financed by a Justice
New Jersey's Long Arm of the Law
New Jersey’s long arm statute seems to have stretched a little too far in this decision. In Goldhaber v. Kohlenberg, the New Jersey Court of Appeals ran through a litany of internet jurisdiction cases, most of which held that a defamation defendant doesn’t get to sue in his home court — but must sue in the speaker’s home court. Unfortunately
