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The Thomas file-sharing retrial
The almost two million dollar award is $80,000 per song. $80,000. Damages are supposed to be, well, damages, even if statutory. It strains belief that the record labels really were harmed to the tune of $80,000 per song, even based on wilful infringement. The jury in the retrial of Ms. Jammie Thomas-Rasset deliberated only a […]
June 2009 / 2 min.
Technology and social media alter recruiting and job seeking
NPR brings us some useful new “rules of the road” for those seeking jobs in today’s economy - I think this goes for lawyers as much as anyone. Just remember, while technology has altered some parts of job seeking and recruitment, the broad essentials (a good resume, networking, research, preparation, interview skills) remain the same.
June 2009 / 2 min.
Study on file sharing and copyright: weaker protections benefit society
There are many who disagree, but the study appears to raise interesting issues regarding the benefit to society of copyright protections. As Mike Masnick writes, copyright is about balancing benefits (incentives to create with the benefits of distribution).
June 2009 / 2 min.
Third-party copyright liability & freedom of speech
Alfred C. Yen of Boston College recently posted A First Amendment Perspective on the Construction of Third Party Copyright Liability on SSRN: The relatively high risk of chill associated with third party copyright liability suggests that the First Amendment is particularly relevant to the proper construction of this area of law. Indeed, First Amendment principles […]
June 2009 / 2 min.
My Current Top 5 Favorite WordPress Plugins
There are many, many WordPress plugins out there. Here are my top recommendations for the blogging lawyer/law student.
June 2009 / 2 min.
Narratives and evidence in the litigation of high-tech patents
Colleen Chien has a paper in SSRN, dated April of 2009, that explores the narrative of patents, from the epithet of “troll” applied to patent owners who seek only to leverage their patent through licensing, and not application, and including our rather romantic perception of an inventor.
June 2009 / 2 min.
Is “free” a potentially workable business model for legal services?
Lawyers are safer than musicians in that distribution of legal knowledge is harder - but nonetheless technology will revolutionize legal services, and law firms that adapt to the ideas behind “free” as a business model will survive and prosper - those that fail to adapt will not.
June 2009 / 5 min.
Internet access as a fundamental human right?
On June 10th, France’s version of the Supreme Court struck down parts of a new French law known as HADOPI: France’s highest court, the Constitutional Council, ruled that access to the internet is a “fundamental human right” this week in striking down a controversial “three strikes” anti-piracy law. via Is Internet Access a Fundamental Human […]
June 2009 / 3 min.
The current television business model will fail
The television industry is where newspapers were 10 years ago - in denial that they need to change their business model. They have tried, on occasion, to argue that skipping commercials is “stealing” and similar types of arguments. They are, as Henry points out, still making money - so they can afford to ignore the changes. I predict that, as inevitable as the death of their current business is, their attempt to legislate content protections is as inevitable.
June 2009 / 2 min.
Texas effectively denies open access to state law
A recent change to the Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure gives “memorandum” opinions full precedential value - but those opinions are currently only accessible through the very expensive Westlaw or LexisNexis.
June 2009 / 2 min.