“Chapman High School, whose athletics teams have been known as the Fighting Irish since 1967, has been formally asked by the University of Notre Dame to change its leprechaun logo due to the college’s trademark on the image.” [Yardbarker]
Archive for October, 2011
“Regulation: The Legal Economy’s Best Friend?”
“’Stricter regulation’ will be the number one driver of increased litigation according to general counsels and other corporate law officials surveyed by Fulbright & Jaworski.” [WSJ Law Blog]
Congress fixes false marking law
Congratulations to lawmakers for wisely terminating this unfair and destructive line of patent litigation — even if, as I explain at Cato, the result was to moot the case in which I’d filed my first amicus brief. More here, etc.
“Supreme Court of Canada Stands Up for the Internet: No Liability for Linking”
Sighs of relief after a decision in a defamation case (Crooks v. Newton) reported on earlier. [Michael Geist] Justice Abella:
I would conclude that a hyperlink, by itself, should never be seen as “publication” of the content to which it refers.
Adventurous litigants in U.S. defamation cases have occasionally argued otherwise. On Canada, see also proposals to criminalize links to so-called hate speech.
Medical roundup
- View from Massachusetts General Hospital: drug shortages getting “dire” [WBUR, earlier here, here, here, etc.]
- Medical liability roundup: Sheriff arrives at Ohio doctor’s home to enforce $9.7 million award blaming lack of Caesarean section for cerebral palsy [TribToday] North Carolina legislature overrides Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto of liability limits [News & Observer via White Coat] Trial-lawyer-friendly Florida Supreme Court could strike down malpractice award limits in pending case [Orlando Business Journal]
- “Antitrust rules handcuff physician-led delivery models” [American Medical News]
- Relatedly, who was it who imagined anonymous denunciation of doctors was going to be a good idea? [Jay Hopkinson via Larry Ribstein]
- New Medicare paperwork threat to clinical trials? [Beck]
- Study: Elected coroners less likely to label deaths as suicide than appointed counterparts, family’s access to insurance benefits may be factor [Kevin B. O’Reilly, American Medical News]
- “Gee, why wouldn’t Obama administration want judges and “public interest” lawyers running its new health care law?” [Mickey Kaus on New Republic report]
“Actress sues Amazon over her age on its IMDb site”
“An actress has sued Amazon.com for more than $1m after her age was posted on its Internet Movie Database. The unnamed actress says the website misused her legal date of birth after she signed up to the IMDbPro service in 2008.” [BBC]
Good for the sole
And helps in avoiding heels too: “That’s the best way: You just get on with the whole thing. Never mind suing anyone. And just do something different.” — NYT’s Bill Cunningham on the Louboutin trademark litigation over red soles on fashion shoes (via Ann Althouse, who now offers an all-law-blog option).
“Nebraska Supreme Court: No DUI in a Private Driveway”
“Jeffrey McCave was sentenced in a county court to thirty days in jail, two years of probation and a $1000 fine for listening to music in an undriven car parked on his father’s driveway while drunk. The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday used the case to clarify that the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) does not apply in a personal driveway.” [The Newspaper]
Farm dust makes EPA blink
My new post at Cato at Liberty examines the latest EPA about-face following pushback against its ambitious regulatory schemes. Alarms by farmer and rancher interests over EPA’s proposed curbs on dust in the atmosphere had led to ongoing political headaches for President Obama and Senate Democrats. More: Politico; Robert VerBruggen/NRO and more; welcome Neal Boortz readers.
Police lineups and eyewitness accuracy
A human-interest story in the Times about the business of recruiting “fillers” for police lineups raises uncomfortable questions about the accuracy of eyewitness identification [Scott Greenfield].