texts:
So I was searching a room to rent and I found a landlady in an email group. We first talked over the phone, then she sent the photos of the place over text message and we continued talking with messages. I said at some point "I want to rent the place, let's sign a sublease."

She agreed to prepare the documents but then didn't return to me with a document for 10 days. In the meantime, one of my friends offered me a free room so I wrote in a very kind language that I decided not to rent the place. (I am a foreign student in a lab rotation here so for a person not having salary it is a big amount.)

She replied using very strong words and because of that I didn't even bother to reply her. We didn't have any signed document so I was very sure that nothing could happen. 4 days after she wrote me another message saying that she wants the money sending a link to a law firm website saying text messages can be relevant.

The sublease is for 2 weeks and the rent is just 300 dollars. And I am leaving the country in 3 weeks so if her lawsuit request is accepted, I may not be able to go to court. Should I be worried?


texts: Can damages be claimed from someone who backs out of a contract (before signing)

texts:
Can a landlord (UK, English law) make a claim from a potential tenant who wants to back out of signing a Tenancy Agreement?
If a tenant makes a repeated commitment (via emails, face-to-face conversations and text messages) that they want to sign a Tenancy Agreement and rent a house, and at the same time repeatedly (5 times) adjust the start of the contract by one more week forward.
If the tenant then finally admits he can't/won't be able to move in, does the landlord have any legal rights to claim compensation?
On the landlord's side:

The tenant has verbally and unambiguously committed that they want to move in.
The landlord has paid for referencing.
The landlord has paid for a contract to be drawn up
The landlord has paid for the dates on the contract to be changed (repeatedly)
The landlord has paid for a detailed inventory to be taken.
The landlord has turned down other potential tenants

On the tenant's side:

The tenant has not signed any legal document
The tenant has paid a holding deposit (equal to one week's rent)
The tenant feels that the reasons for not moving in as soon as planned are outside his control.
The tenant didn't ask for an inventory to be taken.
The tenant didn't ask to have his references checked.

On a related issue, what's the situation if the tenant still claims they want to move in, but the landlord wants to withdraw because they no longer trusts the tenant's promises? Can the tenant then make a finical claim against the landlord?
Update regarding costs

The landlords rent-guarantee insurance requires that the AST (the contract) is written and edited by legal professionals only. (this is a requirement of the insurance company only, not sure it's legally correct)
According to the Association of Inventory Clerks the inventory should be taken 'immediately prior to moving in' so if a new Tenant is has to be found, a new inventory will be required (unless they can be persuaded to move in at very short notice). The AIIC also advise that tenants don't sign inventories that weren't taken immediately prior to moving in.
The 'Tenant Fees Act' restricts the holding deposit to a maximum of one weeks rent, this is less than the costs incurred. (the act makes no mention of how long the holding deposit can be held, nor the circumstances under which it can be retained)
The total delays in moving in add up to five weeks beyond the initially agreed date - more than one months rent.

Update - just for completeness, rent guarantee insurance is no longer available (not in the UK anyhow) due to covid.


texts: Can you sue a person for time spent taking them to court?

texts: I know legal proceedings can be time consuming and stressful. Can a plaintiff sue the defendant for the time and energy involved? Would they need to show something, for example taking time off work to attend a hearing?


texts: Does usage of a title/salutation like doctor/professor have legal ramifications?

texts:
As I identify as a male adult, my understanding is that I should select "Mr." when asked for my title when filling out forms.

I noticed a feature in my online bank portal which allowed me to change the title pre-pended to my name in communications. Changing this to Doctor (for which I am not recognised) worked instantly.

Could asking to be referred to as Doctor or Professor when you do not hold either rank, illegal in any way? This is without any intent to claim one has studied in either field, simply asking that a company refers to them by that title.


texts:
Can the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Estate Recovery Unit (EAU) seek reimbursement for Medicaid services rendered after a person is deceased, if their assets are placed in a revocable trust prior to care? In other words, does a revocable trust protect against Medicaid recovery after death?
(District: Oregon, United States)


texts: Are online retailers breaking EU/US law by using user's log-in information to charge different prices without explicitly notifying them?

texts:
I am aware that in most places firms are generally allowed to price discriminate, i.e. offer different prices for the same product to different customers based on personal characteristics. For example, students getting book discounts, retirees cheaper fare etc. However, is it legal in the EU/USA to do so without explicitly stating that's their policy and/or informing you they use your data to do so?
Context:
Very recently I tried to purchase an eBook from Amazon.com, form the US store while being in the EU because the local Amazon.nl did not offer an eBook version, only hard-copy, and I made previously purchases from Amazon.com while being here in such situation without problems. However, the listed price changed (and increased) after I logged in into the store and made a purchase.
I contacted the Amazon customer support about this and their first response was that this was due to different taxes or just natural price variation over time. However, I noticed that even before I logged in into amazon.com the amazon.com was displaying the Netherlands as my region (I also do not use VPN or any service to hide my IP address). Furthermore, since I accidentally purchased it I could see that the pre-tax changed, not VAT. Another suspicious thing was that only the price of eBook version changed. In addition, after their customer support response I decided to run an experiment and log-in/out multiple times and the price was changing always whenever I logged in or out.
I made a photographic and video evidence of this and after confronting the customer support with this evidence, they admitted that it is in fact log in status that determines my price and not region/time. In their response they stated:

... "I'm very sorry about the incorrect information you received. [referencing the previous incorrect claims about price changing due to my location or time variation through day]
Please be informed that the change of price differs before you login and after you login onto our Kindle store using your Amazon account" ...

The text in [] are my clarifications.
However, this response made me wondering if this conduct is legal. The reason for that is that according to GDPR explanation on EU website under GDPR company collecting my personal data and using it for automated decision making should inform me about that and have me agree to it. Amazon has an explanation page for how they use your data but they never mention individualized price hiking/price discrimination explicitly (or maybe they use language that legally covers such action as well that as an layman I can't understand). The same applies to their user agreement.
Furthermore, even though I currently reside in the EU I don't know if this would not fall outside GDPR and under the US law, and if so I would like to know what it would say about the situation.
Lastly, their response shows that they always had data which showed that price changed due to my log in and hence first time they misled me either intentionally or hopefully just due to some human error. What does US/EU law say about that?


texts: How hard should a car insurance company try to keep a policy holder up to date?

texts:
This is a situation that I find myself in currently, albeit much abbreviated:

The insurance for our car was due to be renewed.  Having not heard from the company, we logged into the on-line portal and saw "No action required, your policy will be renewed on XX/XX/XXXX".  Assuming the company's own portal would be correct, we let it roll over (as we did the year before, without issue).

Then, we got pulled over by the police for no insurance, so we re-checked the portal and it stated the same, No action required.  We phoned up customer services and they (unhelpfully) said, "We sent you an e-mail [Which we never received] and we won't issue a Letter of Indemnity because we sent that [single] e-mail"
We checked our inbox, we got all the monthly news updates, but no e-mail about renewal.

So, now we're stuck with a producer that we cannot produce because their portal claimed we had to do nothing.

My question is this:  If an insurance company are not planning on renewing your policy because they "require more information", yet their own portal claims the opposite, how liable are they?

Additional information:

All other renewals we had with them, we got no correspondence until a week after the renewal date (when we received the digital and hard-copy certificate).  We assumed it would be the same this year also.

No payments have been missed, the last one being taken on the first of the month (3 days before the renewal date).  They claim this is for the final month of the period covered by the old policy.

They are refusing the Letter of Indemnity as they deem a single e-mail - without any attempted follow up by phone or mail - is sufficient to state intent (contrary to the portal) of not renewing.  Also note that we proved this e-mail was never received by microsoft customer servers who kindly restored all deleted messages to ensure it wasn't a client error).

UK law provides that drivers must be insured (see selected answer).

Please let me know if any other information is required.


texts: Can you get your fingerprints removed from the FBI database?

texts: Can you get your fingerprints removed from the FBI database after a background check? The FBI website says, "NGI will remove the retained civil fingerprints should the submitting agency request removal, or removal is required by court order." Is there a way to do this as a regular Joe who had a simple background check done?


texts: Is it legal to purposefully contract COVID-19?

texts:
I may have a number of reasons for wanting to intentionally expose myself to the coronavirus.  (Examples: I feel more capable of surviving it while I am younger.  It reduces my ability to carry and spread the virus once my immune system has developed antibodies.  It may strengthen the immune system against related viruses.)

Can a government legally prevent me from intentionally infecting myself with a virus?


texts: Buying motor-vehicle from another country

texts:
I'm looking to buy a motorcycle from another country in the EU and bring it back. The motorcycle will be purchased as second hand. For this, there is normally a purchase declaration (a small contract that specifies e characteristics of the product, the seller and the buyer).

My question is in what language should the purchase declaration be written in when both countries speak different languages?


texts:
So this is in the interest of storytelling and writing.

So we have cop A who is undercover and acting as mobster B's right hand man.

Then we have bar owner C who closed down the bar, and is alone in it doing inventory 2 hours after closing, all alone.

B and A come in the bar (forcibly, since it was closed, but quietly) and surprise C. B want to threaten C into paying protection money, but C refuses, so B and A (who is undercover) are trashing the place and threatening C with death.

C then quickly pulls out a gun and shoots both of them dead.

Would C be in any trouble? Seeing as how it was self defense and he didn't know that A was an undercover cop.


texts:
As I was explained in another question in this SE community, prosecutors dont have the resources to prosecute every single crime Does a prosecutor have any legal resource..

Then, what does it prevent a state to prosecute people discriminatorily as it might and it indeed happens in certain countries (based in race, sex, political affiliation, etc)?  Is there any legal mechanism in any country, that prevents a state to apply laws discriminatorily?


texts: Can a manager decline a request for a sick day?

texts: At work can a manger tell an employee that they must come in to work after requesting a sick day? What if the reason is something like they need to go to the dentist to get their annual teeth cleaning? Does it matter if the employee is not entitled to any sick days?


texts: Can a US president secretly pardon themselves?

texts:
I've seen quite a few widely-circulated tweets saying that Trump doesn't have to announce pardons, and we might not find out he's pardoned himself (or family members) until/unless they are indicted. (Example tweet)
Is this true? How is the record kept of who Trump has pardoned? Is it secret? How is it verified that Trump issued the pardon while he was President and he's not just making it up as a defense at a later time?


texts: What are the responsabilities about cited text after original licensor confesses illegal license?

texts:
A book is published containing cited text from an article licensed under some free license like CC-BY-SA. With all requirements of such license fulfilled.

Later on the "author" of the article confesses that it was not original work and did not in fact have the right to grant licenses for the article.

What are the responsabilities of the book's author and publisher?

Is it a copyright infringement to continue publishing it unmodified claiming that any damage is caused by the author of the article and not the book's author whom acted in good faith?

Otherwise, is it a copyright infringement to reject acting on such revelation until proof is provided about the illegality of the cited article? If the author choses to keep the cited text, is there any obligation to actively investigate the license status?

Note that there is no doubt that the identities of the article's author and the one claiming it was a false license are the same. There is doubt about the veracity of his words though since he must have lied at least once, when he falsely granted a license or when he falsely confessed.


texts: Do scooter/moped licensing laws apply across state lines?

texts:
In the US, in my home state (call it HS), it's explicitly legal to ride a 50cc scooter/moped on the street without a driver's license. Let's say I have no license and drive my scooter into some other state (call it OS), which requires a driver's license and/or a motorcycle license or endorsement to ride a 50cc scooter. Am I legally allowed to drive it on OS roads? I know that if it were a larger motorcycle and I had an appropriate license issued by HS, the Full Faith and Credit Clause would compel OS to respect my license, but does this also apply to the case where there is no license, and OS has to decide whether to respect HS's lack of requirement?
Note: I am not asking about whether or not a given state can require drivers to have a license, I'm asking how a state licensing law applies to residents of other states who are travelling or visiting. States have widely varying laws around what license classes are required for various vehicle classes, and I'm asking how these differences are resolved when touring across state lines. Do I have to get the maximum level of certification that would apply across every state on my route?


texts: New defects after buyer removes inspection contingency

texts:
The buyer has removed all his contingencies and so he doesn't have any way to back out without losing his earnest deposit money. Unfortunately, I later found out that there are some defects such as a leaking roof and the A/C is no longer working. It's not that I failed to disclose these but that they occurred after he removed his contingencies. Is he still able to cancel when I disclose these additional defects? Can we both mutually agree to cancel the purchase contract and I grant him his deposit money back? If so, can the broker/agent come after me for their commission?
Country: USA
State: CA
Property type: Residential property


texts: Can a judge make it case law that 2×2=5?

texts:
The following quote from Malcolm Turnbull is actually not what this question is about, but nevertheless it is a good-fit epigraph:

  The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia.

Though the scenario I give in this question is exaggerated, hypothetical, edge-case one, it is technically valid and showcases the essence of the question.

A recent question/answer seems to be telling us that it is perfectly fine for a judge to reject an argument even implicitly — i.e. without actually discussing it. Such a judgment might only be vulnerable to appeal, but in no way to judicial discipline / misconduct investigation. If not successfully appealed, it becomes case law — binding on all inferior courts. Where rights of appeal do not exist (e.g. the court is the top court in its jurisdiction), the judgment becomes set-in-stone law — until cancelled either by the same court or via legislation.

So, let's consider the same example as in that question, but more specific one:

Bob contends:

  I am right and Rob is wrong because blablabla... 2×2=4 ...blablabla.

Rob defends:

  No Bob is wrong, because blablabla... and 2×2 actually equals 5.

Bob replies:

  But look, lets see what 2×2 equals to [math proof follows]. It is 4, you see.

The judge says:

  I accept Rob's contention that Bob is wrong because 2×2=5. Bob has no case.

So, the judge implicitly rejects the math proof that 2×2=4 (as their Honour "does not have to address every argument raised in their judgement") and, effectively, makes it case law that 2×2=5.

Is this scenario technically/legally possible? Would the case law that 2×2=5 stand for some time? Will the judge not face any disciplinary consequences but just public outcry and reputation damages?

I appreciate that one might want to say that no judge would accept such an extremely outrageous merit-lacking argument as "2×2=5" and I totally agree (with hope). But the way this question applies to reality is that there is no clear boundary between "2×2=5" and any mundane argument that Rob might argue — as far as its acceptance by a judge is concerned.


texts: A better tool for reading law than congress.gov

texts:
I am looking at the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, and interested in discovering how much spending the budget covers.

Early in the bill, there is a reference to existing legislation: "--Section 251(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(c)) is amended by striking paragraphs (7) and (8) and inserting the following: ...", but the amended bill is not linked anywhere and my search failed to turn anything up.

What tools do people usually use for reading legislation? I am thinking about trying to build one if this is as good as it gets, but I expect I am just looking in the wrong place.


texts: Am I allowed to store data of EU citizens as an Indian company?

texts:
We are a company based in India and are frequently being visited by people from overseas.

Due to the recent safe harbour developments, are we allowed store data of EU-citizens on a cloud server located in the US? (like passport copies and other sensitive data)


texts: Nomenclature for two UK Parliament Acts in the same year

texts:
Short titles for UK Parliament Acts are generally formed with the title itself and the year, e.g. Parliament Act 1911, (or, in Yes, Minister terms) Import, Export and Custom Powers (Defence) Act 1939.

Hypothetically, if there were two Parliament Acts in 1911, how would each one be cited, or, as the citations are defined in statute, what would be the standard way of defining that citation?


texts:
So I have a question regarding contact sports (football, boxing, martial arts, etc.) and why the contact is not considered assault. I've read the code and do not see any sort of exemptions mentioned regarding consent, involvement in a sport, etc.

Is it common law? Discretion? Perhaps it's handled in a different section of the law I didn't think to look? Something I am missing? Note I am not talking about brawls or getting into the fights on the field and such, just what would be normal in the context of a sport but would otherwise be considered assault outside the ring or off the field.

For reference I am in SC if that would make a difference to your answer, but more general answers would be welcome also, if nothing else they might get me pointed in a direction I hadn't thought to look.


texts: How to protect my authorial credit of a book chapter

texts:
As part of an internationally dispersed team, I have first-authored a text (along with other authors) which is meant to become a chapter of an academic book. My text was lightly edited in a process of file exchanges whereby the author names were in evidence in the files under the title of the chapter. I have done this as an employee of organisation A among multiple organisations which contributed chapters to the book, as part of contract work with a customer organisation B.

However, organisation B is taking a long time to have the book published. The longer it takes, the more I am in doubt about the protection of my authorial credit in the chapter. For all I know, organisation B could be editing the chapter substantially and deciding to remove my authorship as a result. It's difficult to tell also because the contract between organisations A and B has terminated, and as a result I am also no longer an employee of organisation A.

What steps can I take to protect my authorial credit of the chapter in the book to be published and to protect myself from plagiarism if my authorship is not acknowledged in the book once published?


texts: Would it be legal to copy a small passage from a book to a website for language teaching purposes?

texts:
Let's say I copy a scene of 10 to 30 sentences from a book of another language to use as an example to teach vocabulary and explain sentence structure to my website. Can this fall under fair use? I could even copy passages from books or samples which are already made publicly available by the publisher online and I would credit the source as well.

Edit: I'm in Canada

Edit 2: I forgot to ask if it makes a difference whether the content of my website is publicly accessible for free compared to offering it as a course for paid members (with a free trial/sample available).

Thank you for the help.


texts:
Let's assume in Country A the import of certain digital goods is restricted as with the Wassenaar arrangement. A person hosts such software on his server and has an export license. Another person downloads these digital goods in Country A.
Who has broken the law; the server host or the other person who did the download?
Is it ok for the host to specify that it cannot be imported to that Country A?


texts:
I am familiar with the fact that many theaters display the message 'Management reserves the right of admission' or something similar.

Today, our pre-board mock tests (Class 10) ended, and me and my friends went straight from school to a particular theater to watch a movie. However, when we got there, we were denied admission on the basis that the management thought that we were bunking school (our school breaks as soon as the exam ends, around eleven am).

My question is, does the theater have any right to refuse admission on such arbitrary and unproven grounds?


texts: reproducing data from one website on another

texts:
I'm making a website that translates original content scraped from other websites and reproduces it on my own website.  The content on the source websites is not behind a paywall, nor does one need to be a member to access it.  Also, the the original website is referenced as a source wherever data is used.

I found this question, which may be related, but I will only be reproducing text.

Does the Supreme Court ruling against LinkedIn apply here?


texts: If under investigation for a minor incident, how do I answer immigration questions about my criminal history?

texts:
My friend caused a hit-and-run involving slight damage to another vehicle (allegedly and without her knowledge) and received a letter from police for investigation.

She consulted a lawyer and carried over the case to him. The lawyer is looking at the case and says it will be close to three months before the case is completely closed.

My friend also wants to go overseas for some time, during that period. She is confused whether to mark yes or no in the section that says “criminal history in the past 5 years”. What should she fill, if asked "convicted in a criminal case?”


texts: Music samples for market research surveys

texts:
Would using short clips (8-15 seconds) of songs embedded in online surveys for market research fall under fair use? If not, what type of music license would be required for this application?

The content of the clips will not be altered, and this research would be for-profit.

Would purchasing the works from iTunes or similar distributor satisfy licensing requirements for this application?


texts: Personal information online (Instagram) no way to control

texts:
I'm trying to work out the legal routes for reclaiming control of personal information online.

Backstory: I have had an Instagram account for a long time. Then one day (a few years ago) I couldn't log in. I was told to verify my email but, inside the same email, there was a link that removed the email from the account entirely - I accidentally clicked this instead.

So now my account was locked (hacked) and my email was removed from the account. I reached out to Instagram support (back then they had an email address) and they asked me to prove my identity by showing my face next to my passport photo page. I did this and waited. Eventually I received a response saying that I failed to prove my identity. This is the last I've heard from them.

Now I have a page online, with my personal information and photos and I have absolutely no way of controlling this.

Do I have a right to control this information? If so what kind of legal person do I need to contact?


texts: Can't get meaning from absence of notice of copyright symbol

texts:
here i am starting writing blog post and i am totally new,i am using some contents from online power point presentation which don't have any copyright notice on it so is there any copyright infringement issues

What it means if the documents not contain © symbol and are posted in public domain have no grounds for violating copyright


texts: Is license required to sell songs replayed on a virtual instrument?

texts:
Would it infringe copyright to replay the Star Wars theme on a virtual accordion app and sell the song as a lesson to play?

If not would it be allowed if its free?

I couldn't find anything on the internet in regards to replay copyrighted material on a virtual instrument/app.


texts: Is it legal to sign up for EBay/PayPal account in fictitious name?

texts:
Is it legal to sign up for a PayPal/EBay account under a random, fictitious name? I'm not talking about stealing someone's identity or attempting to circumvent paying taxes.

I just want to create multiple accounts to increase my reach.


texts: How long can my girlfriend stay over at my place despite not being on the lease?

texts:
I have recently signed a new lease and moved into my new place. The place I have moved in is a unit in an apartment complex. The manager of the complex told me I cannot have guests for more than 14 days per month in a consecutive manner and cannot live with people whose names are not on the lease. The manager emphasized that since my girlfriend's name is not on the lease (and I cannot add her to the lease for some reasons) she cannot live with me here but it is okay if she wants to sleep over.

The thing is my girlfriend is currently staying with her parents but we have been planning to move in together for a while. However, what the manager told us has become a very bothering thing for us since she is not legally living with me as she has not officially changed her address but she will be sleeping at my place, pretty much almost every night. We cook dinner together when we are home around 6-7pm (which happens often) and then sleep until tomorrow morning around 7am when we wake up and go to work. Although she will stay at her parents' place every couple of days (for a day or two) she has brought her clothes and personal items such as tooth brush etc to my place.

So my question is would my girlfriend coming home around 6-7pm every day, cook dinner and sleep over at my place be considered as something illegal? Is she actually living with me? What is the legal definition of "living"?


texts: Church / School / Religion / Disney! / California

texts:
I attend a public school in California, there is a voluntary field trip day, once a year, where you go to a church.

In the church, they put on a Disney show, with nothing religious about it.
The subtext is "make churches happy experiences to try to get converts".

Are schools and churches allowed to collaborate to get students into the church? Is this illegal, and if so, by what law?

This seems slightly fishy, but I can't think of anything that would make this illegal.


texts: IP law governing physical, functional things

texts:
Are patents the only type of IP right that applies to physical, functional things, or can copyright and trademark also apply?

For example, say a third party wants to manufacture and sell a purely functional part of a car, like part of the engine, not something like a badge or hood ornament that's likely trademarked.  If the part is not covered by a patent, are they in the clear?  Or could some other type of IP right apply to, say, a bolt hole pattern?


texts: Can the federal government override a state making something illegal?

texts: Friend and I were having about an argument about whether the federal government could just blanket legalize something. For example, would the federal government be able to pass a law preventing states from making sports betting illegal? The way I understand it, this couldn't be done without amending the constitution. Am I right?


texts: Is it necessary to renew a tenancy agreement which states: "Expire on (but continuing thereafter by virtue of statute..)"

texts:
I have been living in UK for 10 years, lived in 5 different places. Only one of my previous landlords used to renew the contract every year. By renewing I mean signing a new contract and new dates but NO changes.

Is it necessary to do that? when there is no changes in the circumstances or the line above validates the contract even after the expiry date?


texts: Have US Congressional reapportionment formulas ever been codified?

texts:
Over the centuries there have been several methods used for calculating the number of representatives each state gets in Congress. From what I have read, though, the results of the apportionment are the only thing that Congress ratifies, not the formulas themselves.
Is there anywhere that the actual apportionment formulas have been written into law, instead of just the results?
The closest I could find was the 1850 reapportionment.
Those I found that only mention the resulting numbers are: 1802, 1811, 1822, 1832, 1842, 1872, 1882, 1901, and 1911.


texts: Can a non-indian spouse claim rights/share in Indian properties on divorce?

texts: I am a divorced Indian citizen in USA and have grown up kids in India. I am going to get married to a non-Indian citizen in USA. She has German citizenship and will still have her German citizenship after our marriage. We plan to register the marriage in USA and Germany too. But, we haven't planned to register it in India or Indian consulate yet. I have some real estate and other financial establishments in India. In case of divorce, can she claim her rights in the establishments which are in India? I want to protect those properties and establishments for my children in India. Will a prenup made in USA between an Indian and non-Indian recognized in India? Can it be enforced it in India?


texts: What is the legal status of companies collecting "pre-order" sales?

texts:
I thought that most states made it illegal to sell products that do not exist.

Nevertheless, there seem to a lot of "crowd-funded" companies who sell their products as "pre-orders" meaning they are using your money to capitalize their company and they promise to ship the product to you at some undefined time in the future.

Is this legal?


texts: UK - Cooling off period after signing rental contract

texts:
I'm in process to sign a contract for a flat. The conditions written are the following: one year with no break clause.

Before signing I'm trying to find out the following information.

Is there in UK a cooling off period after the signature of a rental contract to break it? (e.g., 1 week)
Is there a way to break it before the 1 year is over? Is mutual agreement the only way?


texts: Is it legal to dump data published on a site such as fifa for commercial purposes?

texts: I'm creating a mobile app where I need to display scores of football matches in real time and I was wondering if recovering these scores from Fifa website was legal.


texts: Accessing lab test results if younger than 18

texts:
Quest Diagnostics claims that "Lab test results are available to patients 18 years and older" in the written email that follows an account creation on their website.

Why does Quest have that policy?

Is there any law that could require Quest to provide results to a minor, in spite of that policy? I am mostly interested in California and Massachusetts.

I did try to ask Quest, but they are so irresponsive to my requests that I reported them as infringing HIPAA regulations to the proper authorities, viz. Office for Civil Rights. Also, I'd rather refer to the law than to some customer service.


texts: Do laws against libel and slander [malice] also apply to incomplete information?

texts:
I understand that if somebody posts false information about an individual and if it can be proved that individual had intent to cause malice against the other individual, then that can be brought to court. Out of curiosity, does this also apply to incomplete information.

The thing about these laws is that you can bring someone to court if the information presented was false, but my real question is what if the information is incomplete?

This is the best example I could make:

For example, suppose a movie company releases a list of movies that came out in its latest fiscal year in order to tempt investors to buy its stock. However, a person releases posts stating that some of the movies came out couple of years before and makes this information public to try and scare investors from purchasing this companies' stock (basically if the company released movies in 2006 and the guy is pointing out that some movies on the list were released in 2003). HOWEVER, the company clearly has, in bold letters, on the list a statement which says that many of the movies were released years ago, but are on the new list because it also includes DVD releases.

Would this hold any validation in court? Would you have to prove that the person knew about the statement but still lied about the information to cause harm against the movie company?

Sorry if this isn't the type of question accepted on here; I am currently studying US Government and this question came to my mind.


texts:
Recently I received a warning from someone who seller that says I am infringing on their utility patent.

While looking up their patent, I am seeing different information about the status.

1) Source 1: Google Patents

Google Patents says the latest status is: 2019-08-12 Application status is Active.

2) Source 2: USPTO https://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair

It says Status:    Application Involved in Court Proceedings. Also, when I click on the "Image File Wrapper" tab, the latest update on 04-08-2019 shows that the patent was dismissed by the court

So is the patent rejected or accepted?


texts: Company knowingly debit fees it is not due from bank account and does not return it: is this fraud or theft?

texts:
This morning, I was reading this article on the Consumerist about a man who cancelled his business service with Comcast. In summary, he had an early termination fee of $1,775 debited from his bank account, which shouldn't have happened because it was past the term of his two-year contract. Comcast do not dispute those facts, and have repeatedly told him that a check was on its way but, two years later, the man has still not been unable to get a refund. At one point, he was told by a company representative that refunds are not issued in these circumstances, and that he should instead dispute the charge with his bank.

I am interested in the potential criminal liability in a situation like this (not necessarily this one) where a company knowingly takes money it is not due from someone's bank account and clearly has no intention of returning it.

Specifically:

Could the victim report this as fraud, theft or some other related crime?
Would the answer to the previous question differ based on whether the victim was eventually able to recover the money through litigation or by disputing the charge with their bank?
Would the company itself or the specific employees involved be liable?
Would a binding arbitration clause in the contract have any effect on criminal liability (I believe not)?

I would be especially (but not exclusively) interested in answers covering either the United States or Canada (especially Québec).


texts: Could a US president be advance pardoned from the result of a senate trial following impeachment?

texts:
Non-American here, trying to puzzle things out.
If I understand correctly, a US president can grant pardons, but only for federal crimes.
If I understand correctly, impeachment is a political act, and not a crime as such.
Would a senate trial following an impeachment be a federal crime?
If so, could a president be advanced pardoned for such a trial?
I understand that there is uncertainty as to whether a president can pardon him/herself. So, let us posit that they resign and are given a blanket pardon along the lines of that given by Ford to Nixon. Could that pardon apply to a senate trial following impeachment?


texts: Can states and localities have stronger immigration status-based employment discrimination laws than the federal law?

texts:
8 USC §1324b prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or prospective employees on the basis of immigration status, if the individual in question is

a citizen or national of the United States,
a lawful permanent resident (with a proviso that I won't discuss here), or
an asylee or refugee.

I'm wondering whether the existence of 8 USC §1324b rules out the possibility of any stronger state law. For example, suppose a state had a law that says employers can't discriminate against people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This doesn't directly conflict with federal law, since TPS people have an immigration status that allows them to work for any employer. However, I am not sure whether the concept of field preemption would apply here.


texts:
I am writing a software license myself before I hire a lawyer.
Is it legal to copy a software license text from other companies to write my own?
I could not find anyone talking about the copyright of the software license itself. But many software licenses have the same text.
I found this post (Is it legal to copy a website's terms of use?) but not sure if this applies to a software license


texts: Can I use screenshot of a TV show on slides of a talk?

texts:
I have been invited to give a TEDx talk quite soon and the topic of the talk is really close to an episode of Black Mirror. I'd therefore like to use some images of the show in my talk. Other movies and video games also would be very relevant and I would love to be able to use them. Do you think that this is allowed, provided that I indicate "© Netflix"? I have tried contacting Netflix over this but they seem to not even know themselves.

Any pointers would help.


texts: Can you be legally compelled to disclose your password in a criminal investigation?

texts:
Let's say you use encryption on your computer, and you've been arrested. The police believe there is evidence on your computer, and have seized the computer via a warrant. The police cannot extract any information because your hard drive is encrypted. The police were unable to find the password via other means (such as written notes). You are aware that there is incriminating evidence on your hard drive, so you do not give up the password willingly.

Can the police get a court order or otherwise legally compel you to provide the password to decrypt your hard drive?

(I imagine this would implicate your right to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate yourself.)


texts:
I want to start an app where people can rent items from each other. Of course this comes with the huge liability that people will just steal stuff after getting it from them. My question is what protections can I offer myself as well as my users?

I imagine at bare minimum I could have in the TOS a disclaimer that I'm not responsible for anything but then people wouldn't be inclined to risk their stuff.

Is it possible to store card info and if the user doesn't return the item I could charge their card for some predetermined value they agreed to before renting it? Sort of how Uber charges you extra if you damage your Uber drivers car. How would I stop fraudulent charges though.

Is it possible to get some sort of insurance? I'm a lone dev so I don't have much upfront money or reason for a bank to trust to insure me.

Any ideas?


texts: Why does the government incentivise marriage?

texts:
With the recent U.S. Supreme Court cases allowing gay marriage, and the government never stopping people from getting married who couldn't have children, the last vestiges of the "marriage is for raising children" argument have gone by the wayside.

What is the government's interest in marriage?

What is stopping me from finding a poor college student, marrying him for the tax incentives (and him me for the health insurance), and breaking it off when it is no longer financially or emotionally convenient?

I ask from both a practical standpoint (can I do it) and a philosophical standpoint (if I tried this and it were challenged all the way to the supreme court, what would the likely out come be).


texts: Would someone actually sue me for attributing them?

texts:
Imagine my goal were to openly copy copyrighted work in a perfectly legal way. Sometimes people go to court to debate whether someone copied part of a work or made it from scratch. We'll assume I copy part of a copyrighted work. I'm told by @K-C that given several conditions anyone can openly make and use modifications of a part of a copyrighted work.
Based on an answer to a previous question, Here are the conditions:

I can use part of a copyrighted image given one of two conditions

I've only taken an insubstantial portion of the copyrighted image

This insubstantial portion is not the "heart" of the image
User @K-C cites Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)

My new work is a substantial transformation from the original

The idea or the expression could be substantially different
User @K-C cites Sid & Marty Krofft Television v. McDonald’s (1977)

Here's my example:

So I take an insubstantial three pixels from a Mario Sprite, and I make a substantial transformation on the cropped pixels. This is the safest example imaginable. I refuse to believe that Nintendo could legitimately have grounds to claim copyright infringement if I take three pixels from their character and use those NINE BYTES(note) of information to make my own icon.

Now imagine I use the three slanted stripes above as the logo for my company. It seems from what I have learned so far that this informal disclaimer would do nothing at all but invite lawsuits:

The colors in my logo are from a sample of a 1985 sprite owned by Nintendo.

If I had given no such disclaimer, no one would have ever suspected that the colors in my logo were copied from a Mario sprite.

Here are my questions:

As soon as I make it known that a logo came from a tiny part of an image owned by someone else, is it possible that the company who owns that image would have any stronger basis for a lawsuit?

Would I be less legally protected making the truth public than I would be if I just deceptively allow people to assume I imagined those three colors from no identifiable source of inspiration?


texts:
I'm an 18 year old girl in Philippines studying in a college.

My father wanted me to marry to someone and already arranged it without even asking me. But I don't want to marry.

I'm 18 now, can law help me in any way?  Am I independent to marry at my own will?


texts: As a victim of debit card fraud, what are my legal options?

texts:
I have just been a victim of debit card fraud where someone over five hours away in another state purchased over $500 in computer equipment last night.

Nevermind, that my credit union seems so non-chalant about it and that unlike Capital One, they seem to have no checks in place to notice that there are several usual small purchases in my city of residence and then one whooping purchase late at night at a computer store several states away and not a single red flag was raised. I caught it because I am always checking my bank account periodically.

Anyway, what can I legally do about this? Who would legally take this seriously?


texts:
So for instance, could I develop an energy bar and market it as the “Houston Bar”?

Or even just have a bar with “Houston” on the packaging that was self evidently a bar.


texts: Under what circumstances can the police detain you?

texts:
after watching the video about the recent fiasco in Mckinney Texas  I was curious about whether any of the teens that the officer pulled over had the legal right to just walk away.

Under what scenario is a police officer allowed to detain you?  Do they need a reason to believe that you committed a crime, or can they just detain you without any reason at all?

If you need a state, use Texas, if you need a city, use McKinney.  Please make it clear under what scope the laws actually reside.


texts: My daughter-in-law stole my grandson's tuition money. What are my options?

texts:
I gave my daughter-in-law $400 once a month for 5 months, starting in June of this year.  She was to make a tuition payment for my grandson every month, starting in June.  I just found out she has made only 2 of the 5 tuition payments.  (For other reasons, she and my son are in the middle of a divorce proceeding.)

What are my options to get my money back, or get it paid to the school?

I am new here, if this forum is not the proper place for such a question, where might I go? (Clearly paying an attorney to retrieve $1,200 is not practical.)

Is what she did illegal?


texts: Open source software distribution between different legal entities

texts:
I work for a large organization with multiple international companies part of a larger parent company. At this moment I am working on a software application for Android. This application is being developed for use within the organization.

Note that my software is not officially released and any distribution of the software is for either testing or development.

My question is the following: Does my software have to be compliant with the licenses of the libraries I use before distributing my software from say the Dutch branch of the company to the Chinese branch, which are other legal entities?


texts: Is it legal to offer preorders (of software) without an announced release date?

texts:
As the subject states, is it legal for a company to start offering preorders of an upcoming piece of software without an announced release date?

Follow-up, if there is a release date, must they sell it exactly on that day? What happens if they're late, or early?


texts: Is an employer required to tell you why they withdrew an offer based on a background check?

texts:
A friend recently received two job offers. He accepted one and rejected the other. The employer he accepted subsequently withdrew the offer because of what came up during a background check. He has asked the employer for the substance of the background check that was grounds for withdrawing the offer, but has not received any response.  Is there any requirement that this information be shared, since it was the basis for terminating a contract?

Furthermore, if one rejects an offer to accept another, does the withdrawal of the other offer constitute a tort, e.g., violation of promissory estoppal?


texts: Is it illegal to drop boulders into the sea?

texts:
The BBC has a video in which those opposing Greenpeace say so

A Greenpeace ship has been dropping huge boulders into the sea off Brighton this week to stop fishing boats from trawling the sea bed. [...]
But leaders of the fishing community describe the action as dangerous, illegal and irresponsible.

What UK law prohibits this and what is the penalty for breaking it?


texts:
Facts

Two parents have in force a child custody agreement (a/k/a Parenting Plan, PP) in U.S. state X.
The PP stipulates shared residential time with their minor child between the parents per a specific schedule.
PP contains no unusual provisions.
Parent A violates the PP and moves the child out of state (to U.S. state Y).

Question

Under what circumstances (if any) can parent A ever obtain legal custody of the child without physically returning to court in state X?

If the values of X and Y matter in the answer, feel free to choose (and specify) them for yourself.


texts: Are apprentice homework hours counted in working hours in France?

texts:
The article L6222-24 of the French Working Code says that:

The time devoted by the apprentice to the training provided in apprenticeship training centers is included in the work schedule

Does that mean that homework hours must be included as part of my working hours?


texts: Why is it important that "service of process" not be performed by parties to a case?

texts:
This page from the California Courts is emphatic that "it is very important that you, if you are the plaintiff/petitioner or defendant/respondent, do NOT serve your own papers."

Why is it important that "service" be handled by another party?

I have seen lawyers representing counterparties to a case send almost informal requests via Email: E.g., "We intend to send this.  Will you accept service?"  In which case, presumably, an email accepting that counts before the court as proof of service?


texts: Would a community website be liable if members took it upon themselves to start privately trading items between each other?

texts:
Consider a scenario where a community site, based in Switzerland, with an international member base has two memberships: free accounts and premium subscription-paying accounts. The primary service provided by the website is education as well as providing research tools. However, one feature of the paid subscription is a facility whereby members can send offers to the owner of an item they are interested in.

Consider the below two members:

Member X (free account) has posted photos and details of an item for community interest.
Member Y (premium account) sees this and decides to offer to buy the item:

After the following process, Member Y claims to have received a fake/inferior item:

Member Y makes contact by entering a value and and clicks a button to submit the blind speculative offer to Member X
Member X receives the offer price as well as Member Y's country and community reputation, and can then choose whether or accept/reject/counter the offer
Member Y transfers payment: through paypal (for example) and Member X then ships the item

Considering that Member X never marketed the item for sale but only decided and agreed to sell after receiving an initial purchase offer from Member Y, as well as the fact that the site neither 1) sell items or 2) provides an online store for members to sell items...

Is the site liable due to having a facility for subscription members reaching out to make blind bids to other members items?


texts: Are Blizzard breaking GDPR by charging people for changing their usernames?

texts:
I have had an account with Blizzard for several years now. I changed my username (referred to as a battletag) only once, over a year ago.

I now want to change it again because searching it on Google shows personal info about me that I don't want others to know.

Blizzard charge for changing the username. I contacted them mentioning GDPR, and was told it looks too generic to be personal data, so I would have to pay for a change. Their GDPR contact agreed with this.

Surely it is personal data, because they can search it within their own database and link it to my real name which makes it personal data under GDPR.

Am I not understanding GDPR correctly, or are they violating my rights?


texts: Are internet forum posts considered personal data under GDPR?

texts:
GDPR defines "personal data" as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

  ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

By that definition, it sounds like anything a user writes on a website that requires registration (even if with only an email and a password) is to be considered personal data, even if that data is meant to be public like in the case of internet forum posts, even if the post content is just a simple opinion, thought, or story. Is this correct? Or are there any specific cases where forum posts might not be treated as personal data?


texts: Can a labor strike, and closure of supermarkets, restrict the EU Freedom to Provide Services?

texts:
Here are the facts of a hypothetical case.

Company is a family company producing cheese in Italy. Since its gorgonzola cheese is quite successful in the domestic market, it decides to start exporting it to other Member States  on  the eve of a holiday, like Easter, that can bolster marketing and sales.

In March, C starts exporting to France, distributing gorgonzola through big supermarkets. On 14 March, it learns that the Fédération des Epiciers (grocers' federation) was authorized to go on a strike throughout the week before Easter,  and that all supermarkets would be closed during that week. Owing to this strike, less than 2% of C's merchandise was sold. C sought reparation from the French
administrative authorities who rejected C's claims.

C now considers suing to
recover its losses in France. Can EU law assist?

I noted what my law teacher said — this closing of shops doesn't restrict the EU Freedom to Provide Services. But she didn't explain. Why not?


texts:
Large corporation A has contractual obligations to provide customer service by phone.
By hiring many people to continuously make fake phone calls and jam up the company's phone lines, a third party disrupts A's ability to field calls from real customers.
Would any defenses allow A to avoid liability if a customer sues A for breach of contract based on its failure to provide customer service by phone?


texts:
This might be a very widely scoped question. I suspect by using common sense, that each country has different laws that might apply on internet use in that specific country.

But nevertheless, I'm wondering if there are global laws or laws from countries that also apply in other countries. For example the EU Cookie Law or the Dutch Data breach notification obligation.

If so, what are the (global) laws on our world wide web? Regarding, privacy (like tracking, surveillance), data protection, data leaks, illegal activities and so on.


texts: How easy must it be to find a website's terms of service? I assume that if it's very difficult to find, then users couldn't be reasonably expected to know the terms of service. Are there any guidelines for where the link to the terms of service must be, what font size it must use, et cetera?


texts:
I'm considering a contract with a very small startup (in the US). The compensation is largely equity-based, as opposed to salary. I understand the offer and have strong trust in the other owners (I've worked with them previously). I don't, however, have a huge amount of trust that the small lawyer hired by the company did a great job with the contract. The primary risk I'm concerned about it that an acquiring company might take advantage of a poorly written contract to not pay me.

What services are available to an individual to have this contract reviewed and ensure it protects my interests?

How important is it to get the contract reviewed at this point? Is there any recourse in a future dispute for the legalese not matching the lay-person's understanding of the contract?


texts:
I am developing a game that has users playing live quizzes against each other for cash prizes. You can book to play a live quiz for a small fee. You have a chance of winning a cash prize if you perform well on the quiz.

The quizzes include general knowledge questions with widely accepted and proveable answers. So the questions do not involve luck.

But my app is getting rejected from the Play Store on claims that it violates the Gambling policy. How does the gambling policy apply to a quiz app?


texts: Rent increase with 2 offers in California Bay Area

texts:
I just received my rent increase notice and noticed that there are 2 offers:

One year lease contract would increase my rent by 10%
Month-to-month leasing with the amount from #1 + $500.

I got this notice 40 days prior to the current leasing agreement ends and I'm in California. I know that landlord must give 30 notice if the increase is < 10% but the 2nd options is much more (>15%). Is it legal?

Thank you.


texts: Where can I find insurance claim requirements and standards for a given state (Texas, etc)

texts:
(PLEASE NOTE: the insurance company I am referring to is the other driver's.  The other driver was ruled at fault in the accident)
As a handy way to illustrate my experience, here is a scenario:

So you're at work and I go to your parking lot and smash your car up and total it so that the repair cost exceeds the value.  You walk out at 5:00PM and discover this.  Since you weren't in the car, nobody was injured.  You probably don't like me because now you have to take all your personal effects out of your car.  But I say, "hey, I'll give you a rental car to use, and pay you the fair value of your vehicle - are we good?"
Your response would no doubt be, "No! You're not accounting for the inconvenience of having to move my personal effects around, handle insurance updates, as well as the time and disruption to find a new car.  Certainly that is worth something".

My question is, where may I find, in direct law or other resources, what the other driver's insurance company is obligated to pay in this case, for my state?  In my case it's the state of Texas but I figure this would be more helpful generically.


texts: In Massachusetts Can I Record Calls to and From Business?

texts:
I live in Rhode Island, we are a one party state.  I have a small service business.  For both of our security i like to record the call in case of further issue in the future.

Rhode Island is a one party state, Mass is a 2 party state.  How would this work?

I was told there is a stipulation in the law for businesses?


texts: GDPR email consent - Pre ticked "No" box

texts: We are currently creating an email to gain consent from our customers to email allow us to market to them. We are currently using Mailchimp to put the email together and it is currently not allowing us to leave the tickbox's empty. Can we pre-tick the "No" box for our customers? Making them change it to yes if they would like to receive marketing emails.


texts: Is it against the law to use someone else's address for a work from home position? How does it affect taxes?

texts: Suppose that a work from home position includes as one of its requirements that the employee live in Kansas. someone (lets call the person A for applicant) lives in Missouri, but has a relative (B) who lives in Kansas. If A gives B's address with B's permission, is A violating any law? What consequences are possible?


texts: Could I apply for a job at Hooters with the intent of suing for a settlement when they don't hire me?

texts:
The highest ranked answer to a previous question states that BFOQ exceptions (probably) would not be a sufficient argument for allowing Hooters to discriminate against a protected group.  In fact the same answer points out that hooters has settled out of court numerous times when sued for discriminatory hiring practices.

Let's imagine a hypothetical situation where I decided that Hooter's settlement money would make me rich and so I conspired to set up a situation where I could sue so I could get a settlement.   So, despite already having a good, higher paying, job I go and interview at Hooters tomorrow.

I meet every qualification to work in the service industry, and did while perusing my degree.  I would reasonable be perfectly qualified to work at a job like hooters, except that I am a male and thus wouldn't be someone that a company that is dependent on exploiting female sexuality would likely want to hire.

Let's say I had already decided that on the unlikely situation I actually was offered the position I would decline it, since I like my current employment (and income) better then what I could get from Hooters.  I would essentially would be applying for a job only to tempt them into discriminating against me so I could sue, with no real intent or desire to have the job.

For now presume there was some way I could prove that my lack of a job offer was due to my not being an attractive female.  Would I be able to claim discrimination and pressure Hooters into a settlement in this sort of situation?  Or would the fact that I was not interested in the job and the entire interview was purely an attempt to get a large settlement invalidate, or weaken, any claim I may have?

I'm looking for the US perspective here.  Also, in case it's not obviously I'm not seriously planning to go interviewing at Hooters any time soon, I'm just curious what would happen if someone tried it.


texts:
Who should own the copyright to the game I've created, me or my LLC?

This is a single-member LLC which I'll be forming specifically to brand and sell the games I create.

Should I officially transfer my copyright to the LLC, or should I license my LLC to make use of it instead?  Briefly, why?

Bonus Question:
Is a signed plain-English document which I draft myself "official enough" to act as a license for my LLC to utilize my individual copyright?

Bonus Question:
I possess the full rights to the game I've created, and the copyright is currently unregistered.  There is an 8-month processing time for copyright applications.  Do I have to wait until it's registered before I can legally transfer or license it?


texts: If I owe state taxes, can the state seize a relative's property in retaliation?

texts:
I live in the United States and I owe taxes to the state, which I'm not able to pay. I don't have a permanent residence and live with family/friends.
One of my family members received a letter stating their property will be seized. They don't have any financial affiliation with me. Is it possible for the state to seize someone's property if I lived there — even though they have no financial affiliation with me?


texts: is creating an app/website/software which uses youtube-dl for videos download from YouTube legal?

texts:
I'm pretty sure that it won't be legal in some or the work way.
However, I want to clarify my doubt about legal issues again.

I read this article about it - is it legal to download youtube videos?

My plan is to create a software/app which has youtube-dl as a core piece to download videos from YouTube. It is open source and can be used commercially. Initially thought to have lot of features in the app for example playlists, but ultimately the app will download videos in user's desktop or mobile phones from YouTube via youtube-dl. Mostly it will be music download.

I'm thinking that the app creator will play a mediator role (between user and YouTube) when it comes to legal issues, as youtube-dl can be pointed in terms of backend legal issues and app users will be responsible to not share/distribute/reproduce the downloaded video, including other terms & conditions (if this statement is right).

Is it safe to assume that app creator will be a mediator and won't face any legal issues? This is my doubt.

In life this is not the case - As the mediator person who pick up drugs from one person and give to another person, is also considered as criminal.

On the contrary side - If a courier company (mediator) picks up drugs from one person and deliver it to another person (in a totally unidentifiable & protective wrapping which they cannot open legally), not sure they'll also be considered as criminals.

Not sure what to believe and should I go ahead to build such software & mobile app?


texts: Is the local police required to notify suspects of online surveillance in the state of Nevada?

texts: Can the local police execute or facilitate online surveillance, or cell data surveillance, without notifying the subject in the state of Nevada?


texts: Are computer programs copyrightable work?

texts: If the platform is not open-source, is the computer program copyrightable?


texts: Is it decorous to refer to mainstays (people recurring in a legal document) by abbreviations?

texts:
Presume that these mainstays (even if their names are short) can all be named publicly.

I fancy referring to them only with my abbreviations that I introduce on the first page, to save space and avoid typos, like for long surnames.

E.g., I'd state (on the first page), before solely using thereafter, my abbreviations of the 4 counterparties (presume this) as: JK for Leoš Janáček (not LJ; this already means Lord Justice of Appeal), ZK for Zoltán Kodály, GK for György Kurtág, and BM for Bohuslav Martinů.


texts: Does a property given to a spouse in a first marriage still get shared in a death after a second mariage?

texts:
Does a property given to a spouse in a first marriage still get shared after a death in the second marriage that was out of community of property with accruals?

Backstory

A husband was married to his wife for 20 years. The marriage ended on the 20th year and during the process of separating the husband sold or transferred a house that belonged to him to the wife. The house was not fully paid off but the wife took over ownership of the house with the debt or bond remaining on the house. The house was registered in her name and she continued paying off the debt after their divorce.

4 years later the husband and wife got back together under a new marriage Out of Community of property with the inclusion of the accrual system. The contract was set up that she has 60% and he gets 40%. During this second marriage, the house was still under her name and was never transferred. The contract terms were also set that the wife entered the marriage with R600 000 and the husband entered with R400 000

Unfortunately after 2 years the wife dies and leaves all her assets (in the form of a will) to her son and daughter to be divided equally.

Question

Does the husband have a right to 40% of the house as a spouse in this case?


texts: Under what circumstances am I obliged to show ID to a police officer?

texts:
In the UK, if a police constable stops you on the street and asks for your ID, when are you required by law to give it to them? Must there be reasonable suspicion of a crime?

What about if you're driving and get pulled over; are you obliged to show your driving licence and/or ID?

Does it make a difference whether it's a random stop or if you were speeding, e.g.?


texts: What is it called when a practice has been made illegal but people continue to "honor" it anyway?

texts:
My question was inspired by this article about racially restrictive covenants. They have been illegal since 1968, and unenforceable since 1948. Yet people still try to "enforce" them, with some success.

Is there a term for this type of legal situation? And if such practices are illegal (taking the house off the market when a buyer is certain race), why can't they be overridden through say, a summary judgment?


texts: Term for reading a legal document describing procedures and implementing those procedures in a computer system?

texts: I was just reading some legal documents which described procedures which would be implemented in a computer system.  Is there a legal term to describe this action?


texts: Can a company sell software I wrote for them if they never gave me a contract

texts:
I was asked by companyA(UK) to rewrite their legacy application, which I have been doing for a year. CompanyA have made a deal to sell the application to CompanyB(USA). The deal will complete at some date in the near future. In the meantime, CompanyB have been bankrolling development (paying me).

Neither companyA or CompanyB have given me me a contract or any letter of agreement.
I am a freelance developer. I work from home on my own    equipment,
to my own schedule.
I handle my own tax and I have one    other client.
CompanyA gives me broad direction (e.g. please write a    bookings
feature) I design the graphical user interface and    architecture,
and then implement the feature. As of now I have
completely replaced the front-end, most of the back-end, and have added
many features.
I invoice CompanyB monthly as a software consultant    and they have
paid on time.

I'd like to know:
1. Do I own the copyright to the software I have written. And if so does CompanyA have any right to sell the product to CompanyB without me signing it over?
2. Should I register or take other action to protect what I consider to be my original work?
3. What rights do CompanyB have, given that they have been paying me?

Thank you


texts:
This may sound trivial at first, but if I want to cite something online or want to reference it in any other way, I sometimes find that the authors leave a "cite as" part under the content which may or may not have a certain order of fields such as "author", "title", "date" or a certain typesetting.

My question is whether I have to reproduce these patterns or whether it is enough to give the fields for example in the order "author", "date", "title".


texts:
Going to WikiPedia, I have been drawn attention to a new EU directive on Copyright.

The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, also known as EU Copyright Directive and file 2016/0280(COD)

The image below was displayed at the top when I went to WikiPedia

  [A] proposed European Union directive with the stated goal to harmonize aspects of copyright law in the Digital Single Market of the European Union. It is an attempt to adjust copyright law for the Internet by providing additional protection to those who own material. The European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs approved the proposal on June 20, 2018 with further voting by the entire parliament required before it becomes law.

  The directive's proposals include giving publishers the ability to request payment for the use of short bits of text, that for-profit websites who primarily host content posted by users must take "effective and proportionate" measures to prevent unauthorized postings of copyrighted content, and copyright exceptions for text and data mining by scientific research institutions

Wikipedia has an article on it called Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market

This question also ties in with https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/29938/payment-for-content-creators-if-the-copyright-in-the-digital-single-market-direc

A copy of the proposed directive can be found here at the European Commission Website

Update: the EU has recently approved the Copyright Directive

Further Update as @danuker pointed out in the comments, the final vote was yesterday (27th March 2019) and the result along with amendments have been detailed at this Forune.com page.

The directive will need to be implemented in EU member countries by 2021 but some member countries may implement the directive much earlier.

As a fair few sites on StackExchange e.g. Psychology.SE quote and link to content from other sites including scientific articles, journals etc., is there a possibility this will affect StackExchange and StackOverflow?


texts: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) - crypto-shredding or regular delete?

texts:
The introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)  in May 2018 for all businesses targeting EU citizens raises questions regarding the Art. 17 right to erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten.

  The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning him or her without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay

I think it is reasonable to say that deleting all data (backup included) is not feasible without delay. What about backups that go beyond the subject realm (e.g. database backups, disk backups, ...)?

One idea to solve a part of the problem would be to crypto-shred data. So when a subject asks to erase him/her personal data, we simply erase the encryption key. That would render all data unusable. However, data encrypted with what is considered a strong encryption method might not be strong anymore in a not-so-distant future (e.g. quantum computing, new algorithms, or a weakness found in the encryption mechanism).

So here are my questions:

Is crypto-shredding considered a valid erasure method?
What storage mediums are affected by the so-called undue delay?


texts: Can two companies have names that are similar in EU?

texts:
Can two companies that are offering the same services in Benelux have similar company names?

Both company names have been registered with www.BOIP.


texts: How is the "permanent deprivation" element of theft proven in practice?

texts:
I never gave this much thought until I saw a prosecutor and then a judge dismiss charges of theft because it would be impossible to prove the accused intended to deprive the owner of the property permanently.  Sure enough, this seems to be a common-law element of theft.

So how does anyone get convicted of theft?  Can't an alleged thief just assert, "I intended to return the property at some point?"

Even if the thief has lost the means to return the property, it seems like a tall order to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his true intent is the opposite of his stated intent.  And it seems like a clever thief could make sure, e.g., by swearing out an affidavit before the theft, that he intends to return the property.

Update: Many thieves are sloppy, and leave their intent open to question.  I am looking for an answer that explains whether someone who credibly asserts – e.g., by advance sworn affidavit – that they intend to return the item can be convicted of theft, or any other crime, for taking someone else's property for an extended but not infinite period of time.


texts:
If my organisation is processing data on behalf of a controller, does the data subject have access rights through the processor, or must Subject Access Requests (SARs) go through the controller?

If the processor then becomes a controller (or joint controller) through activities that create new data about the individual, should an SAR disclose all data about said individual, or only data not passed in by the original controller?


texts: Does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply to refunds?

texts:
My daughter signed a contract for 10 martial arts lessons. She paid the full amount, £300 up front. After 2 lessons she decided it wasn't for her and asked for a refund.

The club pointed to the line on the agreement that said "no fees are transferable or refundable" and offered to carry over the sessions in case she changed her mind.

Is this blanket treatment of all fees an unfair contract term? Can her payment be seen as an advance payment and perhaps have a fairness test applied? Does the term put the club in a far stronger position than the customer with respect to such a term.


texts: Are there consequences for not filing a DMCA (any country)

texts:
Awhile ago, I linked someone to a fansite of people who read his indie fiction and he cursed me out because there were illegal copies to his work on it.  He told me that he was legally bound to file DMCA's now because if he didn't, he would lose the ability to file a DMCA against anyone.  Something about "If you do it for one, you have to do it for everyone".

I'm also interested in how this works overseas. If someone in Japan or Korea found an english version of one of their novels, would they also be legally bound to file DMCAs over it simply because they became aware of it?


texts:
Can you explain in simple english the meaning of this sentence? Context is transfer of proprietary data.

  the Receiving Party agrees that the Disclosing Party may be entitled, without proof of special damages, to  seek the remedies of injunction relief without posting bond, as well as specific performance and other equitable relief.

In particular I don't know what "without posting bond" means. Thanks.


texts: EU consumer protection and failed update

texts:
EU consumers have laws that protect them when they buy products of unsatisfactory quality. Roughly speaking the seller is responsible for some time if a fault was present in a product when it was purchased. (Insufficient build quality is a fault that was present when the product was purchased, even if the fault becomes visible only a year later when the product stops working).

There has been news today that some expensive TVs were damaged by a software update. That's not a fault that was present when the TV was purchased. Are the seller and/or manufacturer responsible in that situation? Would they be responsible if such an update breaks a product that was beyond reasonable warranty period, but happened to be still working fine?


texts:
I'm a graduate student at a US university and I work as a Graduate assistant in the department. It's been around one year I have been working. I'm also an International student who can only work on-campus.

Recently I have decided that I want to transfer to a another University and the classes will begin at that university from august. I have summer work at current university which could take till august.

The HR department of the university I'm going to transfer, sent me an offer letter and  a I9 form.

Should I fill the form and submit to the university where I will be start working from August even though currently i'm working at my current university?


texts:
Maine lists "official oppression" as a crime.

A person is guilty of official oppression if, being a public servant and acting with the intention to benefit himself or another or to harm another, he knowingly commits an unauthorized act which purports to be an act of his office, or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed on him by law or clearly inherent in the nature of his office.
[ 1975, c. 499, §1 (NEW) .]
Official oppression is a Class E crime.

My question is, "doesn't this pretty much encompass every action that deviates from official duties?"  Whenever we act we're always trying to benefit ourselves or another.  Otherwise we wouldn't act.  Or we're trying to harm someone.
And shouldn't a public servant pretty much always "know" what his duties are?
Also, any chance the "clearly inherent" part is unconstitutionally vague?


texts: Can a Rental Contract Supersede State Law?

texts:
After several years of habitability issues (which were eventually fixed after 4 years), our landlord is asking us to sign a settlement agreement that would release them from all liability dating back to the start of our tenancy.

I’ve agreed to sign it on the condition that they reimburse us for rent overpaid during those months of hardship, which they’ve not agreed to. I’m considering taking them to small claims, but there’s a clause in our lease claiming a six month statute of limitations on damages (state law is 4 years) and another claiming that tenants can only pursue legal action within 30 days of terminating the lease.

I think I’ve got solid ground to take this before a judge, but I’m no lawyer nor can I afford to hire one - any advice you could provide (examples or references would be amazing) would be greatly appreciated.


texts: Held indefinitely for contempt of court?

texts:
Tommy Gregory Thompson is a former deep-sea treasure hunter and is about to mark his fifth year in jail for contempt of court for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of 500 missing coins made from gold found in an historic shipwreck. The normal maximum to hold someone is 18 months, so we are well past that.
Can the courts hold someone indefinitely for contempt of court?
When would this situation be considered 'cruel and unusual' punishment?


texts: Is it legal for police in California to use a hidden microphone?

texts: Is it legal for police in California to record suspects via a hidden microphone in police vehicles? If so, how can the information obtained be used?


texts: What can happen if a person violates a website's terms of service?

texts:
What could happen to a person if they violate a website's license? For example https://medialoot.com/member/license/ says you're not allowed to reuse their code, but if someone did what would happen to the person? Could they be ordered to take it down or be sued?

Has there been any real examples where a websites ToS or license made a difference in litigation?


texts: In Canada and the US, is there a public hotline to call the government and ask whether something is legal?

texts:
This question might seem absurd. But is it possible to just call some government agency and directly ask them if a law applies to them or their business?
Or does the government's responsibility end right after they have written the legislation, and if the general population wants to know about something - they need to hire an expensive lawyer?


texts: Relative efficacy of filing for embezzlement in superior court or for return of monies in small claims court

texts:
Assume that I have lost $1,000 due to embezzlement.

What are the pros and cons and practicalities of trying to press charges of embezzlement vs going to small claims court to get the money back?

For example:
1. With which approach am I more likely to get my money back?
2. Would an Attorney General or District Attorney have to file for embezzlement, which may and may not happen, whereas I can file in small claims court myself.
3. Will an AG or DA make a better legal case than I could, and so be more likely to win?

I am in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.


texts: I have heard in the past that editing an image to make it significantly different than its original form will allow you to use it without worrying about copyright laws. Is this true?


texts: I told my friend I'd give him £10 in Bitcoin for their birthday 5 years ago but never did. Am I liable for £0, £10 or £1000?

texts:
Two questions.
Firstly, is it enforceable.
Secondly, if it were, would I owe £10 in Bitcoin now, or the amount of Bitcoin at the date £10 would get you 5 years ago?
I believe I've answered the first question, since:

Under the donative-promise principle, a simple, un-relied upon donative promise is unenforceable.

However, say hypothetically it was enforceable, would I owe £10 or £1000 (since bitcoin has seen a massive increase in 5 years)?
P.S. I never bought or owned the promised Bitcoin in the first place


texts: Is Rock Paper Scissors considered gambling?

texts: Consider I run a rock paper scissors matches online, where users buy in and cash out money if they win. Would this be legal in the United States? It is somewhat similar to esports tournaments, where teams buy in to participate in a tournament for a cash reward. Although many consider rock paper scissors luck, there is virtually no "chance" involved, and there are ways to predict an opponents move based on their previous match history.


texts: Minimum dimensions for a hotel room in the UK

texts:
Are there any laws in England which dictate the minimum size a hotel room has to be so it can be rented out?

I can only find information on renting of homes etc..


texts: Is it illegal to kill honeybees in Oregon or in the USA?

texts:
Recently had an issue with a honeybee hive and a beekeeper said to me "It's illegal to kill honeybees". Not completely believing this at face value, I did a little digging.

My research seems to show that honeybees are protected against certain types of pesticide use. To me, the laws surrounding the bees seem primarily directed at farms/orchards and more "commercial" methods of eliminating bee populations, not private individuals. I am aware that I may be incorrect in that interpretation.

If an individual private home owner were to spray a honeybee hive, clearly on their property, with an EPA approved, over-the-counter, general, pesticide - one not specifically engineered for bee killing - what legal ramifications might there be, if any?


texts:
I basically have 3 questions

1) Is it legal to view voyeuristic videos of women changing or showering that were filmed without their consent on the internet as long as the woman in question is over the age of 18 and you didn't shoot the footage yourself?

2) Is it legal to download those videos?

3) Is it legal to share those videos with others?


texts: Should I serve jury duty when I have no respect for the judge?

texts:
My son was once sentenced to 3 years in prison in a particular case. The individual(s) that took him to court had deep personal connections with law officials in our small county. This seems to have resulted in an unjust outcome as described above.

One of the individuals who was responsible for that sentencing now serves as a judge in our county, and I’m being selected in jury duty in a case where this judge is likely to preside.

Even though it is my civic duty to serve as a juror, I would have a very difficult time respecting this judge or their word or action. Would this be wise to bring up during the selection process of jurors? Or should I just keep my mouth shut?


texts: Can I use a loan for something other than what I said I'd use it for?

texts:
I'd like to purchase some grazing land. I'm half way there with the funds and thought of covering the remaining cost with a loan. This would be a personal loan from a UK bank and not secured against anything. However, when searching and comparing each bank they ask for the purpose of the loan, of which a land purchase is not an option. I phoned a couple banks and was told they didn't supply loans for such purposes.

So... what is to stop me from getting a loan and telling the bank it's for buying a car etc. then using the money to buy the land?

Secondary to what the bank may have to say, what would a solicitor say if I said the source of funds was from a personal loan. Would they contact the bank and check the purpose?


texts: Can I write a computer program based on a theory in a borrowed book?

texts: Suppose I borrow a book from a library and then use the theory described in this book to write a commercial computer program. In this situation, am I infringing any copyright laws?


texts: For products shipped across state lines, who gets the taxes?

texts:
Let's say a company registered in Delaware manufactures its products in Texas and sells them around the country online, and in person in New York.

What taxes, and from which state(s), apply when products are manufactured in State A, sold in State B, and the company doing the making and selling is registered in State C?


texts: Employee Handbook conflicts with State Law, Which Supersedes Which?

texts:
Under my State's (Colorado) law,  C.R.S. § 8-4-101(14)(a)(III) states,

  Vacation pay earned in accordance with the terms of any agreement. If an employer provides paid vacation for an employee, the employer shall pay upon separation from employment all vacation pay earned and determinable in accordance with the terms of any agreement between the employer and the employee.

However, the employee handbook states that the company will not pay earned vacation time at separation, regardless of separation type. Additionally, I was not made aware of this policy and signed my contract/letter of intent before I was provided the employee handbook and would have attempted to negotiate this prior to signing the contract.

Do I have a right to the unpaid, earned vacation according to state law, or does the employee handbook supersede state law?


texts: Can a company legally use their competitor's name in their tag line without permission?

texts:
Say a new company, NewCo, wants to use the name of their competition, BigCo, in their tag line without BigCo's permission. Something like:

NewCo — (Like BigCo, only newer)

Is this legal? Is it fair use? Or there some violation of federal trademark law or some other IP statute or regulation? Does the content of the tag line matter given that it's all "puffery" anyway? Or would marketplace confusion become an issue if they said something like, say, "NewCo — the newer version of BigCo."


texts: If I take a photo with my Android phone of a tree to use it as a texture in a video game, who does the copyright belong to?

texts:
Let me describe my situation in a nutshell: What if I went around a forest, decided to take photographs of some trees, the ground, water, etc. with my Android phone, so that I can use these photos as textures in a video game of mine? Not necessarily comemrcial game, but let's assume that it is.

Who owns the copyright of these textures?

Me?
The phone manufacturer?
Google for developing Android?
The government for having de facto ownership of the territory I took the photo on?ű
No one?

I am Hungarian, but you can answer using American laws too, as I doubt the laws are that much different in regards to that.


texts: Is it legal to be detained by a private rail or bus company for not having a valid ticket?

texts:
My question relates specifically to the UK.

Is it legal for a private company, say a train or bus company, to detain you if they determine that you don't have a valid ticket?  Furthermore, if it is legal, what rights do you have in such circumstances?  Obviously, if you were arrested by the police you would have a given set of rights, but train companies, and the private companies that run the train stations in the UK, whilst government owned, are private companies (if I understand correctly).


texts: Can plastic surgery office deny removing your before pictures from your file?

texts:
I was a patient @ Evolution MD. It is a plastic surgery / med spa that offers various treatments. I had a genital bleaching done a month ago, some pictures where taken and I was informed it was for my eyes only too see the before and after outcome. Now that some time has passed, I requested to have the photos deleted from their system as I do not want my private parts on any system.(I don’t even have any on my phone) I emailed the manager, as one of the employees told me it could be done but the manager had to call the systems department to have it removed as they don’t have access too do that. I emailed him kindly to please remove said photos and he replied saying By law they cannot remove the photos of patients who have came for a service. I just want to know if this is true or not as I can’t find much information on this topic. I honestly don’t even feel comfortable  anymore with them having such photos especially with them denying to delete a private part photo. I mean what’s the point if I’m not allowing my photos to be used for marketing purposes? Why not just delete the photos and keep it moving?

How can I fight this back? Does this violate HIPAA laws? I saw if photos can identify you then it does violate HIPAA laws. ( which these photos do contain something that can identify me ) can I report this company for denying my request?

Any information is greatly appreciated!!!


texts: Is Apple's default Privacy settings GDPR compliant?

texts:
I recently realized that some apps were able to "link" my identity to Facebook. I checked my off facebook activity and could see some apps that I've never given my email.
Investigating further, I believe it boils down to a setting that's set under Settings > Privacy > Advertising on my iPhone. There's a way to either reset the advertising identifier, or Limit Ad Tracking, which I believe prevents this completely (perhaps generating a unique identifier each time?)
"Solving" this was easy obviously by limiting ad tracking, but I'm wondering: How come it's not limited by default? Shouldn't GDPR protect me from this kind of default? Shouldn't Apple get my explicit consent for something like this? I don't recall having given such consent...
UPDATE:
I contacted Apple's privacy team, and they seem to think this isn't personal information under the GDPR

We would like to reiterate that the advertising identifier we have perviously [sic] referred to is not associated with your Apple ID. It is randomly generated on your device. Information collected in association with an advertising identifier is not personally identifiable and thus consent does not arise under the GDPR.
Apple does not sell or otherwise transmit any personally identifiable information to third parties.

I personally beg to differ.
Very curious to know what the experts on here think and what can be done about it.


texts: Would these two invoices be classed as the same?

texts:
Would these 2 invoices sent from the same limited company be classed as the same invoice

(my) Company name: XYZ
Invoice number: 185
date sent: middle of july
in the footer was XYZ trading as ABC

and then

(My) Company Name: ABC
date sent: end of October
Invoice Number: 185

client is saying that since invoice number 185 to XYZ trading as ABC was paid that makes invoice number 185 from ABC null and void, as they have proof of paying the invoice number 185


texts: What makes a 'good' piece of legislation, and what are considered good examples?

texts:
The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is a controversial piece of legislation in the UK at the moment, considered poorly-written and authoritarian by its detractors. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 was apparently also considered rushed and ill-thought-out when it came about, and the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991* is generally held up as the gold standard of poor legislation in the UK. "It is still referred to today as a classic example of what not to do", according to the Guardian.

But what qualities make a good, well-thought-out piece of legislation? And what are commonly held up as the yins to the Dangerous Dogs Act's yang?

Answers don't necessarily have to be about the UK, but that's the perspective that I'm asking from.

* The Act requires muzzling dogs of certain "types" in public, where the types are based loosely on specific breeds.  However, whether a dog fits into a particular type depends on a court's appraisal of its characteristics.


texts: Is accepting to receive emails as part of user terms legal in GDPR?

texts:
If I run a webshop selling DVDs, could I put in my user terms (that you have to accept to register) that I will be sending you emails about other movies on a regular interval. Would this qualify as legitimate interest?

So, if you don't want emails then you shouldn't register and buy my DVDs. Is that legal? Or does the user need an option to opt out if the user disagrees about the legitimate interest?


texts: Can US courts be made to define whether a given search is reasonable (i.e. constitutional)?

texts:
In 2014, regarding the forced disclosure of the encryption keys of his email service provider company Lavabit, Ladar Levison wrote:

  The largest technological question we raised in our appeal (which the
  courts refused to consider) was what constitutes a "search", i.e.,
  whether law enforcement can demand the encryption keys of a business
  and use those keys to inspect the private communications of every
  customer, even when the court has only authorized them to access
  information belonging to specific targets.

The emphasis is mine.

Assuming Levison's statement to be true, my question is: is there a way in which one or more relevant courts could be made to consider, and issue a verdict on, that question; and if so, how?

Clarity on the matter would seem to be in the public interest, after all.


texts: As a teacher, am I bound to a 30-day notice if I never have signed a contract for the past 3 years for the position I am currently working? I have another job offer which requires me to give a 2-week notice. My current school district says I must give a 30-day notice or lose my license to teach. Was hired July 2016 (no contract). I requested a contract July 2018 and was never given one.


texts: If i run a VPN service (paid) in the UK, do i by law have to keep logs?

texts:
So i want to start my own VPN company. Already have it setup and working etc but i'm based in United Kingdom (my servers are based in US though).

Because i am based in the UK, i know that law enforcement have supernatural powers over my service but by law do i need to keep logs? (For example: user login history and packet history)

Thanks for reading!