Fair Use

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 09.15.17

* Interested in volunteering at a DACA renewal clinic? You can do it even if you're not an immigration lawyer. Sign up here to get training and match with a site in need of your assistance. [Lawyers for Good Government] * Adding healthy habits to your already packed schedule can seem like an impossible task, but you really can do it. [Corporette] * Sad but true (and not at all surprising): Americans don't know squat about the Constitution. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Judge Jed Rakoff issues an important opinion outlining the contours of "fair use." [Copyright Alliance] * Biglaw behemoth Dentons has created a network to connect PR professionals. That's an interesting move for a firm that already counts more than 7,000 lawyers under its umbrella. [Law and More] * David Lat chats with employment lawyer Matt Steinberg about how transparency is transforming the employer/employee relationship. [Akerman]

By Above the Law
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.21.17

* Everyone in the Trump administration who is in some way related to the Russia probe has now lawyered up with outside counsel, including the attorney general. AG Jeff Sessions is being represented by Chuck Cooper, a longtime champion of conservative causes. If you recall, Cooper also prepped Sessions for his confirmation hearing. [USA Today] * Let's not go crazy: Earlier this week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and outside counsel Keker & Van Nest were denied certiorari on the Lenz v. Universal Music case -- perhaps better known as the "dancing baby" case. Thanks to the SCOTUS decision, or lack thereof, we'll not know "whether or not the DMCA includes meaningful protections for online fair uses" anytime soon. [Law.com] * Judge Gonzalo Curiel will not make a Trump University settlement objector post a $146,888 bond to pursue an appeal. Sherri Simpson, a Florida bankruptcy lawyer, paid $19,000 for Trump U. seminars and mentorship, but now she wants out so she can sue the president over the alleged fraud. [POLITICO] * Concerned Veterans for America, a political action committee that's funded by the Koch brothers, is running an ad in support of a Penn Law Professor Stephanos Bibas's nomination to the Third Circuit. "Generally a candidate would have to be pretty inflammatory or at risk to justify this kind of spending," said election law attorney Adam Bonin. [Legal Intelligencer via ABA Journal] * UNC Law's budget has officially been cut by the state Senate, but it's not as bad as the $4 million budget buster that was previously proposed. The law school will have to do without $500K in state appropriations if the legislature approves the move. Yes, that's the sound of your tuition going up. [News & Observer]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.20.16

* Will Pokémon Go open up a battlefield of legal troubles for Nintendo? [Ohio State Bar Association] * Better Call Saul’s Jimmy McGill is a great example of the trickster lawyer. [Guile is Good] * ComicCon is coming, and most of the vendors owe a lot to the doctrine of fair use. [ReCreate Coalition] * A soured love affair turns into sanctions for discovery violations. [Legal Profession Blog] * Lawyers get a reputation for being slow to change, but you need to adapt to a changing landscape. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.27.16

* Yikes! Thanks to its expensive legal battle with Hulk Hogan -- one that's been revenge-financed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel to the tune of millions of dollars -- Gawker Media is exploring a possible sale of the company and has hired Mark Patricof of Houlihan Lokey to provide financial advice. [DealBook / New York Times] * Maybe Harvard Law grads are a like Carrie Bradshaw after all -- except their degrees cost more than their shoes: In addressing Harvard's 2016 grads at the Law School’s Class Day, Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City admitted she had no idea why she was chosen as a speaker, and said she initially turned down the offer. [Harvard Crimson] * Alan Koslow, formerly of Becker & Poliakoff, resigned yesterday after he was charged in a federal money-laundering conspiracy scheme. Koslow's charge is the result of a three-and-a-half year undercover FBI sting. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. We may have more on this later today. [Orlando Sun-Sentinel] * “Oracle shouldn’t ‘own’ programmers simply because they had taken the time to learn Java." Google escaped an almost $9 billion copyright lawsuit with the help of a jury that concluded the tech giant had made fair use of Oracle's Java programming language in the creation of its Android operating system for its phone business. [Big Law Business] * Closing the gender gap, one job at a time: The OnRamp Fellowship, a program that pairs female lawyers who want to return to practice with the nation's top firms in the hope of receiving an offer at the end of their one-year stints, has now expanded to in-house legal departments. Congratulations on your excellent work. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 12.22.15

* If you need a reminder as to why it is essential to fight for access to abortions and reproductive freedom generally, read this. [Slate] * Is Madonna using the "fair use" doctrine to avoid paying artists whose work she uses? [DIY Photography] * Bigger isn't always better: how Cooley Law School is hurting legal educational standards. [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Want a surefire way to NOT get out of educational debt anytime soon? Go to law school. [Wall Street Journal] * You need to know your rights vis-a-vis airlines. Because the government isn't going to fine them much anymore. [Huffington Post] * Virginia is going to stop recognizing conceal carry permits from 25 states. [Washington Post]

By Kathryn Rubino