art and artists – Overlawyered

May 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 20 May 2020 10:30:34 +0000

Is universal access to reliably functioning electric power better or worse in countries that officially treat access to electric power as a right rather than a private good? [David R. Henderson on Burgess et al., Journal of Economic Perspectives]
“There’s bad lawyering, and then there’s lawyering so bad that the Tenth Circuit holds the plaintiffs’ lawyer liable for $1 mil in attorneys’ fees. But that’s what you get if you ignore orders not to file ‘any more prolix, redundant, meandering pleadings or briefs.'” [Institute for Justice “Short Circuit” on Snyder v. Acord]
1st Circuit: Dept. of Interior broke law when it turned land owned by Mashpee Wampanoag tribe into new reservation land. Feds: okay, we’ll comply and tribe will own land in conventional form instead. Progressive Twitter: settler colonialist shock horror! [WBUR]
“Supreme Court Agrees to Decide, What is Hacking?” [Orin Kerr on Van Buren v. U.S.]
“The Second Circuit has upheld the awful decision by [a district court] to sanction a building owner millions of dollars for daring to paint the walls of his own building.” [Cathy Gellis, TechDirt; earlier; Visual Artists Rights Act violation found after building owner permitted graffiti installations, later painted them over]
“Led Zeppelin wins ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright case” [Jonathan Stempel, Reuters]

Tags: art and artists, Indian tribes, music and musicians, sanctions

May 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Gig/freelancer economy roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:01:02 +0000

More on the chaotic, destructive effects of California’s AB5 (earlier here, here, etc.):

“Non-equity theaters, music venues and jazz clubs, dance companies, small cultural festivals of all types face very real threats” [Brendan Rawson, Cal Matters] Translators and interpreters hard hit by law [Dan Plante, KUSI]
Women-owned businesses “reeling” [Elaine Pofeldt, Forbes] Disabled workers “hugely impacted” [Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos]
California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Granite Bay) has asked members of the public for their stories about how AB5 has affected them. You can see the results here;
“Ready, Fire, Aim: How State Regulators Are Threatening the Gig Economy and Millions of Workers and Consumers” [U.S. Chamber Employment Policy Division]
“The New York Times is hiring a contractor to write about California real estate, but because of AB5 they will not be hiring anyone in California.” [Emma Gallegos on Twitter]
Not an isolated outrage: union allies nearly got such a bill passed in New Jersey in recent weeks [Alida Kass, Star-Ledger; Jen Singer, Philadelphia Inquirer] New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo has now signaled support for something similar [Evie Fordham, Fox Business] And backers want to take the idea national through a bill called the PRO Act, or HR2474/S1306, in the U.S. Congress [Kim Kavin, Daily Kos; Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos]

Tags: art and artists, California, New Jersey, New York, small business, wage and hour suits

Gig/freelancer economy roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 22 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 May 2019 10:02:20 +0000

My comment on the House-passed H.R. 5: “Proposed Equality Act would 1) massively expand federal liability in areas unrelated to sex, gender, or orientation; 2) turn 1000s of routine customer gripes into federal public-accommodations cases; 3) squeeze conscience exemptions hard. All are good reasons to oppose.” More: Scott Shackford, Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Hans Bader, and earlier here and here;
America is not in a constitutional crisis: “Politicians have become incentivized to declare constitutional crises because it enhances their own importance as saviors and demonizes their opponents as illegitimate.” [Keith Whittington; Vox mini-symposium with Ilya Somin and others] Mike McConnell vs. Josh Chafetz on whether the current Congressional subpoena fights are really that different from politics of the past [Jonathan Adler] Calm, down-the-middle analysis of the issues raised by the Mueller report [Cato Institute chairman Bob Levy]
“Mercedes Goes To Court To Get Background Use Of Public Murals In Promotional Pics Deemed Fair Use” [Timothy Geigner]
Bizarro sovereign-citizen notions are found in the background of more than a few serious financial fraud cases [Ashley Powers, New York Times]
Divestment and sanctions by state governments aimed at other U.S. states is a bad idea that never seems to go away. Now it’s being floated in Maryland, against Alabama [my Free State Notes post]
“A federal judge in Texas wants you to know she’s sick and tired of whiny lawyers” [Justin Rohrlich, Quartz from December, Brad Heath on Twitter; Align Technology v. ClearCorrect, Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore]

Tags: Alabama, art and artists, constitutional law, folk law, Maryland, photography, sexual orientation, transgender

May 22 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Web accessibility suits hit art galleries

Walter Olson — Sun, 05 May 2019 16:05:44 +0000

More than 75 New York City art galleries “have been hit with lawsuits alleging they are violating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) because their websites are not equally accessible to blind and visually impaired consumers. Art galleries are the latest business sector to be targeted with a wave of such lawsuits. Thousands of other businesses, including hotels, resorts, universities, and restaurants have been served with similar complaints last year.” Deshawn Dawson, a legally blind person living in Brooklyn, has filed at least 37 of the suits; he along with another frequent filer are often represented by attorneys Joseph Mizrahi and Jeffrey Gottlieb. Art and design schools around the country have also been hit, and some New York galleries have settled claims rather than take the risks of litigation and a possible adverse verdict [Eileen Kinsella, Artnet News, first, second, third pieces]

Tags: art and artists, NYC, serial litigants, web accessibility

Web accessibility suits hit art galleries is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Campus speech roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 11:01:47 +0000

Fourth Circuit: Title IX may oblige universities to take action against outside social media sites whose content is said to create hostile environment. By blocking student access to them? [Samantha Harris, FIRE, Eugene Volokh, Robby Soave on University of Mary Washington ruling]
Return of the loyalty oath? Some senior academics speak out against required faculty diversity statements and pledges, at the University of California [Stephen Bainbridge, Nick Wolfinger, John McGinnis, Law and Liberty] and Harvard [Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, Jeffrey Flier, Times Higher Education]
Speech codes and “The Coddling of the American Mind”: Greg Lukianoff and Adam Goldstein guestblog at Volokh Conspiracy [series: first, second, third, fourth, fifth]
“OCR’s use of overly broad anti-Semitism definition threatens student and faculty speech” [Zach Greenberg, FIRE] University of Washington lecturer publishes article on sex differences in pursuit of computer careers, it’s cited as gender harassment as part of successful push for training and curriculum review [Stuart Reges, Quillette] Update on “Fourth floor, ladies’ lingerie” joke episode [Katherine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Education, earlier]
Bias response teams are benign-sounding way to police speech [Dan E. Way, Martin Center] Prescribed first-year programs do much to bend the assumptions surrounding what can be safely said [John Tierney, City Journal] Artists’ intent was to challenge Confederate imagery, but some students were offended, so down it went [Inside Higher Ed: Scott Jaschik and Emily Chamlee-Wright and Sarah Skwire]
Speech First, recently formed nonprofit group, sues University of Texas over speech policies [Phil Prazan, KXAN, Washington Examiner: Lauren Cooley and Grant Addison]

Tags: art and artists, colleges and universities, diversity oaths, free speech, Harvard, hostile environment, Title IX

Campus speech roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Creator royalties on art in public spaces

Walter Olson — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 09:59:47 +0000

Creators of art displayed in parks and other public spaces have been using assertions of copyright to demand cash from, or play favorites among, private persons and groups seeking to carry on video or photography in those spaces. Aaron Renn: “Any city installing public art should ensure that the agreement with the artist provides for unconditional royalty free pictures and videos, or the art shouldn’t be installed.”

Tags: art and artists, copyright, photography, roads and streets

Creator royalties on art in public spaces is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

HBO sued over three-second shot of graffiti

Walter Olson — Sat, 26 May 2018 14:01:01 +0000

HBO has prevailed in a copyright and trademark lawsuit brought by the creator of a piece of graffiti on a dumpster that was briefly glimpsed (for two or three seconds) in a show. [Timothy Geigner, Techdirt]

Tags: art and artists, copyright, movies film and videos

HBO sued over three-second shot of graffiti is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

NYC: 5Pointz building owner must pay graffiti artists

Walter Olson — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 19:39:04 +0000

To quote John K. Ross’s summary for Short Circuit:

In 2002, owner of dilapidated industrial property in Queens, N.Y. entrusts its care to a group of artists, who improve its condition and cover it in graffiti, turning it into a tourist attraction and cultural site. In 2013, the owner, who plans to demolish the warehouses and build luxury condos, whitewashes over the art. District court: Which violated the Visual Artists Rights Act; pay $6.75 mil in damages to 21 artists. If the owner had waited a few more months while he got his building permits in order, he’d have been assessed a far more modest penalty.

More: Alan Feuer, New York Times, ABA Journal. More on the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 here.

Tags: art and artists, real estate

NYC: 5Pointz building owner must pay graffiti artists is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 25 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 09:58:56 +0000

Canada: passenger sues saying low-cost airline boasted of “champagne service” but served only sparkling wine [The Points Guy]
Not just air: balloon makers face serious copyright issues [Timothy Casey (Baker & Hofstadter), Balloon Professionals Magazine via @JenniferMRomig on Twitter]
Noteworthy: Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.), citing due process concerns, vetoes state bill adopting into law Obama-era guidance on campus sexual misconduct [Emily Yoffe, The Atlantic]
New electronic logging mandate eliminates fudge factor for independent and big-fleet truckers alike. What could go wrong? [Alan Smith and Forrest Lucas, The Hill]
San Diego: “Artist Says Hotel Damaged His Work, Let It Be Used in Porn” [Victoria Prieskop, Courthouse News]
“U.S. Withdrawal from UNESCO Is A Good Start” [Marian Tupy, Reason]

Tags: advertising, airlines, art and artists, copyright, hotels, Jerry Brown, Title IX, United Nations

October 25 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 11:32:26 +0000

Does the current civil service system violate the constitutional mandate that the executive power be vested in the President? [Philip K. Howard/The American Interest, Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard]
“Utah Supreme Court Affirms a Woman’s Right to Sue Herself” [Lowering the Bar]
Museums’ rule against scaling back holdings is costly and irrational. Can’t NYT figure that out? [Michael O’Hare, SameFacts]
“Patent troll that sued over Apple Watch and 80 other fitness products meets its match” [ArsTechnica]
Wisconsin John Doe: “Prosecutor John Chisholm Sued for Retaliatory Investigation” [Andrew King/Fault Lines, earlier]
Criminally tainted politicians retain voter support when and because “they provide services the state does not.” [Alex Tabarrok]

Tags: art and artists, civil service, patent trolls, Wisconsin

March 8 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system