texts: Is it legal to have a two driver’s licenses if one is from another country?

texts:
In the USA, in almost every case, possessing two driver’s licenses from different states (e.g., California and Georgia) is illegal.

I’m wondering about a related situation - is it legal to have two driver’s licenses if one is from another country? In particular, I have a New York license and a New Zealand license, and I’m wondering if I need to destroy the New Zealand one. I maintain residences in both places and travel often (about 10 times per year).

These are ordinary, non-commercial driver’s licenses.


texts: Why was Judge Jacksons ruling in DoJ vs Microsoft overturned in the anti-trust hearing of 2001?

texts:
In United States vs Microsoft, a 2001 anti-trust case in which the DoJ, 18 states and the District of Columbia alleged that Microsoft had abused its monopoly position was heard by Judge Jackson and he found for the plaintiffs and ordered the company to be broken into two separate units.

However, the judgement was overturned on appeal with the appeal judge accusing Judge Jackson of unethical behaviour to which Judge Jackson replied that Microsoft executives had

  proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive and transparently false ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior executives are not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of wrong-doing.

Q. Given that his findings of fact were not overturned why was Judge Jacksons original ruling overturned by the appeals court?


texts: Is a contract valid on its "expiration date"

texts:
I'm attempting to parse a US contract that states that its "expiration date" is 20th March 2021.
Ideally the contract itself would specify explicitly that either:

the expiration date is the first day on which the contract is not in force - meaning that the contract expires at midnight at the start of its expiration date, or
the expiration date is the last day on which the contract is in force - meaning that the contract expires at midnight at the end of its expiration date.

However, it does not.
In the absence of any such disambiguating text, is such a contract still in force on its "expiration date"? Is there statute or case law dictating this?


texts: Are companies required to send me an acknowledgement of phone call?

texts: There are several companies will only offer customer support over phone. Often times ending with: "We put a note in your file and sorry but the computer doesn't allow me to send you a conformation of this call." Are US based companies required to send you a conformation that the call occurred with the result of it?


texts: Must an AirBNB place be disinfected or sanitized prior to checkin?

texts: I recently stayed at an AirBNB in Utah County, and have reason to believe the cleaning staff did not apply disinfectant where necessary prior to my entering the property. Is this a health code violation?


texts: Can a college force you to use their health center?

texts:
I am a Junior in college and I have a history of mental health hospitalizations while in college. I went to the hospital earlier this semester because I didn't realize I was having a panic attack. When I returned, the Dean of Student Life told me I was being withdrawn from the school.

I convinced them to let me stay, but there was a contract I was supposed to sign, which included "agreeing to use College's health center as the initial point of contact for all medical needs; use of our counseling center for support and/or referral; agreeing to see our contracted physician and/or psychiatrist if deemed appropriate; always notifying us if you seeking medical treatment at any time; attending all classes; communicating with the Health Center and/or Student Life for any need you may have. In addition, should you find yourself ill, EMS will be called and transport will be by ambulance.  As I shared, if you waiver at any point or your medical needs are outside the scope of what College can provide to you and the resulting needs become disruptive to the community, you may be involuntarily withdrawn from the College."

Is that even legal? The contract never materialized, but I'm worried it will. What should I do if it does surface?


texts: Are all statutory instruments in the UK subordinate to an Act of Parliament?

texts:
Are all statutory instruments in the United Kingdom subordinate to an Act passed by Parliament?

If so, is the intention that the thrust of law is democratically accountable, but for expediency the details can be passed with less democratic oversight?

IIUC EU directives are often implemented using statutory instruments and the “negative resolution procedure”, but these are presumably subordinate to an Act passed in 1973(?) when we acceded to the EC?


texts: What happened to bounties in the wild west?

texts:
Few things are more emblematic of the wild west era that a wanted poster. Today such a thing is unheard of. I know today there are rewards for information leading to capture of fugitives and bail bondsmen take bail jumpers. I'm sure a straight up dead or alive bounty today would be political suicide (or maybe not), but I am interested in what happened to their legal status. I can image there may be due process issues for dead, but captured alive doesn't seem inherently prohibited.

What is the legal status of the formerly common "dead or alive bounties"? Are they still on the books? were they repealed?, ruled unconstitutional?, limited?, etc....?


texts: GDPR, email lists, a few email subscribers in the EU

texts:
Situation:

Say you are an organization that regularly sends out e-newsletter updates to an email list that has been curated over the years by people signing up at events and/or through online sign-up forms. You are based in the US and most of the members of your email list are in the US, but a significant plurality are from abroad and a substantial number of those individuals reside in the EU. The GDPR is thus triggered for you (meaning you must comply).

Question:

Does this situation trigger the GDPR obligations (for example, the rights afforded to data subjects, the steps taken to protect their data, etc.) for every member of your email list regardless of where they live/reside/are or just for those individuals on your email list who are in/live in/were in EU at the time they signed up?


texts: Is it legal for a cop to ask for my ID if he pulled up to me when I'm checking my car

texts: I thought I could smell something burning while driving so I pulled over and popped the hood of my car. I was checking my engine when a police officer pulled up. He had me drive over to a parking lot. When we were there I  popped my hood and got out to continue checking and he asked for my license. Is that legal? It happened in Illinois.


texts: If Gamble v. United States ends up creating a precedent, how could the federal and state governments agree on who gets to prosecute?

texts:
According to Wiki:

  The separate sovereigns doctrine holds that because the federal and state government are "separate sovereigns", the Double Jeopardy Clause does not apply to prosecution of the same crime under both federal and state laws. The doctrine can be seen in mid 20th century Supreme Court decisions; the 1959 cases of Abbate v. United States and Bartkus v. Illinois ruled in affirmation of the doctrine.

Lets say the Supreme Court rules that double jeopardy rules should apply even if the crime is prosecutable under both federal and state laws. In this case, how could the federal and state governments possibly agree on who gets to prosecute a given crime? Are there examples of other countries solving a similar issue in their jurisdiction?

As an example, lets say Washington state wants to protect its marijuana industry against federal prosecution. It then creates a law mandating a $500 fine for anyone found violating federal marijuana laws. Now anyone who needs to get rid of federal prosecution could just plea guilty to a state court, pay a $500 fine and walk away scot free. The federal government could pull off a similar trick to undermine state laws.


texts: Scraping a user's data with their permission and credentials

texts:
Many websites have user-specific data tied to their account which the user can view by logging in. For example, Amazon tracks a user's purchase history, Netflix tracks a user's watch history, etc. Typically that user can view this data if they login to their own account.

Sometimes one service provider (ex: Google) provides a specific secure way for a user to grant access to his data to other sites (ex: via an OAUTH API). So, a user could allow a separate website to read his Gmail contact list.

Not all websites have a built-in way to do this. I have seen some websites which work around this by asking for the username/password to the separate website and they do scraping behind the scenes on behalf of the user to get their data.

Obviously the user is putting themselves at a higher security risk by choosing to do this, but they might not care about the security implications & might like the convenience of having their data auto-imported into the 2nd website.

In USA, is this legal if the user has given their username & password to the website #2 & specifically granted them the right to scrape their user data from website #1 on their behalf? Or would it fall under the PrivacyPolicy/TermsOfUse of website #1?

I know the CFAA talks about "unauthorized" access, but it seems confusing whether the user can grant you access or if you also need permission from the website owner.

Many PrivacyPolicy/TermsOfUse warn the user that it's dangerous to share their password, but maybe that's be the users' choice/risk?

I'm assuming something like an order history wouldn't have any Copyright implications. So, I'm not worried about that. I know when a user submits content like messages/posts the website usually gains copyright of it, however I'm not thinking about scraping this type of data.

Assuming the PrivacyPolicy/TermsOfUse specifically prohibits scraping (or password sharing), what are the potential consequences of ignoring this and doing it anyways?

Is there a legal way to work around this without getting specific permission from the website owner?


texts: Who decides who can enter a jointly owned property?

texts: My partner and I are going through an acrimonious separation. I was forced out of our jointly owned house but am about to return until such time as we can sell it. He wanted to buy me out but has been so vile that I've decided not allow him. My concern is that while we are co-habiting the house, I will be subject to visits from his family who were pivotal in the breakdown of our relationship. Can I block their access?


texts: If a judge evidences a misunderstanding of the law is that grounds for an appeal?

texts:
In criminal matters, if a judge makes statements during oral arguments that clearly show that the judge has a misunderstanding of the case law pertaining to the matter at hand, can the judge's decision be appealed even if the written decision itself does not contain an explicit error?
For example, let's imagine the police search a car and find an illegal item. The defendant makes a motion to have the evidence from the search suppressed on the grounds that the police had no probable cause to search the vehicle. Whether the police had probable cause in the case is complex issue involving many different facts. Let's imagine that one of these facts is that the police officer stated that the car owner's mechanic told him that the the car's airbag system had been tinkered with, a violation of US Federal regulations. During oral argument the defense argues that the possible violation of a Federal regulation is not grounds for a search. The judge then speaks out and says that violation of a regulation is still a crime and therefore potentially grounds for search. Later, in the written decision, the judge dismisses the motion to suppress, but does not explicitly give his reasons or gives other reasons, not involving the violation of a regulation.
So, let's assume for the sake of argument that the judge made an error when he stated that violating a regulation is a "crime" and therefore grounds for local police to search a vehicle. Can the defense argue that even though this error does not appear in written form in the judge's decision, the fact that he said such a thing in court shows that he has a defective and incorrect understanding of laws relevant to the motion, therefore he is not fit to make a ruling on such laws.
So, imagine that the appeals court finds that the judge has a clearly defective understanding of search and seizure law as evidences by his remarks in court. What is the outcome? Do they remand the case to the court, reverse the ruling, or take some other action?


texts: What is the copyright status of a journal article written more than 70 years ago?

texts:
I read (mostly on Wikipedia), that copyright to a written work expires 70 years after the author's death, or 95 years after the publication by a corporation.
Having said that, the status of journal articles (scientific or other), that includes pictures and photographs, is still unclear to me. I'll take a very simple example to illustrate this.
Here you can find an old journal article from 1901, written by one person, but published in a journal. It contains pictures and photographs made in that time. Is the entire article, including these media, also entirely in public domain (i.e., I could just take the whole thing as it is and publish it as a book for commercial purposes)?


texts: Is it legal for landlord to submit a post-dated check early then apply fees for it bouncing

texts:
I normally submit rent on the 1st of the month after I get paid. This month I wasn’t going to be in town on the 1st so I gave my check to my landlord early with explicit instructions to not submit the check until the 1st, she agreed to not submit it until the first. Also, the check was post-dated to the 1st so my understanding was the check couldn’t even be submitted until the 1st even if she tried. Nevertheless my landlord tried to submit the check and it bounced and she is now charging me fees for the bounce say it is my fault that she forgot.

Do I have any legal right to not pay the fees? Again I did post-date the check and explicit ask her to not submit it until the 1st which she aggred to.


texts: Transcribing Ancient Manuscripts from Around the World

texts:
As a follow-up/clarification to this question, I would like to ask with a little  bit more detail.

There are several groups of "ancient" manuscripts and inscriptions which I would like for this to take into account. Here is a list of some of them:

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs (>3000 years old)
Ancient Olmec Inscriptions (>3000 years old)
Ancient Mayan Glyphs
Ancient Aztec Glyphs
Old English Manuscripts (>1000 years old)
Old Runic Inscriptions (>1000 years old)
Old Irish Manuscripts (>1000 years old)
Ancient Chinese Manuscripts (>1000 years old)
Ancient Chinese Inscriptions (>3000 years old, like the oracle bone)
Ancient Latin Manuscripts (>1000 years old)
Ancient Greek Manuscripts (>1000 years old)
Etc. There are many other cultures such as Finnish, Tibetan, etc.

Some of these are owned by places like the Catholic Church, others by places like the British Library, or other Libraries or Museums, even others are held by Universities, and still others are held by private individuals who may post an image online of the artifact for a variety of reasons, like this person did. Also, some artifacts may have been created in one place (like in China), but hosted in another place (like at the British museum).

So the question is about looking at an online image of one of these artifacts, which is provided by one of the owners, and then either drawing a picture to replicate the object (like the image below), or copying it into text form, such as this, which was transcribed from an image of a manuscript, into electronic text.

Specifically, all of the things I am talking about are pre-copyright era, the actual objects themselves. So then someone finds/discovers the item (either they found it pre-copyright era, like 1000+ years ago finding something and putting it in the king's library), or it was discovered post-copyright-starting era. So somebody owns it. I am not concerned with that part. But then they take a picture of it and put it online. Some of the pictures (like the reddit image) are just quickly shot with an iPhone. Others require significant cost, care, and tooling, such as taking a picture of a fragile ancient manuscript, while others require that much cost/care/tooling to startup, but then can be automated for thousands or millions of artifacts (like the Google books project). But in the end, an image of a natural, copyright-free artifact (since it was created pre-copyright era) is online and publicly available.

What you see in this situation often is "this image is copyrighted". To me that means that you can't directly sell the image, or host it on your site/product for commercial gain. But given the content of the image is in the public domain (again, the content from all those cultural resources listed at the beginning) because it was created thousands of years ago, I wonder what you are allowed to do with the image.

I wonder if you are allowed to:

Make a drawing of it (like the sketch below).
Transcribe the text contained in the original document (which you could see because of the copyrighted image).

Obviously the drawing wouldn't be a straight copy of the photograph. It would draw the essence of the content instead. So the content is public domain, but the image is copyrighted and the artifact is owned. I wonder if you are allowed to essentially write down in electronic form what is in the manuscript artifact, or in the case of glyphs, to write down the glyphs.

What this would mean is that one could go to a museum website and view their manuscripts, and transcribe them, and then do what you want with the transcription. If that's not allowed, I would be interested to know the reason.


texts:
I read in this article:

  What caught me by surprise, and forced me to seek emergency loans from friends, were the enormous legal fees I had to pay my ex-wife's divorce lawyers. In a California divorce, the wealthier spouse must pay both sides of the battle even if they are not the aggressor.

Is there any cap in California on how much the less wealthy spouse can spend on legal fees (e.g., lawyers) in case of a divorce?


texts: Do children hold the copyright over their own creative works?

texts: I was recently looking at a story I wrote when I was 8 years old. I presume that, however the law works exactly, I now hold copyright over it at age 30. But think about when I originally wrote it. Did I get automatic copyright ownership of it, as is typically the case when one makes a creative work? Or did my legal guardians hold the copyright instead, because I was a minor?


texts: Does an employer have to compensate travel time to mandatory training in the UK?

texts: If an employer in the UK makes an employee go to mandatory training, does the employer have to compensate the employee for the travel time?


texts: Requirements to file an Amicus Curiae brief

texts:
What are the requirements or preconditions that must be met in order for someone to file an Amicus Curiae "friend of the court" brief?

What form can the brief take?


texts: Claim copyright over modified code with MIT license in a javascript file

texts:
I'm making a web app that I would like to own the copyright of. I used some javascript code from CodePen under MIT license (I believe) that I heavily modified in one of my javascript files.

Is it ok to mention the original source and author but still claim copyright on the file as in the following header?

/**
 * Pure javascript pixel editor library
 *
 * @summary Pixel editor library
 * @author Antoine Drutly
 *
 * Includes code from Justin Herrick on codepen https://codepen.io/jah2488/pen/Gimzn under MIT license
 * Copyright (c) 2019 Antoine Drutly
 *
 * Created at : 2019-08-17
 */

Should I mention the use of the MIT code elsewhere, for example in a license.txt file?

Does claiming the copyright on the javascript file prevents people from using the modifications from the original code?

EDIT

Reading the common form of the MIT license again and with the help of the answer of gnasher729, I answered most of my questions. The new code added in the file is copyrighted by me and the part that hasn't been modified is still copyrighted by the original author. I don't need to mention somewhere else the use of the MIT code.

However, the copyright notice below and the permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. This indicates that I should copy the MIT license and the name of the author above every portion of the code that I haven't modified. This is pretty much infeasible, so my guess is that mentioning the original author with a link to the original code is enough. I should also add the MIT license copyright notice in the file as well but this will add a overhead to every client downloading the website, so I probably won't.

Copyright (c) <year> <copyright holders>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.


texts: Law in USA the limits Medicare Part B premiums?

texts: What is the law in the USA that prevents the government from raising Medicare Part B premiums more than a small amount each year?


texts: Governing entity over or recourse against corrupt Division of Social Services in North Carolina?

texts:
In the hypothetical situation laid out below, what governing entity over DSS could one turn to? In general, what action can be taken against a government entity such as DSS to force adherence to court order?
Suppose a case were brought by plaintiff + DSS alleging defendant hadn't paid child support in 10 years and defendant brought 10 years' bank statements to court proving no missed payments ever. Then suppose the judge declared "this is not an evidentiary hearing and if defendant wants one, I guarantee I'll make it worse for them", and set significant arrears anyway. Then suppose between additional monthly garnishments for arrears, voluntary payments by check and tax refund interceptions, the defendant had to date paid 1.5x the arrears back and yet DSS was still coming after them threatening to revoke passport if they didn't pay it yet again and immediately. And further suppose DSS admitted they sometimes take up to two years to process and apply payments by check and/or intercepted tax refunds so they'll probably keep intercepting and attacking for the next two years.


texts: Can StackExchange restrict access to its content?

texts:
We are having a lot of fun at StackExchange sites and creating a huge base of knowledge. However, one sad day we may wake up and see that:

SE can be only accessed by predefined set of people (for example: "only for SE employees", "only for the US army", "only for users with at least 1000 reputation", "only for active and successful users")
SE demands payment for accessing Q&A base
I can only read those parts of the SE Q&A base which I helped to create (posted, edited, voted, etc).
SE allows its knowledge only to be used for certain goals (ex: "you may not consult StackOverflow create a computer program which will be sold to someone", "you cannot learn for your university exam from SE", "you cannot use RPG SE to help you with your job as a professional game master", "you cannot print and sell a book with SE posts", "you cannot ask Law SE for how long you should put that guy into prison") [yes, I know it's hard to prove]
SE "buys" the knowledgebase for bazillion of dollars from the people all around the world and then does some of 1), 2), 3), 4).

Of course, StackExchange (the company) can be shut down and their servers turned off/fail. This is not the problem which I am asking about.

So, can StackExchange restrict access to its content (for example by doing one of the above options)?

Note: I am afraid that asking about each of those 5 points would qualify my question for closing as "too broad", therefore please focus on the question in title.


texts: Isn't it wrong to cite a law textbook first, before case and enacted law?

texts:
I remember reading this somewhere, and I'll update this post if I find the book, but aren't you supposed to cite primary law like cases and legislation first? Even if written by judges or jurisprudes, law textbooks aren't authoritative. Is the author wrong to cite Clerk & Lindsell on Torts on the general four elements of negligence? The library is closed, but I'm certain there must be some leading UKHL or UKSC that dictated the general four elements of negligence.

      To establish liability in negligence, a claimant must prove the
existence of a duty of care, the breach of that duty, causation and
damages. These elements are found in virtually every case and treatise
on tort, so you can provide support for this proposition by citing
to Clerk & Lindsell on Torts, for example, or a seminal case on each
point (for example, *The Wagon Mound (No 2)*8 for causation).

8 Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty (The Wagon Mound
(No 2)) [1967] 1 AC 617.

Stacie Strong. BA English literature (UC Davis 1986), MPW (USC 1990), JD (Duke 1994), PhD Law (Cambridge 2002), DPhil (Oxford 2003). How to Write Law Essays & Exams 5th Edition (2018). p 73.


texts:
Assume the following:

A website is indexed by a web archive like the wayback machine.
The website receives a DMCA takedown and the content is removed.

Does the web archive need to remove the saved content as well or only if the web archive receives a DMCA takedown, too?
Are there mechanisms in place to automatically remove content if the archiver detects a 451 unavailable for legal reasons HTTP status code?


texts: How can plaintiff/prosecutor hold the court to account if it intentionally stalls proceeding?

texts:
When the ball in court proceedings is on the judge's side, i.e. the judge is taking their time to work out directions/decisions, and it takes too long — what legal recourse does the plaintiff or prosecutor have? Are there provisions in place that prevent negligent or corrupt judges from stalling proceedings without good reason? Are there timeframes that courts must observe?

If this question is too broad, let's scope it down to private prosecutions in New Zealand, specifically when a proposed prosecution is referred to the judge for a direction (s26(1)(b)). How long should a private prosecutor wait for the judge to come back with a direction before lodging a complaint to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner?


texts: If holding a photograph is permitted can a company use facial recognition?

texts:
If I've given a company permission to hold an image of me - for a photo ID card, for example. Do they need any extra permissions to use facial recognition software?

The facial recognition software need only use the reference photograph I've already given them permission to and any CCTV is already recording all visitors/customers anyway.

As a little background as to why I wondered about the legal issues behind this:

There is plenty of regulation around other methods of identification ( see Protection of Freedoms act which covers fingerprints and DNA), with facial recognition being an automated, silent version of these forms of identification it made me wonder if any similar regulations covered the use of photographs.

Edit: Initially I was only interested in the UK but I would be interested to hear about regulations within other countries


texts: Is plaintiff responsibility to 'mitigate their damages' a law?

texts:
Watching the People's Court, the judge says the plaintiff has a responsibility to mitigate their damages.

In other words the (People's) court holds the plaintiff to a standard of effort when they have lost money and are suing to get the money back.

My question, is this standard in the (People's) court part of contract law, or is it a legal standard the court uses in the administration of the law --and possibly open to (greatest) judicial interpretation? Or is it some reasonableness made up for television?


texts: Foreclosure on Deed of Trust securing a non-monetary obligation

texts:
When a deed of trust is made to secure the trustor's performance of a contractual obligation, how does the beneficiary go about foreclosing on it?
When the obligation is just a monetary debt, the usual process is that the trustee conducts an auction, where the beneficiary is allowed to set a starting price as high as the amount they are owed. But if the obligation isn't monetary, then it's not clear to me how one would set the staring price, and a mere payment of money might not make the beneficiary whole.
So what exactly happens? Does a court need to get involved?


texts: Getting a portable version of CD music collection

texts:
I own hundreds of original music CDs.  I purchased them all at major retail stores.

I want to listen to them when I workout.  But hundreds of music CDs will not fit in my pocket.

I've looked into "ripping" them into MP3, OGG, or FLAC files, but the process is incredibly tedious and takes a very long time.  Doing this for my entire collection of CDs will take weeks of my time.  Such intensive use of my CD drive may also burn it up.

I want the audio quality to match the quality of my CDs.

Is there a LEGAL way in the USA to accomplish my goal of making my CD collection portable?

I would like this to be free (I already paid for the CDs), but I am willing to spend $50 if necessary.  I am not interested in services requiring a monthly or annual fee unless it is nominal (under $10 per year).  I am also willing to discard, recycle, or send to the publishers all my original CDs if that is required by law.


texts: Noncompete, nonsolicit, nondisclose agreement company that was sold. But wait, there's more

texts:
This all happens in Minnesota.

Employee E worked for company A and had standard noncompete agreement. Agreement has an assignment clause assigning rights to any successor. Company B buys most business units of company A and hires most employees. Seller of A starts new company N. E stays with seller of A and works for new company N. Assume it's clear that language of noncompete contract assigned to B all rights of all of A's employees who now work for B.

A was in the business of providing medical billing services to hospitals. E worked in that industry when hired by A. During employment E developed a product to detect fraud within hospitals and stopped working on billing and started working on the product. When B buys A, it only buys the billing business. Seller of A starts new business explicitly to sell fraud product and invites E to come along. There is an implied option for E to stay on and work for B, but B does not express interest in E and has no contact with E before the sale. Seller has an explicit new agreement with B (it is specific to seller the person) that seller will not engage in medical billing business. E has no new agreement.

Seller commences new business N. E has no new agreement or paperwork with N. Not even a tax form. N is a small company and does not provide health insurance but since E received benefits under his spouse's employer there was no change in status in that regard. The only change is that auto deposit pay checks were now from N.

Hospital who previously worked with seller at company A contacts seller, asking for consulting work on a billing problem. Because of seller's agreement with B, the consulting contract is written between hospital and B, with N working under a separate agreement with B.  Basically N does all the work while B prints invoices and sends 50% of money to N.

Seller goes to hospital and brings E along for the consulting job. In the course of the work, hospital offers E a job. Not just a job, the job - the one that's being filled by the contract work. Counsel for hospital sees no problem with the offer as it relates to hospital's actions and let's assume that's a correct assessment. But what about E?

Is there any legal doctrine whereby E's agreement with A continued to apply to E in his work for company N? What about B? Do they have any standing to block E's going to work for a B's customer? My thinking here is that E technically has a noncompete agreement with B but perhaps there is a generally accepted public policy theory whereby employers can't enforce agreements against former employees especially under these facts.

Reasonable minds may suggest that neither B nor N have an interest in blocking the employment. But let's assume seller is pissed bc now E won't be available to develop product for N and B is pissed because the hiring stops the gravy train and cuts off future potential work.


texts: Can a company be sued for reporting unpaid bills to lower credit score and send the bill to collections if their payment method doesn't work?

texts: I'm trying to pay a bill but I exhausted all means to pay the bill using their payment methods. Now they sent me an email threatening to send the bill to collection since I have an unpaid bill. I have evidence that I tried to pay using different methods and the email doesn't offer any other method. If the company tries to collect using a collection agency or goes to court, am I still liable for collection fees or court fees? The jurisdiction is in California.


texts: Can I use a notarized copy's photocopy? In British common law?

texts:
Suppose, I have a certificate from a university of which I made a copy and got it notarized by a notary public.

Can I use the photocopy of that notarized copy with a visa application? Would the visa officer consider that as a valid document?

N.B. I want to do that in order to avoid notarizing those copies times and again.


texts: Can you be sued for publishing this negative review of a contractor?

texts:
Suppose that a homeowner, Bob, had a contractor do some work in his attic.  There was a fire safe in the attic with a couple thousand dollars in old coins.  After the contractor left, Bob went into the attic and found that the fire safe had been broken open and the money was gone.  When confronted, the contractor denied taking it.  The only evidence that the contractor, specifically, broke into the safe was that it was discovered to be broken into shortly after the contractor left.
After Bob went to the police and was told that it was his word against the contractor's, he posted a negative review online recounting the facts.  The review didn't directly say that the contractor stole the money, just that no one else was in the attic, no one else knew the money was there, and the money was gone after he left.  Assume that Bob is telling the truth as he believes it.
Does the contractor have a valid claim against Bob for defamation (or any other claim)?


texts: Is it illegal in the EU / in Germany to download a scientific e-book?

texts:
Suppose there's a scientific monograph I really want to read but don't want to buy. I find an e-book on some website (where it is accessible to the public without restrictions) and download it. I don't intend to resell it and am only using it on a personal level. Am I breaking the law?

My understanding is "yes":

The scientific monograph is protected by copyright.
Downloading copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright owner has been known to be illegal for a long time.
Streaming copyrighted material (in the sense of looking at stuff that other people have uploaded without downloading it) without the permission of the copyright owner became illegal in April 2017.
Motivation for pirating was not mentioned and so should not matter.

However some people claim this may be legal (and claim that it is certainly legal for single papers rather than a full book; see discussions here and here). Their argument hinges on:

Scientific research isn't the same as other copyrighted material.
Section 60c of the German law says one can do this for personal scientific research. I can't sell the book, but if it's for my own personal reading I'm not breaking any laws.

I would like to resolve: is it legal to download the book or not?

The setting is the EU, and if the country within the EU matters, the country is Germany.


texts: What do the dissents argue in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt?

texts:
Here is a the text of the supreme court decision on June 27, 2016 in which the court decided 5-3 to strike down a Texas law placing restrictions on abortion providers.
I have skimmed through it and am struggling to understand parts of the opinion.
Right at the beginning it is stated that the following criteria should be met:

“State has a legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortion . . . is performed under circumstances that insure maximum safety for the patient.” Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113, 150. But “a statute which, while furthering [a] valid state interest, has the effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman’s choice cannot be considered a permissible means of serving its legitimate ends,” Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833, 877 (plurality opinion), and “[u]nnecessary health regulations that have the purpose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion impose an undue burden on the right,” id., at 878.

Justice Ginsburg provided a separate concurring opinion in which she said:

... Many medical procedures, including childbirth, are far more dangerous to patients, yet are not subject to ambulatory-surgical-center or hospital admitting-privileges requirements...
...abortion “is at least as safe as other medical procedures routinely performed in outpatient settings”. Given those realities, it is beyond rational belief that H. B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law “would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions.”

When the bill was passed in Texas in 2013, I recall some Texas lawmakers in support of the bill claiming that the law would help prevent some abortions, for example:

The regulations in HB 2 will end up saving many babies, he said, "so that families can adopt them and love them and be able to cherish them.”

It seems like the bill was struck down by the Supreme Court because the bill did exactly what it was supposed to do. Perhaps if the decision was 8-0 one could argue that the Texas lawmakers should have known better and were just wasting taxpayers' time and money, but there were 3 dissenting justices, which to me, legitimizes the attempt to pass the law. Yet, I'm not fully understanding the dissenting opinions.
My question: are the dissenting opinions claiming that Texas HB2 does not present a "substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion", or are they claiming that the premise is wrong and it should be OK for a law to present a "substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion", or something else entirely?


texts: I know that a contract does not need to be signed. In general what counts as accepting a contract? I know some people can be tricky with words. For example if you emailed someone a contract (for example agreement to do freelance writing) and they reply "this seems sufficient" does that count? Or are the words "this seems sufficient" too ambiguous to accept a contract?


texts: Under U.S. law, can an estate's executor be penalized for accidentally losing a document before the estate is closed?

texts:
What legal penalty might apply in a situation where documents were lost by accident before settling or closing an estate? Would there be civil or criminal penalties if, some but not all, documents (like bank statements or property assessments) were accidentally lost?

Edit
Context: a hypothetical situation where the estate is insolvent, and the potentially lost documents may or may not contain signed original documents.


texts: I don't know the full story of El Chapo or seen any of the documentaries/movies. However, I'm assuming he committed the same crimes in Mexico. Why would he be extradited to the US without facing trial in Mexico? Even if Mexico was too corrupt and he may escape, isn't it odd that he was sent across the border before being tried in his own country?


texts: Is there any law in the Unites States (in NYC) requiring plumbing inspections after ___ years in apartment buildings?

texts:
I live in Brooklyn, NY and recently my apartment unit toilet had a minor clog and overflow (when I wasn’t home) that the landlord is insisting has caused water damage in his basement (I saw there was damage) and he wants me to pay for the fix. I hired a plumber and contractor to come (out of my own pocket), and they verified that I did not cause the damage.

I checked with the local building department and found out my building hasn’t had a plumbing inspection since 2003. Is this legal?

From doing some quick googling it seems that people recommend getting plumbing inspections every few years for traditional homes, so I’d imagine it’s recommended for apartment buildings as well. But I’m wondering if there is a law that requires it?


texts: Would free taxi/uber rides for voters be a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 597 - Expenditures to influence voting?

texts:
There is a PAC that is offering a discount code offering free uber/lyft/etc rides to transport voters to the polls, in Pennsylvania.
Wouldn't this constitute a blatant violation of 18 U.S. Code § 597:

Whoever makes or offers to make an expenditure to any person, either to vote or withhold his vote, or to vote for or against any candidate; and
Whoever solicits, accepts, or receives any such expenditure in consideration of his vote or the withholding of his vote—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.


texts: Is it illegal in Switzerland to download scientific books from sci-hub?

texts:
In a thread on Academia.se, we are discussing the legality of using Sci-hub in Switzerland; for instance, for a university student to download articles used to write their thesis.

This document mentions that

  The use of Sci-Hub, however, is not illegal in Switzerland

Is that correct?
The relevant articles seem to be Articles 19 and 20 here, but we are unsure about the scopes of the different letters in 19.1 and the difference between "using" and "making a copy".


texts: Tax on Prepared Food For Dinner Theater Events in Michigan and Indiana

texts:
I am an event producer who partners with banquet spaces to produce dinner theater events in Michigan and Indiana.

The guests pay me for admission, which includes food. I pay the banquet space for the food. The banquet space charges me tax and pays it to the IRS.

Am I under an obligation to charge the guest tax for the sale of food, too? Essentially, does the IRS demand to be paid tax twice for the same food? I am never in possession of the food myself - the banquet staff serves it directly to the guests.

In my research I can't find a clear answer. I did find one document (pertaining to Michigan law) that says only "prepared food" is taxable and defines "prepared food" as "food served in a heated state which is heated by the seller." As I interpret this, it renders the question moot. If I am considered to be selling the food to the guest, it is nontaxable because I (the seller) didn't heat it. If I am not considered to be the seller, then I shouldn't charge tax on it whether it is taxable or not.

Any info anyone else has pertaining to this would help me a great deal.


texts: Playing a game I didn't purchase (until now)

texts:
For about 6 months I've been playing my brother's copy of the original DOOM and DOOM 2. He purchased it on Steam, however there is no DRM lock-in on the actual IWAD gamefiles (all that's required to play the games).

I became curious, at what point is it considered piracy. Lets begin with, I am playing it on his computer whenever he authorizes me to do so. Surely that can't be illegal. Later, I make a separate user account on Windows to play the same game (Steam has a feature of "Library sharing" on the same computer).

Lets then say that I install Linux on his computer and play the same game, just from a different OS and user account. Is that still legal? Its still on his physical computer, and we cannot both play it at the same time due to there only being one computer. The instance of Linux is entirely there for me, not something he cares to use.

Later I clone the Linux partition with all my files onto my own laptop, and play DOOM from there. At this point, we have 2 separate computers with the same exact original copy of  one game. I'm guessing that isn't permitted by the EULA (not that anyone cares).

My question is, where does the law draw the line? At what point does it become against the license policy?

PS: I did actually end up buying the entire series, because I decided to record the MIDI music turning them into MP3's (and FLACs).

I am located in Canada, and forgot to metion I am playing this via source port "GZDoom" licensed under GNU GPL3+ and MIT. Only the gamefiles (IWAD's) are subject to standard copyright.


texts: Is a "drive-by-download" site liable for their content

texts:
There was an incident where forbes.com was delivering viruses through Javascript exploits found in their ads. This happened just by clicking a link (before you can "agree" to anything).

Are they liable under anti-hacking regulations?

What about ad networks?


texts: Would the ADA allow a teacher with comorbidities relevant to COVID-19 to insist on teaching remotely in Fall 2020?

texts:
I am a professor at a large state university which has announced it will teach classes on campus this fall, and I am diabetic. I am very concerned about whether my university can provide an environment which will make it safe for me to teach on campus. I have requested politely to teach remotely, and have received pleasant non-answers so far.
If my administration declines to let me teach remotely, would I have a reasonable claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act? What should I do to preserve/pursue this option?
I have described my actual situation above, but it would probably be useful to other users to note how the answer might change if

instead of being diabetic, I were old
if I worked for a private university
if I were a graduate student or lecturer instead of a professor.

PS I can't seem to find a tag for ADA issues; please someone with reputation add or create it.


texts:
I try to find the translation of Indonesian term "Peraturan Perundang-Undangan" (Peraturan= regulations, Perundang-undangan= legislation)

In the document becoming my research object, the translator uses "laws and regulations". Is this term exist in law field because I cannot find any sources using one.


texts:
Let's say a husband and a wife co-sign a mortgage or a line of credit or some type of banking product. Based on this "co-signing", is the bank officer permitted to share one spouse's credit report with the other? That is, can the bank officer show the husband the wife's credit report/history and vice-versa?

I would think that this is a violation of privacy since one's credit report is confidential, but I would like to know if any of you experts had any opinions on this!


texts:
Back story:
I am male, 50 years old. 25 years ago, in New York State (USA), I and a bunch of coworkers occasionally would go out for drinks on Fridays after work. One of the regulars in this crowd is "Ursula." Ursula has made occasional advances that were gently rebuked by me.
One night, Ursula says that I'm too drunk to drive, Can she drive me home? She does, invites herself in and I don't resist the obligatory come-on. Sure enough, she ends up pregnant, tells me that this was intentional, that she wanted a child and did not expect anything from me. She does not want child support and does not want me to be a part of the child's life. Frustrated, embarrassed, I eventually move away (a year later).
16 years later, I've been living my life. Married, divorced, and finally in a good job, making more money than I ever had in my life, before or since. One day—Poof! I get a summons to a court from the next county over (In Arizona now) regarding child support. It actually took me a while to understand that this was Ursula from 16 years ago, who now happened to live in the state that I was currently in. I go to court and the judge orders child support including the maximum 2 years retroactive.
Fine.
Since that time, my pay has been garnished (approx. 40% of takehome pay) for every job I have had. I've had to change jobs relatively often (troubled industry), and am out of work at times, but pay when I have a paycheck with which to do so. No choice for me even if I were to resist (which I don't).
Currently I  live in Florida and am out of work. Now I have been summoned to appear in court for delinquency of child support payments.
I feel like this may simply be a reminder of sorts; the (local) attorney is using this hearing to "remind" me that I have to pay, but I'm wondering if there is more to it.

Is any of this back story pertinent to the case? Should I inform the court?
Can I be arrested/otherwise additionally penalized for my situation?
What can I expect when I go to the hearing?


texts: What is preventing a person from harassing another with ridiculous law suits?

texts:
If Bob doesn't like Bill what is preventing Bob from annoying Bill by constantly coming up with new, ridiculous, small claims against him? Just going to court and preparing evidence is very stressful.

I've heard even if a case is dismissed without leave, if the plaintiff can reword it so that it is a slightly different case, it can be counted as a new one.


texts: Are NDA's that include illegal activity legally binding?

texts:
With the recent outpouring of sexual assault allegations, I've been hearing the phrase "Non-disclosure agreement," thrown around quite frequently.
Suppose a woman is sexually assaulted at work, and is given an NDA to sign. Can the company legally require her not to disclose the conduct of an illegal activity?

I remember reading that contracts cannot be legally binding if there is a requirement of criminal acts, am I wrong to assume this for NDA's?


texts: FOIA request and Commercial use - Sales Tax info

texts:
I was considering doing a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request and noticed the stipulation about putting the information gained to commercial use. That seems maybe a little broadly worded, because I would like to request information about sales tax jurisdictions, and the information gained would be used to help facilitate sales tax collection and remittance for retail businesses. I don't intend to sell this information, but the information will be used to conduct commerce.

What exactly constitutes commercial use in regards to a FOIA request?


texts: Why could Change of Position 'logically allow lenders to retain a charge for the sum lent to debtors in reliance on the guarantee's enforceability'?

texts:
Mindy Chen-Wishart. Contract Law (2018 6 edn). p 359-360.

Howes Percival LLP Partner Geraint Davies Manchester Polytechnic (1988 LLB), Guildford College of Law (LSF 1989). outlined (the defence of) Change of Position on 7 Aug 2017

Background
Where innocent third parties have been in receipt of funds that were misappropriated by an individual from a company, it may be lawful for them to retain the funds if they can demonstrate that they have changed their position in good faith following receipt of the funds. Otherwise, the company may be able to recover the funds if it can show that the third party has been enriched (or received another benefit) at its expense and that such enrichment was unjust. The remedy in such cases is an order for restitution (i.e. that the unjustly enriched party must return the funds/benefit). The court in this case has drawn a distinction where an otherwise “innocent” recipient defendant may have grounds to suspect that the funds they have received have been misappropriated.

Can someone please expatiate the red underline? It contains too many technical terms.


texts: Is fraudulent activity related to renting a residence - Theft by Deception?

texts:
I discovered Wednesday that a recent tenant of 1.5 months misrepresented themselves, and lied and omitted information on the rental application to hide the truth and gain entry into my apartment.

The facts are:

She knowingly lied in person and omitted on the application her
rental history. She said that she was married and lived with an
abusive husband while renting an apartment locally.
She knowingly lied in person and on the application about her ability
to pay.
She knowingly lied in person and on the application about her current
address listing it as out of state.
She knowingly lied in person and on the application about her
previous addresses within 5 years listing only one out of state address.
Listed relatives as references that were complicit in the
misrepresentation.

She misrepresented herself and filled out the application while being evicted locally. The online background check was unable to present an eviction that was in process and uncontested. Her notice to quit, court filing, and being served was before the application was filled out and before I even spoke to her.

I am quoting from: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=18

Title 18, Chapter 39, Sub-chapter B, 3922, (a), (1) Theft by Deception

  § 3922.  Theft by deception.

  (a)  Offense defined.--A person is guilty of theft if he intentionally
  obtains or withholds property of another by deception. A person
  deceives if he intentionally:

  (1)  creates or reinforces a false impression, including false
  impressions as to law, value, intention or other state of mind; but
  deception as to a person's intention to perform a promise shall not be
  inferred from the fact alone that he did not subsequently perform the
  promise;

Title 18, Chapter 39, Sub-chapter B, 3921, (b) Theft by unlawful taking or disposition. Immovable property.

  § 3921.  Theft by unlawful taking or disposition.

  (a)  Movable property.--A person is guilty of theft if he unlawfully
  takes, or exercises unlawful control over, movable property of another
  with intent to deprive him thereof.

  (b)  Immovable property.--A person is guilty of theft if he unlawfully
  transfers, or exercises unlawful control over, immovable property of
  another or any interest therein with intent to benefit himself or
  another not entitled thereto.

As a landlord, our property is the rental and any capitol we may gain. With tenant landlord laws as they are, the landlord is deprived of their property and ability to rent the property simply by virtue of the fact that someone now has access. Gaining access to property through (gross) deliberate deception with the express purpose of gaining access to property knowingly without the ability to pay is denying a landlord of their property and capital with intent and tantamount to Theft by Deception.

The result of this is that I am unable to rent the apartment in question and am now dealing with a tenant that intends to continue the deception without paying. They did pay just enough money to get in, however, the lies and deceptions to continue with intent to deceive and retain property for personal gain.

To make matters worse, this tenant did this with the previous landlord which evicted her.

Before anyone says there is remedy available in court, I will remind you that this tenant, as it turns out, does not have a pot to pee in and does not have enough real property to recover damages and losses. As well, the law allows appeals and extensions making the situation worse. In otherwords, often the remedy results in court costs and fees for the landlord as well as losses that cannot be recovered.

I realize that lawyers and courts are reluctant to call this fraud and theft, however, can you help an old guy understand why this specific and clear attempt to defraud and deprive a property owner of access rights to their property would not be considered illegal?


texts:
This is regarding to my question: Is this apparent Class Action settlement a spam message?

From answers I understood that it isn't a spam.

But what options I have?

They offer only two:

file a claim

  You will only receive a benefit if you file a Claim Form online by
  June 24, 2019, or if mailed, postmarked no later than June 24, 2019.

exclude yourself

  If you don’t want to receive a cash payment or other settlement
  benefits and don’t want to be bound by the Settlement and any judgment
  in this case, you must send a written request to exclude yourself.

But if I do nothing, just ignore this message, what happens?

From text:

  If you don’t exclude yourself, you may object to the Settlement or to
  the request for fees and costs by Class Counsel.

So I get nothing, but should pay fee?

Looks strange.


texts: I would like to blow a whistle but don't want to face retaliation

texts:
(The following is slightly fictionalized, but more-or-less true)

I recently ended a relationship with a hedge fund.   The relationship ended unpleasantly, and lawyers were involved.  I tried to explain to my lawyer that they were doing a number of things that are breaking SEC's regulations - but these things were way too complicated for my lawyer to wrap his mind around.  My lawyer told me to settle with them and sign a non-disparagement agreement. So I did. (They dropped legal action, but did not compensate me in any way.)

The hedge fund has continued to do the things which I believe are illegal, and not only that, they are bragging about them openly to their investors.   This infuriates me.   I would relish reporting them, especially since they are continuing to do this, and they are bragging about doing this, and because this is what led to my original dispute with them.

I emphasize that I strongly believe they are breaking the law:  I have read the laws and I have read their descriptions of what they are doing.  I have put these side-by-side and if I can read English, they are breaking the law.  However, my experience is that how laws  are enforced in practice can sometimes be different from how the law reads to someone on the outside.

My understanding is that this is an issue of public interest, and that they couldn't retaliate against me by enforcing the agreement.  I'm not willing to do this without consultation from an attorney.  So now I have several options.

Go directly to the SEC. I could show them exactly where they brag about breaking the law.  I could do this anonymously, but the hedge fund would have a good idea it was me.
Go to a lawyer who represents hedge funds, and have a consultation before reporting anything.  This lawyer would probably have a good picture of what laws are prosecuted and which ones aren't,  but I would have to trust there was no conflict of interest.
Go to a consumer lawyer and have a consultation before reporting anything. The problem here is that I doubt the average lawyer would have any idea about these laws, because they are somewhat complex.
Sit here and try to root for the Mets and be content that the hedge fund is hurting other people and not me.


texts: Using Times New Roman for academic paper without license?

texts: As far as I understand Times New Roman is not a free font but a license to use it for personal purposes is included in products like Microsoft Word. Suppose I do not own a copy/license to any such product that includes the font. Can I legally just download the font from the internet and use it to write and publish an academic paper?


texts: Rent-a-Room scheme in house with self-contained part

texts:
My house has three floors, with part of the ground floor forming a self-contained part with kitchen/diner, shower room/toilet and a bedroom.
I am considering living on the upper two floors while I do not need all the space and letting part of it out to help pay down the mortgage.

I believe that because the ground floor part is self-contained, the Rent-a-Room scheme would not be applicable if letting it out and thus any rental income from it would be taxable at my normal tax rate (unless I could take into account an amount of mortgage interest, proportional to the area, perhaps one third or one quarter)?

However if at the same time I let out a room in the two floors above, where I live (sharing living room, kitchen and/or bathroom), would that qualify for the Rent-a-Room scheme?

Thank you.


texts: Buying a condo with no condition and end up finding problems in the status certificate

texts:
We purchased a condo two weeks ago. We do not have an real estate agent and we end up dealing with the seller's real estate agent directly.

We're told by the seller agent that there are multiple bidders bidding at the same time. We're under the impression that in order to have a shot at the condo we have to waive the following condition.

Which is we can choose to withdrawal the offer after lawyer viewing of the status certificate.

We were hesitate to waive the conditions but the agent says condos are usually fine and he said he checked with the seller and there is nothing to worry about.

After we win the bid our real estate lawyer examined the status certificate and says there's something called Kitec plumbing in the status certificate, which usually costs condo owners 20k to fix this issue.

We're wondering if there's something that I can do from my side? If the seller do not agree to lower the price for 20k is there something that I can do? Thanks.


texts: Who owns the copyright when video recording lectures at a conference (with permission)?

texts:
I work for a company that produces recordings of conference lectures. From what I can tell, there are at least three parties that can lay claim to the copyright on the recorded lectures.

The recording company (my company)
The conference organizer
The speaker

The recording company records video of the speaker and their slides presentation at no cost, explicitly for the exclusive right to sell the content. This is always true. (When working under a service for hire scenario, there is always a written agreement that explicitly denies the recording company the copyright, so I do not want to focus on that).

The recording company is doing the work, creating the original work, without any consideration (money or payment of some kind) from either the conference organizer or the speaker. This seems to support that the copyright belongs to the recording company, assuming at least spoken permission to record was given, and is supported by another answer.

There is a somewhat unique set of particulars that may affect who owns the copyright, and not all dealings with conference organizers or speakers include them. These particulars lead to questions:

The speaker usually has a signed contract with the conference organizer allowing the lecture to be recorded, but sometimes they do not. Does the speaker have a claim on the copyright if their permission to record is only spoken? Only implied (i.e. they are clearly being recorded, with a huge camera in their face)? What if a written contract does not explicitly mention the capture of their slides as well?
The recording company pays a "royalty" on future sales to the conference organizer, which is

sometimes only spoken,
only sometimes a specific percentage,
but sometimes very explicitly written.

Does paying a "royalty" automatically imply that the recording company is admitting non-ownership of the copyright? Is using the word "royalty" especially important in this case, or is there a benign word that could be used that is not associated with copyrights? Does the specificity of these payments agreements affect copyright ownership?
Explicit written contracts often include a perpetuating allowance that sales may continue indefinitely so long as the "royalty payments are met on time". Is this a legal contract?
Does the phrase "exclusive right to sell" affect the copyright ownership?

I know copyright varies by country, so let's focus only on US law, because that is where most conferences are recorded.


texts: Can an ex-employer sue ex-employees for using work experience gained for future endeavours?

texts:
In this bloomberg article, 5 ex-employees of a hedge fund were sued by their ex-employer for starting a trading outfit.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-19/the-triple-jeopardy-of-ke-xu-a-chinese-hedge-fund-quant

  At around that time, de Putron got involved in another legal dispute
  that foreshadowed his companies’ campaign against Xu. The year before,
  a group of five programmers and managers had left G-Research, then
  known as GR Software & Research Ltd., to start their own trading
  outfit. The company responded by first threatening a lawsuit, then, in
  2011, by filing one. None of the filings suggested anything had been
  stolen, but G-Research argued that the five had developed their
  quant-trading skills at the company, and so any new platform would
  have to be similar and an infringement of its intellectual property.

As a layman, I find it extremely unreasonable. Which ex-employee will not use his past knowledge and experience gained from working for a past employer in his future endeavours? Is using knowledge gained from working for an ex-employer for future profit considered stealing from the ex-employer ??!!!

Is this reasonable legal argument from an ex-employer?  There was no stealing of physical property or technological design documents.

Any lawyers here can enlighten me? This is a risk that all employees should be aware in case they encounter an employer as depicted in the Bloomberg article.


texts:
Is it legal to trespass the fence (with little passage in it) with no signs, if there's no buildings behind it (for example, construction site)?

Update: the picture of a passage. No signs at all, only the fence. It is just empty construction site. If its illegal, what is the punishment for the trespassing of such a thing?


texts: Role Playing - Can I sell a dungeon map layout that is based on a previous module?

texts:
I am interested in selling dungeon maps based on previous modules. The one I use for reference is B2: Keep on the Borderlands. If I sell dungeon layouts based on the layouts of that module (but done all from scratch with original art), is there any legal issues I haven't thought about?
Thanks!


texts: What would an entrapment defense look like in court?

texts:
This is not pertaining to any actual case or personal situation.

I have tried to look up how an entrapment defense works, and the only standard I could find seems to be that you induced someone to commit a crime they would not otherwise have committed. Although that sounds reasonable, it also seems a bit meaningless to me. How could you ever prove what would or would not have happened in a hypothetical alternate reality?

Why don't police "stings" qualify as entrapment?


texts: Do I need to give a months notice to LL at the end of a six months contract?

texts:
Do I need to give a months notice to LL at the end of six months contract ?

The landlord has not fulfilling some of the responsibilities they have, so is it necessary for me to give them notice of pme month before leaving.

Also the letting agent said that it will be another six months contract and contract won't fall on monthly basis, is there anything I could do?

I like in UK just outside London

Update:

The Tenant is obligated to give notice in writing to vacate the property 1 full tenancy month before the last date of their contract.

I just found out this clause in my tenancy contract, would this cause any trouble ?


texts: Dropservicing business in the US - is this legal for industries like law, accounting/bookkeeping and other regulated industries?

texts:
I am looking to get into the business of dropservicing - finding a white label provider of certain services and then re-selling those services to retail customers. For myself, I'm sticking to traditional IT services and digital marketing. However, I was talking to a friend and he's not at all into technology (that's why I'm asking this question for him here, aside from my own curiosity). After I told him what I was doing, he was thinking of doing a similar business with bookkeeping and general legal services. We found some white label providers of these services (US-based), but he was concerned about legal issues since those are regulated industries.
My question is: is this sort of arbitrage legal for those kinds of industries?
Thank you.


texts: Can a non US resident find out if there are outstanding warrants against him?

texts:
While discussing with some friends the case of a German VW-manager who was recently arrested in the USA , the following question came up:

Is there a way for a non-US resident to find out if there are outstanding warrants against him, before he enters the USA? Are authorities obliged to inform any defendant anywhere in the world once a warrant is issued? Can a potential defendant request this information?


texts: How to provide users with ability to report copyright infringement

texts:
I'm developing a web application that host user submitted content (photos\images).

I know that in order to be protected under safe harbor rules, I need to provide people with contact info to submit claims of copyright infringement.

My question is how exactly should I allow users to contact me?  I will at least have an email address, but.

Am I required to supply a physical address to submit a claim to?
Should I create a form to allow people to submit a claim? My concern is not properly creating the form or leaving out some important\required information.  I'd rather put the burden on the person submitting the copyright claim to have the correct format, than risk screwing up how the claim is submitted.


texts: Are there any prerequisites to represent one's own case before a jury? Specific answer targeting Indian Law would be appreciated.


texts: Is it legal for a private business to require contact information to complete a checkout?

texts:
We were in a counter-service restaurant today. When we went to pay, their checkout system required a telephone number and email address. We asked if we could opt-out and just pay, and were told that the system requires that information in order to complete checkout. We were not allowed to checkout without entering the information and left.

Given that this is a private business, is it okay for them to require this information to in order to complete a transaction?


texts:
Officer Brian Sicknick was injured in the January 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol building.  It is reported that he was struck on the head and later died of his injuries.
Assume you are Donald Trump's attorney and he anticipates being sued for inciting the crowd and the resulting injuries of Capitol Officers.  Both scenarios should be considered in an answer:

civil court and
criminal court.

Given qualified immunity for police officers:

Is there any reason, precedent or otherwise, qualified immunity would shield DJT?

Is there any other similar form of immunity could be employed in this scenario?

I would speculate that immunity would preclude the need for a defense. IANAL and appreciate a simple explanation followed by a technical narrative.
UPDATES:

1/18/21: Lawsuit accuses Donald Trump, Giuliani and others of conspiring to incite Capitol riot


texts: Why couldn't the Ministry of Defence fetter its public law powers by promising not to transfer a SAS soldier?

texts:
O'Sullivan & Hilliard's The Law of Contract (2018 8 ed). p. 98.

The red underlines fit para. 31 of the judgment:

In the present case the price for which R's promise was bought was the forbearance of the MOD to exercise its power to return him to unit. It could not be a promise that he would not be returned to unit, because, as their Lordships have already observed, the Crown was entitled to move him to another regiment and could not fetter its discretion by a contract having effect in private law [emboldening mine]. Whether there were any circumstances in which it could have created a legitimate expectation giving rise to rights against the Crown in public law is a matter which their Lordships need not discuss. But the actual forbearance was in their Lordships' opinion sufficient consideration to support the contract. In Alliance Bank Ltd v Broom (1864) 2 Dr & Sm 289, 292 the bank demanded security for its loan in circumstances in which, as Sir Richard Kindersley V-C said, it would otherwise have enforced payment. It made no promise not to demand payment but:

"the [bank] did in effect give, and the defendant received, the benefit of some degree of forbearance; not, indeed, for any definite time, but, at all events, some extent of forbearance."


texts: Where is the capital gains tax defined in the law?

texts: Which law defines the fact that the capital gains tax is taxed at a different rate than the income tax? I know 26 U.S. Code Subchapter P defines what capital assets are and what capital gains and capital losses are, but I'm not sure where it's defined that capital assets are taxed differently.


texts:
Lawyers have to constantly keep, send and receive confidential documents.

What is be the most common encryption method used by lawyers today?

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) sounds to me to be the conventional way to encrypt documents but there may be other prevalent methods.

I cannot figure out how common PGP is in the legal community due to a lack of experience.


texts:
I was recently arrested for public intoxication after my friend was pulled over about 100 feet from his home. I was a passenger and had consumed 2 mixed drinks before being driven home
. Both of the arresting officers had body cameras and there's no way I could be considered a danger and I have no criminal record at all. One officer asked me to step out after my friend had also been asked the same and after talking with the officer, I was arrested and imprisoned over night and released on a PR bond. All of this appears extremely harsh and not proper but I've been told this sort of conviction is difficult to contest. Is there any point fighting this or spending lots of money on a lawyer (Cheapest one here is around $1,500)?


texts: Is a lawyer allowed to stop representing his client?

texts:
Imagine a person accused of committing a crime hires a lawyer. After a while something happens and the lawyer decides he or she doesn't want to represent the client any more.

For example:

Ethical reasons: When they were hired the lawyer thought the client was innocent (e. g. he thinks the wife accuses the husband of rape just to piss him off), but in the course of the process they came to the conclusion the client is guilty (e. g. the husband actually raped his wife). Defending an innocent client was OK with the moral standars of the lawyer, defending a criminal, who committed a particularly nasty (according to the beliefs of the lawyer) crime isn't.
Client doesn't pay: The client, whether innocent or not, runs out of money and can't pay the lawyer any more.

Is it legal for the lawyer to stop defending his client?

Notes:

I'm only interested if it's legal. I understand that if a lawyer steps down from a lawsuit, it may ruin his reputation (other clients may fear they will do the same during their trials).
If the answer to this question depends on the state, then I'm interested in a criminal lawsuit in Arkansas.
In the section ethical reasons I mean a situation, when the lawyer has the gut feeling that the client is 100 % guilty, but the court may think otherwise. In real life there are situations, when you have a feeling like that, but you can't prove it. Nonetheless, you act based on that feeling (even if there is no evidence that could prove this feeling to another party). The evidence may be not enough for court or police, but it's enough for them.


texts: Is there a procedure that allows the reviving of an expired LLC in Nevada? The company in question expired over a year ago after the required annual documents were not filed.


texts: Is selling forgery-producing equipment a crime in the United States?

texts:
There are new opportunities emerging in forgery, including digital forgery of e-documents, deep-fake technology for creating false evidence, and 3D printing of the equipment (e.g., embossing tools) for creating fake official documents. Does it constitute a crime to sell such software or equipment to someone who uses it for forgery? Even if not chargeable as forgery, would selling such things be possibly considered conspiracy or accessory to the crime? If so, what factors would make one criminally liable?
For the sake of the argument, let's say I advertise the product as "perfect for pranks, gags, and forgeries."


texts: How to make a complaint as a comsumer in Germany without going to court?

texts: I'm not familiar with German law, but I'd like to complain about a certain international company as I was tricked by a company to pay to use a method that was shut down by the company online and many people have been complaining about this in comments. I really don't want to go into the details of how things went, as that's what I'd like to bring to the specific authorities but are there any places (official authorities) for consumers to complain about an encounter in online shopping. I've also complained to the company.


texts: Avoiding a speeding ticket by refusing to tell who the driver was?

texts:
This hypothetical question is based on a real incident I saw in the news.
Suppose that a car is driving over the speed limit by a significant amount, causing a police car to turn around and go after the car. When the police get to the car, it’s parked in a rest stop and all passengers are sitting in the back seat of the car. When the police asks who the driver was, all passengers deny being the driver.
What happens in such a situation? Clearly someone was driving the car, but only one of the multiple passengers. Suppose that there is no evidence of who the driver was (no camera footage, for instance). Maybe one of the passengers is the owner of the car, but that doesn’t guarantee that they were the one driving.


texts: How do I reinstate a "lost" birth certificate?

texts:
I am attempting to prove my lineage, and need my grandfather's birth certificate.  He was born in Bronx, NY, in 1914.

My parents did a search for this document in 1997, and got a response that the document was not found.

I'm going to attempt the search again, if I'm able.  Maybe something has changed in the last 20 years and I'll have better luck.

But, assuming it comes back not found again, what next?  I've read that a new certificate can be established via "court order," but can I get some more information?  What kind of court?  What, if any, type of lawyer do I hire for this?  Can I do this, or does my parent (his child) have to do this on my behalf?


texts: What is the difference between the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County?

texts:
It is my understanding that the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is the highest state court in the state of Massachusetts. However, I have also heard reference to the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County,  which I gather is a different judicial body from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
I found this page on the state government website about the SJC Clerk for Suffolk County, but I'm not sure if that's the same thing either, and even if it is, the page does not describe the function of the SJC Clerk for Suffolk County, only the opening hours, COVID-19 restrictions, and contact information.
So what is the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County, and how is it affiliated (if at all) to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts?


texts: Sending 1 email as invite to generated emails

texts:
I did some research regarding this question but all I could find was that email has to contain From, Subject forms, etc and unsubscribe links/button.

But how about if I want to send an invitation to my website (like dribble where you can register only with invites) to all of the university students (emails will be generated automatically) as a one time email, no future emails going to be sent. Do I need to follow some rules in order to make it all legal? Or is it sending as a normal email with the subject, from fields filled properly will do the job?


texts: GDPR Compliance - Tell EU users not to sign up

texts:
I have a client that wants to approach GDPR compliance by simply putting a notice on his subscription forms along the lines of "Don't sign up, Europeans"

From what I gather about GDPR compliance, I'm pretty sure that won't pass muster.  Correct?


texts: Use of Co. in a Non-Registered Business Name

texts:
A few of my friends and I have started a business in Canada, and in our name we have "Co." at the end. We are deciding whether to register as a business or not, and are unsure as to whether we can continue to use `Co." in the name without registering.

In the choosing a name section of the canada corporation site it states:

  The accepted way to include a legal element in a corporate name is to add a term to the end of the name such as Limited, Incorporated or Corporation, or contractions of these such as Ltd., Inc. or Corp.

Does this mean that "Co." indicates a corporation? If so, can we continue to use it if we decide to not register as a corporation?


texts:
I just got a lease to sign, but I am confused by some of the language.

My question in short is: what does "public mains up to the point of entry" mean?

More information:

It reads:

...

Landlord shall make all repairs which, in Landlord's discretion, are necessary to maintain
the following, subject to normal wear and tear:

A. The exterior and structural walls, excluding glass, structural floors, excluding
floor coverings, the foundations, roofs, gutters, and exterior downspouts of the
Leased Premises;

B. All appurtenances to the Leased Premises, including stairways, sidewalks,
driveways, tenant shall be responsible for normal maintenance. Tenant responsible
for grass cutting, lawn and yard maintenance. Tenant is responsible for snow
removal as may be required from time to time;

C. Water, sewage and gas and electrical lines from the public mains up to the
point of entry to the Leased Premises;

...

Does this mean that they or I will be responsible for plumbing repairs?
I am not sure what the term "public mains up to the point of entry" means.


texts: Russian firm charged in election interference case pleads not guilty - "speedy trial"?

texts:
Russian firm charged in election interference case pleads not guilty (USA TODAY)

  Mueller's office charged in February that 13 Russian nationals and three businesses sought to meddle in the election election ...  one of them, Concord Management and Consulting, LLC, dispatched a pair of lawyers to federal court in Washington to plead not guilty to the charges. One of the lawyers, Eric Dubelier, said Concord would "exercise our right to a speedy trial." ... Mueller's office said in a court filing last week that Concord's lawyers had already demanded that prosecutors turn over "sensitive intelligence gathering, national security, and foreign affairs information," including details on electronic surveillance of the company and its employees.

How soon must Mueller produce the evidence? (And will it be made public?)

Indictment: USA vs. Internet Research Agency et. al.


texts:
My ex husband & I purchased a car for our 16 year old daughter. We paid 50/50,$7,800 each. Because he owed me money he said he would title it in his name so he would pay insurance. I was reluctant but he said “you still own 1-2 no matter what”.

I just said that all I wanted was to make sure if our daughter ever wanted new car that we both agree to that & all money from selling it go to her for car. He said sure. I also asked that if ever either of us decided we didn’t want her driving (due to bad weather, late at nights ex) or wanted to take the car away for the weekend because she was irresponsible, or whatever the case may be, he agreed we both had that right.

2 weeks later I told her she could not drive because of the weather. He came & picked up the car & said “not up to you...I own it. SUCKER” my friends tell me I’m just that a sucker & have no recourse. I’m thinking if I sue clearly a judge will know I didn’t pay for half my ex’s car!!! So maybe could have it re-titled in both of our names OR request he buy me out? Because here now he has almost 16k car & telling me “thanks” & saying he’s in control. So when she goes to college he get to do with it what he wants. I have the receipt & we had a verbal agreement. Am I screwed?


texts: My hashed IPV4 was published by an administrator on an anonymous imageboard (EU country)

texts:
some days ago it on an anonymous imageboard it was opened by an administrator a thread with a .png showing all my posts on that website, and each posts had my hashed ipv4 attached to it.
Since i discovered that decrypting hash ipv4 is a walk in the park (less than 30 seconds on a normal consumer computer according to this research: https://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/16294 )
i'm here to ask you if i can start a legal cause against the admin of the website. I live in an European Union state so i should follow GDPR laws right?
The thread of which i speak it was also filled with threats and similar things, over 400 replies in total.

Thank you.


texts: How to convince Airline to share Flight Data about stolen flights

texts:
Someone stole my credit card data and bought thousands of dollars of flights with Virgin America. I have the transation date/amounts, and my credit card number. How might I convince the airline to provide me data about the flights purchased with my cards? I have tried contacting them, but they have strict policies about sharing data even though I was the one who paid for the tickets.

(of course I reported this, but I'd like to find out who did it or where they went)


texts: Using short quotes from published, well-known literary works in a product

texts:
In order to create and sell a card game with each card having a short (25-50 words) quote from a book, is a licensing agreement needed or is this fair use? Assume the books are recent enough to be copyrighted.

In addition to the quote, the card would contain interpretive questions. Maybe this is similar to a mini-version of a book club guide you sometimes find as an appendix in books. Would it be fair use to publish guides to conversations about short aspects of published works (not the works as a whole)?


texts: Does NEPA currently categorically exempt satellite systems? Is there any legal basis to Viasat's request for the FCC to consider light pollution?

texts:
Space News' Viasat asks FCC to halt Starlink launches while it seeks court ruling says:

Viasat formally asked the Federal Communications Commission to stay an April 27 license modification that allows SpaceX to continue building out the broadband constellation, which already numbers more than 1,600 satellites.
Starlink surpassed the 1,584 satellites permitted under its previous license in 550-kilometer orbits soon after launching a fresh batch of 52 satellites May 15. SpaceX is slated to launch 60 more May 26.
Viasat’s bid to stop or at least slow Starlink’s expansion rests on convincing a federal appeals court that the FCC was legally obligated to assess the megaconstellation’s environmental impact before approving SpaceX’s request to more than double the number of satellites it intends to operate from 550 kilometers.

and later

Carlsbad, California-based Viasat, which provides broadband services from geostationary orbit (GEO), had petitioned the FCC to conduct an environmental review before granting the license modification as part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which currently categorically exempts satellite systems, but says this did not happen despite megaconstellations bringing new considerations for regulators.
The FCC by and large rejected the requests when it approved the license modification, although it did urge SpaceX to continue to work closely with astronomers to mitigate the brightness of its satellites. The FCC offered several reasons for not performing an environmental assessment, from questioning whether light pollution is covered by NEPA to noting that the Federal Aviation Administration does its own environmental reviews as part of the launch licensing process.
Viasat said in a May 21 filing to the FCC that NEPA required it to at least consider environmental harms before granting SpaceX’s application, such as orbital debris, light pollution and the effect disintegrating satellites could have on the atmosphere.

Question: Does NEPA indeed currently categorically exempt satellite systems? If so, can there be any legal basis to Viasat's request in its "May 21 filing to the FCC that NEPA required it to at least consider environmental harms before granting SpaceX’s application, such as... light pollution..."?


texts: To what extent can I inform my US Manager about projects in Iran

texts:
I am working for a German company (in Germany) with business projects in Iran. My manager is a US citizen working in the US. He did not ask me about these projects and may not know that they even exist, but I will hold a presentation where these projects are part of the answer to his questions.

To what extent can I provide him information about the projects? Can I mention that we had some cash flow from Iran? Can mention the project name? Can I mention project details?
To what extent can he provide me with advice regarding these projects?


texts: Stock shares purchased with promissory note - definition of "substantial" for personal liability in Regs. Sec. 1.83-3(a)(2)?

texts:
If purchasing stock shares of a company via a promissory note, Sec. 1.83-3(a)(2) states that "if the amount paid for the transfer of property is an indebtedness secured by the transferred property, on which there is no personal liability to pay all or a substantial part of such indebtedness, such transaction may be in substance the same as the grant of an option" (see https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.83-3).

Having the transaction not be treated as an option grant is important because then the long term capital gains holding period doesn't start which can result in a much higher tax paid if the shares appreciate and are sold eventually.

What percentage of the indebtedness must be secured personally to count as "substantial"?

Is there any case law or regulation that authoritatively establishes that definition in this context that someone could point to, or if not, how is this percentage arrived at?

Back in January 2010 when http://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2010/feb/unexpectedtaxconsequencesofbuyingemployerstockwithloanproceeds.html was written, it discussed there being no clear guidance with some practitioners saying 50% and some saying higher and some saying lower, but I wonder if either that was incorrect or if things have become clarified since then. What's ironic is that the IRS uses a far lower number for "substantial" when it's in the context of a person or entity not paying taxes.


texts: What is the "chain of authority" that allows the IRS code to force disclosure of a SSN when obtaining a passport?

texts:
The bottom of page 38 of H.R. 22,  says:

  Present Law The administration of passports is the responsibility of
  the Department of State.19

  The Secretary of State may refuse to issue or renew a passport if the
  applicant owes child support in excess of $2,500 or owes certain types
  of Federal debts. The scope of this authority does not extend to
  rejection or revocation of a passport on the basis of delinquent
  Federal taxes. Although issuance of a passport does not require a
  social security number or taxpayer identification number (“TIN”), the
  applicant is required under the Code to provide such number. Failure
  to provide a TIN is reported by the State Department to the Internal
  Revenue Service (“IRS”) and may result in a $500 fine

I'm trying to understand how the privacy act and exceptions to that law relates within these governmental institutions.

In other words, the SSN is issued by the social security department, which relates to revenue.  The IRS should be involved in that aspect as it relates to finance.

Is this bill by Congress the binding law that allows the IRS to impose these requirements on the Department of State/Homeland Security? Or can independent government agencies create different requirements for inter-agency ways of doing business?
There are several reasons a person may not be issued a SSN. How can I locate the relevant information (IRS and Dep. of State) that accommodates this scenario?


texts:
Let's suppose I'm a citizen of Italy, France and Belgium and let's suppose I own 3 houses in respectively, Bologna, Paris and Brussels. As far as my supposedly countries of citizenship are concerned, can I be considered, by each one of them, one of their own residents?
(Meaning, can I be considered a French residing in Paris and having it on French ID, an Italian living in Bologna and having it on Italian ID and a Belgian living in Brussels and having it on ID?)

I personally think that a citizen of whatever country can label themselves as a resident if he declares that they own a house there, but I want hear opinions on the matter.


texts: Does Justice Roberts Obamacare opinion contradict itself?

texts:
Chief Justice Roberts' opinion in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius upheld the ACA individual mandate as a tax. Disagreeing with the joint dissenters (Alito, Thomas, Kennedy, and Scalia), Roberts, in part III-C of his opinion, demonstrates that the labels used by Congress can not be controlling. (Penalty versus tax.) The "question of the constitutionality of action taken by Congress does not depend on recitals of the power which it undertakes to exercise." (Roberts quoting Woods v. Cloyd W. Miller Co.)

Since this levy is within the Taxing Power, the characterization (label) Congress gives the exaction does not effect to its constitutional status as a tax.

Yet in Part III-D

  JUSTICE GINSBURG questions the necessity of rejecting the Government’s
  commerce power argument, given that §5000A can be upheld under the
  taxing power.  Post, at 37. But the statute reads more naturally as a
  command to buy insurance than as a tax, and I would uphold it as a
  command if the Constitution allowed it.  It is only because the
  Commerce Clause does not authorize such a command that it is necessary
  to reach the taxing power question. And it is only because we have a
  duty to construe a statute to save it, if fairly possible, that §5000A
  can be interpreted as a tax.  Without deciding the Commerce Clause
  question, I would find no basis to adopt such a saving construction.

the Chief Justice seems to say that only a strained reading of Congress's "label" and the doctrine of Constitutional Avoidance allow the mandate to be upheld as a tax. Isn't there tension between these two parts of the opinion?


texts: Distributing machine learning models (e.g., word embeddings) based on non-sharable datasets

texts:
Many corpora (= datasets containing texts) are not freely available and/or their license do not allow redistribution and/or commercial use and/or require share-alike. For example, the Linguistic Data Consortium is notorious for selling corpora at hefty prices (despite being publicly funded).

Can I legally distribute word embeddings that I computed based on such corpora? And more generally, can I legally distribute any sort of machine learning model trained on such corpora?

In the case of a share-alike-licensed dataset, must all models trained on it be redistributed under the same or similar license?

I am mostly interested in the following locations:

California, United States
Massachusetts, United States
Paris, France
Seoul, South Korea


texts: What is the best way to proceed with a legal action against US company from abroad?

texts:
Some time ago I have signed a contract with Premiere (Premiere Event, Rise of the Phoenix Inc, NYS Corporation) with Michael D Palance as Director, US company which is looking for young talents through talent auditions while they were on their trip to Europe. Part of the sum I payed with a credit card and another part in cash. While I did not want to use their service I have asked for a valid refund within 3 business days after the contract was signed (actually just next day). To make long story short I have received a refund on my credit card payment but never received the wire transfer for the cash payment (which was promised to me by email and was even confirmed that it has been sent). In the meanwhile I also did not receive any service from them.

As I am located in EU I would like to know what kind of options I have available to pursue the US company? In the contract it mentions that "venue and jurisdiction shall lie exclusively in the state and federal courts having jurisdiction over Orange County, Florida"