News & Media
Fair Use is Awesome
A number of weeks ago, the RLG scored a major fair use victory in Righthaven v. Hoehn. In that case, we argued that even using an entire editorial could be fair use as long as the fair user made a transformative use of the original. The Court agreed. The issue of whether an entire work can be taken as fair use raised some controversy. The almost-always-awesome Ken Paulson doesn’t seem to get it, reading too much into the opinion’s dissection of the editorial in that case. But, it really is rather simple. The bargain we make with copyright owners is
Lake County, FL instituting inartfully drafted student dress code
By J. DeVoy In a wise response to budget cuts and other crises facing Florida’s public schools, Lake County’s School Board has set the stage to impose a dress code that bans “unnatural” hair colors, “extreme” hair cuts, and the use of makeup that is “disruptive or does not allow direct eye contact.” I don’t see how makeup precludes eye contact, either, though it maybe disruptive – it would make more sense if that provision applied to hair; maybe Lake County was banning the devilock a few decades too late. The proposed code also sets rules for dress hemlines, skorts,
Lets Hear it for Officer Matthew J. Lyons, Oceanside, CA Police Dep't
You know that whole “serve and protect” thing? That “uphold and defend the Constitution” thing? It seems that most police officers forget all about it. Not Matthew Lyons of the Oceanside PD. Professional. Courteous. Respectful. And right on all counts. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMMPV4D6cs0] H/T: Techdirt
Good Question….
The Carroll County Times asks: Carter raised the debt to a paltry $1 trillion in 1980. Reagan raised it to $3 trillion. George H. Bush raised it to $4 trillion. Clinton raised it to $5.5. trillion. George W. Bush doubled it to $10 trillion, and Obama has raised it to $14 trillion. Where was the outrage when Bush doubled the national debt during his administration, and whose policies have driven the country toward bankruptcy? (source) UPDATE: A commenter noted this: The number of Republican Senators who voted to raise the debt ceiling each time it came up for a vote
It is a shame that we are not Norwegian
Despite the horrible tragedy in Norway, it seems that Norwegian politicians are not rushing out to pass new laws to restrict liberties in that country. In fact, instead of dick-waving and “oh goody, now we get to pass a Nordic Patriot Act,” this is what the Norwegian King had to say: “I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear. I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society. I remain convinced in the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country.” (source) Pretty sad when a monarchy
Scott Randolph, Flori-duh Rep., needs a First Amendment refresher
State Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) wants to pass a bill that makes it a felony for jurors to try and sell their story within 9 months of a trial. (source) Apparently, Mr. Randolph, in his rush to score cheap points in a bill tagged with the Casey Anthony wand, forgot about Simon & Schuster v. Crime Victims Board, 502 U.S. 105 (1991). In that case, the Supreme Court held New York’s “son of sam” law unconstitutional. That law that made it illegal for a criminal to profit from selling his story. So, Mr. Randolph, how the hell are you going
Wall Street Journal's Hypocrisy on News Gathering
Trevor Timm at “Legal As She Is Spoke” provides a thoughtful essay comparing the Wall Street Journal’s stance on the phone hacking scandal and its stance on Wikileaks. (source)
As if you needed more evidence that Herman Cain doesn't belong in office
Naturally, his candidacy is no more serious than Sarah Palin’s nomination for a Rhodes Scholarship, but this guy is a constitutional train wreck. He claims that any community has a right to ban a mosque in their community. Fuck the First Amendment, Boo Boo! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZqyIM1jAMU] No, Herman, No. No you can’t. While I personally would like to see mosques, synagogues, and churches all banned from every community as a blight causing adverse secondary effects, I accept that the First Amendment stands in the way of that. Herman isn’t bright enough to know that.
Newark, NJ learns a little something about the First Amendment
The City of Newark, NJ, will be shelling out more than $50,000 for violating a journalist’s First Amendment rights: Roberto Lima, editor of Newark’s Brazilian Voice newspaper, was awarded $55,000 plus legal fees in response to a civil suit he filed for wrongful arrest in 2008. Lima claimed Samuel DeMaio asked Gerald Carlos, a photographer for the newspaper, if he had a “green card” after Carlos discovered a body in the East Ward in 2007. Lima also claimed DeMaio ordered officers at the scene to seize Carlos’ camera and later handcuff him at a police precinct to stop him from
TER founder receives default judgment of $20,000
By J. DeVoy The intersection of adult entertainment and the measure of statutory damages under the Copyright Act – one of colleague Ron Coleman‘s favorite subjects – all in one article from XBIZ? How conveeenient. Ron is counsel of record with Marc and I in Righthaven LLC v. Hyatt, where, on behalf of amicus Media Bloggers Association, we made some arguments about the role of the Copyright Act’s statutory damages provisions in default judgment awards. This case, involving claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation against David Elms, founder of TheEroticReview.com (“TER,” as it’s commonly known), is a
The "attack elites with white solutions" meme
By J. DeVoy Today, Rupert Murdoch was viciously pied, in the face, in Britain. In 2004, George Soros was attacked with glue. Am I the only person who sees this trend? Do white materials just show up better on camera? Non-elites have shoes thrown at them. Though, say what unkind things about GWB you will (and many will be correct), he was pretty agile.
NYT on Law School Economics
By J. DeVoy Just weeks before the bar exam, the New York Times craps all over the nonsensical economics of legal education. Based on the Times’ research, US News rankings play a surprisingly large role – and one much larger than the relevance such rankings actually have in practice. (“Oh, you went to Vanderbilt instead of Boalt? I’m not even going to bother replying to your opposition. Guffaw!” /sarcasm.) While the anti-law school undercurrent has been building for years (see Randazza’s post from 2009), this represents one of its deeper treatments. Moreover, it’s one of the few inquiries into the
Why filming porn in Las Vegas should make sense (or: unsolicited response to Bobbi Starr)
In Nevada, prostitution – defined in NRS 201.295 – operates in a manner very similar to the California statute at issue in Freeman. Overburdened though Nevada’s courts are, the state lacks an intermediate appeals court and could settle the question of porn production’s legality fairly quickly, with a fairly libertarian Nevada Supreme Court to render the final decision. Then again, why tempt fate a second before it’s necessary? In many counties, Nevada has legalized – albeit fairly stringently regulated – prostitution. The status of prostitution within the state is practically a precursor for porn. If anything, porn production is the
Data Encryption and the Fifth Amendment
By J. DeVoy If you have encrypted data that is seized during an investigation, and law enforcement officers are incapable of decrypting it, can you refuse to provide the codes to remove encryption? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) believes so, and recently submitted an amicus brief to that effect in U.S. v. Fricosu, Case No. 2:10-cr-00509-01-REB (D. Colo.) (hey, cool, I’m admitted there! – Ed.). Here’s a summary of the case from EFF’s press release: Ramona Fricosu[] is accused of fraudulent real estate transactions. During the investigation, the government seized an encrypted laptop from the home she shares with her
Barack Obama lies about his dead mother
By J. DeVoy Ann Althouse has the story. In short, the moving tale Obama regularly recounts about his mother’s tragic battle with insurance companies – which was relied on heavily by the White House in pushing health care reform – is false. The story begins in May, but is just breaking now because the New York Times has had such a hard time getting the executive branch to comment on it. But can you blame them?
Goddamned Illegal 'mmgrnts
Last week, in Phoenix (home to Sheriff Joe Arapaio), my taxi driver seemed to think that he would gain points with me by bitching about “all the damn illegal Mexicans we have to pay for here.” “We gotta pay to educate ’em,” he said. “Pay to hospitalize ’em, and pay to put ’em in our jails. I informed him of my position that any guy who wants to crawl through a river, over a wall, under a fence, and past a half dozen insane rednecks just to come and put a roof on my house is welcome here as far
USS Righthaven hits another iceberg
By J. DeVoy Today, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt held a hearing regarding the Order to Show Cause he previously issued in Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC et al, Case No. 2:10-cv-01356 (D. Nev.). Righthaven, represented by Las Vegas attorney Shawn Mangano and national law firm Kirkland & Ellis in this matter (though only Mangano was at the hearing on behalf of Righthaven LLC), received the following sanctions: • $5,000.00 in sanctions, payable within 2 weeks. This is in addition to Righthaven’s $3,815.00 due in Righthaven LLC v. Leon et al, Due July 25th. (Order available here.) To
Can we subpoena the photographer monkey?
By J. DeVoy Subpoenaing the monkey would resolve some of these issues. But we cannot. Per Peter Gabriel, you can shock the monkey – but you cannot subpoena him. Those are for people. Plus, monkeys can be extraordinarily violent. There’s nothing alpha about serving a subpoena on a creature that’s prone to ripping off your face: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9fOZ-Y74I&w=560&h=349] H/T: Techdirt, for posing the question.
Gonorrhea approaches superbug status
By J. DeVoy For as long as most readers of this blog have been alive, effective and quick treatment of the sexually transmitted disease Gonorrhea has been a given. That may be changing. As has been reported with many types of bacteria, a strain of Gonorrhea has developed that is resistant to most antibiotics currently available. As a result, untested and novel treatments – including use of the world’s most powerful antibiotics – may be needed to treat what was once a mere inconvenience in one’s sex life. The new strain of the sexually transmitted disease — called H041 —