texts: What is the "area" of copyright claims and fair use of songs?

texts:
There are many lyrics videos and other audio visualizer videos using songs they clearly don't have ownership own. Many of these receive a copyright strike on Youtube and are subsequently taken down, but many also do not.

Additionally, there are many songs on Youtube in which you will get the message "The copyright claimant allows their content on Youtube and you cannot monetize it" and be allowed to keep the video up.

Also, I don't think I need to mention the number of "streaming" services and song services of websites which are not taken down. So I have two questions:

How do you know if the copyright claimant or owner of them material you are using is allowing their content on Youtube and does fair use automatically cover you for anything related to this (as long as you add some "value" such as an audio visualizer or lyrics)?
Is it illegal to share the music experience of a legally purchased MP3 (play it on your website but do not provide an option for users to download it) or to provide services that play songs (but not download) but are not hosted by your website (in which case you just act as a pointer to other sites which are participating in illegal activities)? What rights/privileges can cover you if you wish to participate in this? I've heard (rumours probably with no legal standing), that as long as you are not monetizing their material, you will not have any legal action taken against you.


texts: Can I subpeona a bank to get contact information of bank account holders who defrauded me?

texts:
I have been a victim of online fraud. A large amount of money flowed from my account to various (around 10) Bank of America/PayPal accounts in the US. I have filed a police report. The police report mentions the account holders names with account numbers redacted.
I have found two of the perpetrators and have filed a civil lawsuit against them to recover whatever money I can. But I am having a hard time figuring out the contact information of the rest of the perpetrators. Since I have a police report and my account shows the bank transfers, can I issue a subpoena to the bank via the court to give me the contact information of the perpetrators?


texts: Copyright notice year date after small revision?

texts:
We produce a Swedish boardgame in Sweden for the Swedish market, which includes a 4 page leaflet describing the game rules. This was originally published in 2008. We are now producing a new batch, and are making a few very small adjustments in the rules (most essentially adding a note about our Facebook page).

What year should the new revision's copyright notice specify?
2008?
2019?
2008, 2019?
2008-2019?
Anything else?


texts: Would Siri making a doctor's appointment breach phone recording laws?

texts:
If someone built a virtual assistant like Jarvis from Iron Man it would need to make outgoing phone calls to be effective. For instance, if you wanted it to make a doctor's appointment for you it would need to be able to call out and have the conversation with the receptionist that does scheduling.

In order to do that it would need to process the audio, transcribe it, and then store the response so that you could put it in your calendar. My question is does this break laws about recording phone conversations?

The fine details:

Audio is not stored
Phone numbers are not publicly listed
Contents of the conversation does not contain personal information or personally identifiable information from the recipient of the call
Transcriptions are not made public

Let's just assume for a second that the technology was there so that Siri could make your doctor's appointments for you. Would the technical process behind it breach any laws?


texts: Does a Certificate of Service need to be completed before filing a motion with the court

texts:
If I'm filing a motion which includes a page called "Certificate of Service", do I need to complete that page and have it notarized before going to court?  I ask because it doesn't seem like there would be a court case number to associate with the certificate if the motion hasn't yet been filed.

Hopefully that makes sense what I'm asking.  :)  If not, I can provide additional details.

Thank you!


texts: Requiring salary information and medical history before job interview

texts:
Rakuten Japan is asking all candidates to fill out the following forms before their first interview, including, for instance, itemized salary information from your current or previous position (verification [源泉徴収票] may be requested later) and your medical history.

http://global.rakuten.com/careers/files/sd/[Name][Rakuten]_Recruiting_questionnaire.doc (English, There is also a Japanese version of this document, but for some reason I am not able to post more than 2 links in this question)

http://global.rakuten.com/corp/careers/files/Health_Check_Sheet.xlsx (Japanese and English)

According to the Rakuten HR people these documents are “necessary in the selection process” i.e. you will not be able to continue the selection process without submitting this information.

According to the Rakuten Privacy Policy for Recruitment Activities that candidates must accept before submitting an online application, “…the Rakuten Group Company reserves the right to retain such information to the fullest extent required or permitted by law”, regardless of the results of the selection process.

Apparently sense of privacy is not among the dimensions along which Rakuten aims at “diversifying … the people we employ” (Hiroshi Mikitani, Market Place 3.0: Rewriting the Rules of Borderless Business, p.65). Is this just one of the remaining excesses deriving from Rakuten’s Japanese origins that will change somewhere along its way into “a truly global firm” (ibid.) or something that characterizes the entire corporate culture? Is it common – or legal – in Japan to require itemized salary information from your current or previous position and medical history as a precondition for continuing the selection process?


texts: Why does the victim have to press charges?

texts:
Case in point that was in the news:

"BART identifies man in viral video of racist attack on train", East Bay Times

A California man attacked a stranger while expressing his hatred of the victim's ethnicity.

Everything was caught on video. It seems like an open-and-shut case of a hate crime.

However, the victim refused to press charges, and this went no further (The perp might be barred from using BART in the future, but I doubt that they can enforce that)

What I don't understand, from the legal perspective, is why the case depended on the victim pressing charges here.


texts: Developed initial version of website in belief contract would get signed. They backed out. Is the site mine?

texts:
The title is probably my best summary. It is similar to this other unfortunate scenario, but I ask here because of a few differences. So here are the mains:

Two months ago I sent an email to a guy on upwork who was looking to hire out a programming job I was uniquely qualified for. In my email I linked him to my proof of qualifications.
I received a phone call from him where the first words he said were "Where the fuck have you bean!? I've been looking for you for months." He went on to tell me how he was loosing faith in his project because he'd already interviewed over 30 developers who didn't fit the bill. Then said he got "goose bumps" when reading through my blog posts because I showed that I'd basically already done in a prior project what he was trying to do (albeit for a different application in a different industry). At some point I said "If I were to be the one to do this job for yo.." when he abruptly cut me off to say "No no. There is no if. This job is yours." I was feeling pretty good.
Over the next two months him and I discussed the project with his partner - the sole financier of the project. Communication wise:

They shared with me: very general block diagrams of how the system would work, examples of websites they wanted to emulate (which were gross), and a CSV of people they wanted to advertise to obtained from public government records. They never provided code of any form to me.
I shared: outlines of a better system, better 3rd party providers to integrate with, and educated them on machine learning.
I learned that the financier, who is involved in a hedge fund, is litigious - he would gloat about various ways he'd made money including a story about making $50k by buying pre-foreclosed real estate who's mortgage he knew was improperly recorded so he could sue the city/bank to nullify it.
These communications spanned about 30 hours.

We negotiated through several revisions of a written contract that ultimately was not signed. The last revision I requested was that I would retain rights to all works until receipt of final payment, at which point I would transfer over all rights.
Both partners told me multiple times that they wanted to hurry up and get this contract signed so that I could get paid/start.
Communication from them slowed last month... I was told that the financier fell ill.
Two weeks ago I told them that I would immediately begin working on the project "full time" in anticipation of finalizing the contract. It was clear they received my message because the financier responded saying he would call me the following day. He didn't call me, but I did develop a working version of the software. It is live on a domain name I own. All the visuals, design elements, and code were created by me. I figured branding could easily be swapped.
I updated the financier that I'd created a first version and was going to have beta testers using it this week. Then he sent me this:

So my questions are:

If this guy sues me, what could he win?
The initial idea for this site was theirs but I am the one to manifest that idea into a usable thing using hard won know-how and assets. Is it completely mine to monetize?

His abrupt change of heart has left me with about 80 hours of non-compensated work as well as server and 3rd party service costs. So about $7k in currently wasted effort. If it is okay for me to sell this, should I first offer it to him? Or should I not speak to them anymore?


texts: Could something like CyberBunker be legally ran in the US?

texts:
CyberBunker is the name of a company and Soviet-era nuclear bunker that has been converted to a datacenter in Holland. They made some news a few years ago when they were raided by a SWAT team, but the team was unable to enter the bunker, and they faced no charges.

The company is well-known to be a haven for hackers, as they provide server and storage rental to anyone, without much prejudice, with obviously near-impenetrable physical security. Holland and some nearby countries have some relatively unique data privacy, copyright and internet-related laws, compared to many other countries, that make this feasible.

My question, though is this: what laws would prevent a company from building a practically impenetrable fortress, and host internet services from it without prejudice, in the United States?

And, are there any legal means for a company to do what CyberBunker does in the US?


texts: Can rent be increased freely in m-2-m arrangements?

texts:
Consider a scenario where a room is rented in a house with little or no formal contract obligation (one month notice on either side) and it is month-to-month. The renter is basically a guest who pays rent and can leave at any time but the landlord can kick them out whenever (s)he wants too.

If the verbal agreements stipulates a one month notice for departure on either side, can the landlord legally increase the rent effective one month from the notice so that the tenant still has another month at the old rent to look for another place to live if they don't like the new rent?


texts: How do vacancies on a (Maine) state board affect the validity of meetings?

texts:
First, I will list the relevant statutes from Maine that I will discuss.

Authority to 3 or more.   Words in any statute, charter or ordinance giving authority to 3 or more persons authorize a majority to act when the statute, charter or ordinance does not otherwise specify. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a vacancy on an elected or appointed body does not in itself impair the authority of the remaining members to act unless a statute, charter or ordinance expressly prohibits the body from acting during the period of any vacancy and does not in itself affect the validity of any action no matter when taken.
Shall; must; may.  "Shall" and "must" are terms of equal weight that indicate a mandatory duty, action or requirement. "May" indicates authorization or permission to act. This subsection applies to laws enacted or language changed by amendment after December 1, 1989.

The following excerpts are but one example of a particular regulatory board (this case, professional land surveyors) that might be affected.

Rules (Title 32, Ch. 141) The board may establish guidelines and rules...
Duties and powers (Title 32, Ch. 141) The board shall administer and enforce this chapter
Meetings; chair; quorum. (Title 32, Ch. 141)   The board shall meet at least once a year to conduct its business and to elect a chair. Additional meetings must be held as necessary to conduct the business of the board and may be convened at the call of the chair or a majority of the board members. Four members of the board constitute a quorum.

And finally, since it might be relevant, here is one general rule pertaining to all occupational boards...

Quorum; chair (Title 10 §8010) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a majority of the members serving on a board or commission under section 8001, subsection 38 constitutes a quorum. The board or commission shall elect its chair.

I want to know how a vacancy on this board might affect the actions the board can take.  Suppose there are only 6 members appointed to the 7 member board for the course of 2 calendar years.

Law #1, which I cited above, almost seems to answer the question in favor of the undermanned boards.  However, that law says specifically that where authority is given to a group, then the majority of that group is permitted to act.  Law #1 does not say that where a duty is imposed upon a board, that the majority may assume that duty alone.  And we see that there is definitely a distinction in law #2.  Does that mean, for example, that the whole of the land surveyors board "must" meet at least once per year?  Yes or no?

If you're thinking is that we would be lead to an absurd conclusion in thinking the whole of the land surveyor's board would be required to also (as in law #4) "administer and enforce" and that the "obvious" purpose of law #1 was to avoid such a burden, I think it is certainly possible that the board could develop its own bylaws to handle voting procedures during absences.  If the board, on day 1, voted to empower a smaller minority to handle certain business, that would effectively be a case where the board had fulfilled its duty through delegation. No?

It is not so important to me that there always 100% of the time be a full board.  The important thing to me is that these occupational boards are meant to be filled by a majority of professionals in the field, plus a couple of lay persons for balance.  Guess which seats are empty most often?  The lay persons.  I understand you can't always get people to show up, but if the laws say the board is composed of lay persons too, they ought to show up at least once a year like the law says.  That's my take, and I think it provides a little bit of legislative intent to back up that side of the argument.

Case history on this sort of thing is scant, as far as I can see.  Again, I reiterate the question...here in Maine, how do you think vacancies on a board impact board actions?  And why?


texts: Can I electronically "sign" a lease agreement?

texts:
My landlord emailed me a copy of our new lease as a PDF document.  I am to print it out, initial each page and then sign and date the last page, scan it, and email it back to him.

Can't I simply scan my initials and signature and insert them as images into the PDF, and email the modified document back?  Would it really make a difference?


texts: Expungement of Arrest and Court Records after Death

texts: If someone with a few criminal arrests and deferred sentences passes away, can a friend or family member have these Misdemeanor and Felony arrest records expunged on behalf of the person who passed away? In particular, how would this situation be handled under Texas law?


texts: How might the mention of "the acquis" amongst the principles of an international treaty affect its interpretation?

texts:
The Tripartite free-trade agreement was recently signed between various African nations, and includes the following text in its principles:

  The principles governing this Agreement shall be the following:

  [...]

  e) building on the acquis;

This term is not defined in the text.  My understanding is that it therefore refers to the Community acquis, i.e. the "accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of European Union law".  Please correct me if I have misinterpreted.

My question is, how might this statement influence the way that the treaty is implemented?  For instance, would this enable the dispute settlement mechanism to refer to precedents in EU law in reaching a decision?

The full text of the agreement is available here.


texts: Do Github Projects by Germans Require an "Imprint" (Link) in their Readme?

texts:
As is discussed in various places, German law requires an "imprint"/"Impressum" (a page with some contact information, such as a physical address and an e-mail address, on the person responsible for the site) for virtually every1 website.

In a recent question, it was asked whether this also applies to sites hosted on Github Pages. That question can be answered in a pretty straightforward way (sites hosted on Github Pages are basically no different from any other website, as the author has full and sole control over the appearance of the page.

This question refers to the default appearance of projects on Github, though. Authors have no influence on the general appearance of these projects, as Github displays them in their default layout. The introductory page of a project displays the repository content (the files stored for the project) and is arguably somewhat customizeable in that the content of a file called readme.md from the repository will be displayed below the files list, if it exists.

Now, "common sense" (sorry, could not resist) would tell me that Github owns and controls this page and is thus the first point of contact for any "official" activity. However, it seems that German courts are increasingly ruling that placing, or at least linking to such an "imprint" is also required on various social network profile sites such as Facebook or Google+2. On the other hand, the requirement for an "imprint" on business social networks such as Xing and LinkedIn seems to be disputed even for businesses presenting themselves there3.

Therefore, my question is: Is at least the requirement of an "imprint" on social media profiles limited to actually commercial enterprises, or are all German owners of Github projects who do not link to an "imprint" in their readme.md (if even that is sufficient, given that this link may not be intuitively discoverable) vulnerable to receiving costly cease-and-desist letters?

Related bonus "question": Exemplary links to Github projects by German owners that are "doing it right" are appreciated.

1: There are some exceptions for "purely personal" sites, but any information I can find in German implies that nothing that might be of interest to any stranger on the web can possibly "purely personal" in the interpretation of German courts.

2: General information in English, some more information in German: 1, 2, 3, 4

3: Two articles in German: 1, 2


texts: Using Images from the Web for personal use

texts:
I would like to include images from the web on my personal website(non-profit & non-commercial use), how do I say that the images are not mine and they belong to their respective owners? does this relate to this
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."


texts: How can the President appoint Whitaker as Acting Attorney General?

texts:
Today the president asked for and received the Attorney General’s resignation. Then it was announced that the DOJ Chief of Staff, Matthew Whitaker would be the Acting AG and according to the Hill, NyPost, and others:

  "The Acting Attorney General is in charge of all matters under the purview of the Department of Justice," DOJ spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement to The Hill.

And yet, on the basis of this legal analysis in Slate over a year ago, there are only three things that the President can do with respect to this without going through the Senate:

He could

  ... follow the terms of the DOJ succession statute and his own executive order on DOJ succession, under both of which the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, would automatically become the acting attorney general ...

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998:

  A more complicated scenario would be to rely on the provision codified at 5 U.S. Code Section 3345(a)(2), which states: “notwithstanding [the default rule that the deputy becomes the acting], the President (and only the President) may direct a person who serves in an office for which appointment is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity...

An interim appointment of an actual AG.

To the best of my understanding none of these things have happened. He did not appoint the Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, Whitaker as DOJ Chief of Staff has not gone through Senate approval, and he is not making an interim appointment. And yet I cannot find a single journalistic, legal, or even political source that has questioned the authority or the legality of the President's actions in this matter today.

Can someone who understands the legal issues here please explain to me what is going on (legally and/or constitutionally)?


texts: Can illegal aliens claim sanctuary in a church?

texts:
This tweet (as quoted in a Washington Post article), seems to suggest that illegal aliens can claim sanctuary in a church:

  #GuadalupeGarcia attorney says @ICEgov has lied to him and he will advise future clients to seek sanctuary in churches.

(For context, Guadalupe Garcia was living in the US without documentation and was deported during a regular check in with ICE.)

However, I did a search and only turned up articles saying this wasn't actually a law in the United States. Then I came across the case of Elvira Arellano, who sought refuge in a Methodist church for a year. I'm assuming the church didn't simply hide her whenever the police came around for a whole year, since she did interviews and such, but she was arrested when she left, so the authorities were clearly still actively looking to arrest her.

Are police legally required to recognize a claim of sanctuary in a church?


texts: Selling a used car with unknown miles, bill of sale and title question

texts: I'm a private individual selling to a business (a wrecking service) in the state of Alabama.  My car is dead, doesn't start, the business agreed to buy it off me knowing all of this.  However, since the vehicle is dead, I can not give accurate mileage on bill of sale and title when selling.  Now I do know the approximate mileage from when the vehicle was last in use which is within 1000 miles error.  Should I explicitly write in the bill of sale the approximate mileage or should I write mileage unknown or is there another suggestion that fulfills my legal requirement?


texts: Does the "German Hacking law" deny the opportunity to do private penetration testing?

texts: Would the possession of a Rubberducky Stick or an Pineapple router get you in trouble (even if you don't have evil intentions) with the new German anti-hacking law?


texts: Is it legal to list parties not willing to take part in a survey?

texts:
I am building a website where hospitals, schools and hotels would be rated by referring to several factors. I need to collect the data (certificates, documents, etc...) from the hospitals/schools/hotels to be able to compile a report on them. In case some of them refuse to cooperate, I am willing to list them as "unrated". Is this legal?

Note: Participation in the survey is free of charge.


texts: Is a tenant legally required to report the rent payments in cash to the IRS?

texts: I've been renting a room in a house in California, USA for a few years. Each month, I pay an advance payment to the homeowner. The rent is currently $650/month, and he wants cash. Legally speaking, am I required to report those cash payments to the IRS? And, does the IRS have a webpage that has instructions  or regulations regarding these cash transactions?


texts:
Normally, every code, distributed to be run on user machines, come with a license. If you do not agree with a license, you can't run a code. Moreover, license clearly states responsibility of the vendor, what uses are permitted, etc.
If you visit a site (f.e. law.stackexchange.com), it contains links to a code (javascript) to be automatically loaded and executed by user's computer in a browser.
What rules are governing those relations?

Browser runs code automatically, and it's by design. Authors put a lot of efforts to make it 'automatically run'.
User hasn't consented to any license before executing a code.

I see two options:

Every user run code without a license, and is guilty of breaking copyright.
There is an implicit permission to run a code (by the way it was implemented).

But if there is an 'implicit permission', where this permission ends? Can user download a code (it's already downloading it), save it (it's already saving it to the browser cache), and run in own environment (it's already running it)? And if so, can user do this (download-save-execute) in 'unexpected' environment? F.e. instead of browser with UI, execute it in own phantom.js or other 'headless' browser for own merits, outside of intentions of code authors?
How this situation is handled? Is it legal to execute a JS from publicly available site?


texts: How is the following law about animal abuse in New York interpreted?

texts:
This law of New York says:

  A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or
  unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether
  wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or
  deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or
  neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or causes,
  procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured,
  cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or killed,
  or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who wilfully sets on
  foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of
  cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is
  guilty of a class A misdemeanor and for purposes of paragraph (b) of
  subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall
  be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.

If someone owns an animal but doesn't have the money to feed it, will he get punished for that?


texts: Does Reading View violate website terms of service?

texts: Sometimes in the Terms of Service for a website, there are instructions that the user cannot "alter or modify the Website", or cannot access content "through any technology or means other than the Website itself". For example, see here section 4.B and 4.C. Now, some browsers offer a "Reading Mode" where they display the main text from a website in a simplified display, removing the website's style as well as any advertising and any copyright notice. Does using the Reading View break the terms of service, since I'm accessing the content via a means other than the website? I think I'm either altering the website or accessing the content via a means other than the website, depending on how "website" is defined.


texts: Is the premise of Robert Mueller about how a sitting President cannot be indicted imply that a sitting President is above the law?

texts:
Background

In page 213 of the Mueller Report, the Special Counsel team describes thier considerations that guided their obstruction-of-justice investigation.

  First, a traditional prosecution or declination decision entails a
  binary determination to initiate or decline a prosecution, but we
  determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The
  Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued an opinion finding that the
  indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would
  impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to
  perform its constitutionally assigned functions in violation of the
  constitutional separation of powers. Given the role of the Special
  Counsel as an attorney in the Department of Justice and the framework
  of the Special Counsel regulations, see 28 U.S.C. 515; 28 C.F.R. this
  Office accepted legal conclusion for the purpose of exercising
  prosecutorial jurisdiction. And apart from constitutional view, we
  recognized that a federal criminal accusation against a sitting
  President would place burdens on the President's capacity to govern
  and potentially preempt constitutional processes for addressing
  presidential misconduct.

Regardless of the reasoning, it is the belief of the Special Counsel's team that a sitting president cannot be indicted regardless of the crimes he committed (at least in obstruction of justice in this particular case). This seems to directly contradict the "no man is above the law" principle outlined by the 14th ammendment of the constitution.

Question

Does the Special Counsel's non traditional prosecutorial decision making put the president above the law since he is unable to be prosecuted?


texts: Can I display an ad on YouTube channel(borderline pretending they are a sponsor)?

texts:
So I have begun display ads for "The Dollar Shave Club" and "dbrand" on my Youtube to make it seem more like an official Youtube channel and because I like these companies.

I understand there are "false pretence" laws.  As long as I don't state that they are sponsors is this practice legal?


texts: How long am I supposed to keep previous tenant's packages

texts:
I live in Nevada, US.  I moved into my house 4 months ago and have been receiving packages addressed to my old tenant ever since.  The first package arrived about 2 weeks since I moved in (meaning about 4 weeks after she moved out).  I handed it to her.  This tells me that she is aware her mail and packages are being sent to the wrong address.  I saved all the subsequent packages for her, thinking she would show up and pick them up eventually.  She never did.

I then tried to write "not at this address" on the packages and left them at the door but whoever delivered them never picked them up.  They're from various carriers, USPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, etc.

Next I contacted the real estate company that manages the property and asked them what I should do with these packages.  They told me to either bring it in or throw it away.  Their office is quite a distance from my house so I really don't want to bother.  At this point I really think I did everything short of going out of my way to find the previous tenant or to deliver her packages to another location, be it the real estate management company or the post office.  What are my legal obligations to her with respect to these packages?


texts: Landlord keep showing up unannounced. What can I do?

texts:
I have a 12 month lease agreement with a property management company. The owner, NOT the property manager, keeps showing up, unannounced for dumb things, then gets upset when we don't let them in. This to me is harassment and needs to stop.

I spoke with the property manager and she is in agreement with me.

Another problem is that the owner's two sons, each live on the same property and come over to my side without my permission and unannounced too.

They interrupt my kids schooling, they interrupt my work, and they are making my life miserable.

Today the landlord had the courtesy to give a two hour notice. My wife said no. She hung up on my wife and was offended because she was told no. Her husband showed up shorty after, again, unannounced and angry.

What can I do? How much legal ground do I have to stand on? Can I file a small claims civil suit and it have merit?


texts: Use of custom designed software at work?

texts:
If I have developed an application on my own time and using my own resources, and that application could be highly valuable in performing my job, can I use it to get my work done without endangering my rights to my own intellectual property?

For example, say I have developed software that allows me to mark up PDF documents with great ease. This was done on my own time, using my own tools and equipment. If part of my job changes and I actually need to mark up PDFs for work, and I use my own custom tool to do it, am I opening the door to my employer having any rights to my software? Could they say that since I am using it for work, they have some claim to it?

Thanks!


texts: Drafting for unofficial startup ownership

texts:
I have an advisor in my startup that I would like to get 1% anti-diluted ownership.  However, because the company hasn't yet been incorporated, I can't actually issue out any shares.

However, to make him feel secure about his ownership, he's asking that I sign something that essentially would guarantee him the 1% ownership once the company were to be incorporated.

My question is, how would I go about drafting up something like this to sign and hand to him?  I come from the engineering world and don't have the "legalese" skills needed for writing something like this.


texts: Can I steal a car back that’s registered to me?

texts: So I made the mistake of co singing for someone that isn’t making payments or even attempting to make payments. The car is registered to both of us so I was thinking what if I get them to pick me up and then when they get out, I jump in the driver seat and leave. Would that be illegal? I don’t know what else to do. They won’t give me the car back so I can make the payments myself and I’m sure not going to pay it while they keep it.


texts: Offering money to potential witnesses in criminal proceedings

texts:
A friend of mine was involved in a confrontation with a police officer in the UK, in which the officer basically accused him of assault. While the officer was arresting him, a bystander shouted something like, "Officer, you touched him first!" My friend immediately shouted back, "Come in and testify, there's two hundred pound in it for you." The man spoke with the head at the police station, the charges were dropped, and my friend paid the man £200 as promised.

In the US, it would seem that situations often arise in which potential witnesses refuse to take the time to testify (loose use of the term), and those falsely accused suffer. If an American accused of a crime offered money to a verifiable witness, would his or her testimony be admissible in a court? How about in a police station? Would it not be considered bribery?


texts: Resolving issues with overdue payments for freelance work

texts:
A freelance client of mine is months behind in their payments and is requiring digital account access prior to paying. What are my rights?

The client doesn't read or respond to emails or phone calls.

The client recently appointed a point person for me to discuss these past due payments with. The point person requested more work prior to payment. I declined and offered a payment schedule.

The point person responded harshly, dissolving the business relationship and demanding digital web/email account access immediately prior to any payment.


texts: Can the executive branch instruct an agency to not enforce a law?

texts:
Using the current discussion regarding the Johnson Act as an example (unless there are more relevant examples):

Can the Executive branch instruct an administrative agency to not enforce or ignore a law that was enacted by Congress?

  The Johnson amendment is part of the tax code, so to remove it would
  take an act of Congress. But President Trump can direct the IRS not to enforce that portion of the law, Herzig said. “Yes, technically, the only way to get rid of the Johnson Amendment is to have Congress repeal that portion of
  501(c)3. It doesn’t mean the executive branch doesn’t have tremendous
  power in the ability to decide whether they’re going to enforce the
  Johnson amendment.” Trump said he’ll ‘totally destroy’ the Johnson Amendment. What is it and why should people care? - The Washington Post and AP Explains: The fuss over Trump and the Johnson Amendment

If a law is on the books, how can there be discretion in enforcing it?

Is there a difference in federal or state laws that are legislated?

Or in common law statutes?


texts: Trespass to Chattel: possessor suing for bodily harm

texts:
X performs trespass to Y's chattel. X endures bodily harm as a result of possessing Y's chattel. Can X recover for bodily harm?

My goal is to know whether there are any scenarios that fall within the skeleton of the above hypo in which X can recover for bodily harm resulting from his possession of the chattel. Please note that conversion is not synonymous with trespass to chattel.


texts: Can a general rule of law be used to reject a claim made within a signed service agreement?

texts:
Can a well-known, general, legal rule(s) of law overrule a claim made within a terms of service agreement that a customer has agreed to?

Something along the lines of "the claim was rejected because they were not acting in good faith".  Is there a name for this concept?

An example would be appreciated.


texts: How much processing time for non-Chinese EB5 Investors?

texts:
This page mentions that the Processing time for Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor (I-526) at Immigrant Investor Program Office is:
(1) 54 Months to 75 Months for China - mainland born investors
(2) 31.5 Months to 60 Months    All other areas
I am from India, does this mean that I have to wait for at least 31.5 months to get an approval? What does it mean for some investor from Netherlands? Does he have to wait for at least 31.5 months as well, like me?
Also, why is the processing time different for Chinese nationals? I mean this is not a waitlist, is this? This is not a green card queue right? This is simply about processing regardless of any country cap. Country cap comes after the processing and approval.
Edit: I am merging another question as well. What makes processing times different? Just select "Petition for Alien relative" I-130 and you will see a variety of ranges for different categories. What makes them vary?


texts: Are charities prevented from paying money to other charities?

texts:
I was recently a participant in a group study, in which there was an option for participants to donate the gratuity offered to a charity. However, I received a message from a researcher today saying that this is not possible:

Earlier this year, you participated in our three-part study... we asked you if you would be willing to donate some or all of your £4 bonus to the charity Shelter.
However, we were recently advised by our Finance Team that this was not possible. It transpires that the University of Southampton has charitable status and, therefore, is prohibited by anti-money laundering regulations from making payments to other charities. Hence, we cannot transfer the donations to Shelter.

(quoted excerpt from researcher's message, bold emphasis mine)
I searched and found the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, a 2017 'Money Laundering Regulations' consultation, and a guidance page on the Law Society of Scotland. I cannot find an obvious or direct reference to inter-charity payments, but I am not sure if I am looking in the right places.
Are charities really prevented from 'making payments' to other charities? If so, what is the ostensible motivation for such a prohibition? Does it extend to every type of payment? I suspect the law may vary in Scotland, but I would be interested to understand the situation in any part of the United Kingdom.


texts: How can i protect my self from contract termination in Germany?

texts:
I was offered a job position in Germany, this contract gives me the right to buy shares in the company (GmbH) after working for 4 years in this position.
As I understood if I quit or my employer ends my contract before 4 years, I won't be entitled to buy those shares.
Are there any options for me to protect myself from a contract termination from my employer's side?


texts: Can a patent attorney steal your invention in initial consultation?

texts:
I disclosed my invention with a patent attorney on my first free consultation to understand if it is patentable and get advice.  The patent attorney told me that I can disclose it because they are legally bound to confidentiality because of their job. However we didn't sign anything yet and we had a remote video consultation due to the coronavirus lockdown.

I have registered the conversation, is that enough to protect my invention? Should I avoid disclosing my invention with patent attorneys on initial consultations next time?


texts:
Is it legal for someone to record my crotch area that is fully clothed (e.g. wearing pants and undergarment not visible) and/or my face in a public place in Canada where there is no "reasonable expectation of privacy" (e.g. under or over a table in a public library)?

What about my buttocks area when I am walking (also fully clothed) in a public place (e.g. on the streets)?

In my opinion, it is not ethical for him to do this to me but it seems legal since it is not technically upskirting nor downblousing and I have not seen videos online of it yet.


texts: What are "inactive ingredients when a safety factor" in the context of vaccines?

texts:
I was reading Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations when I came upon the following sentence

  (n) The inactive ingredients when a safety factor, or reference to an enclosed circular containing appropriate information;

How is it determined if an inactive ingredient is a safety factor?


texts: How to search for court records regarding medical malpractice for a particular physician?

texts:
New York state (US) here. I would like to know what tools/sites/etc. I can use for searching any pertinent court records/documents regarding medical malpractice suits against a particular physician.
Ideally, there would be a legal website I could go to, where I could search for medical malpractice as the suit type, and an optional field that might allow me to search by the physician's name.
Does anything even remotely close to this exist?


texts:
In the unfortunate event, someone finds themselves being questioned by the police in the US, and they ask for a lawyer, but in an unlikely event the police officer says "you don't need a lawyer you're not under arrest, just being questioned", then the person being questioned proceeds in self-incrimination.

Were their statements legally obtained?


texts: How does an 'authorized representative' work?

texts:
I recently moved out of a rental home and I strongly believe the landlord owes me more money. I asked her for prorated rent given that I moved out early per her request/demand. She has declined this and wrote to me her friend who is a lawyer is "dealing with me on the landlord's behalf and acting as the landlord's authorized representative".

What does this mean? I believe she's just trying to complicate the situation to avoid paying me more money. If I take the landlord to small claims court, must I also take the "authorized representative" in the claim to? Or would I only be filing the claim against the "authorized representative"?

Currently I only have the email address of the authorized representative. If I need to serve her with documents must she give me her mail address?

FWIW I didn't think someone can get out of responsibility like this, when they break the law they say 'you can deal with this person who's acting on my behalf'


texts: How to freelance in the UK without violating the terms of my visa?

texts: I am a non-UK student studying in the UK. I have a visa and everything is pretty good, but my visa states that I can work no more than 20 hours per week. I don't want to have any problems, so how can I freelance, for instance, and prove that I have worked not more than allowed?


texts: If a website receive an attack by an Hacker, who is evanutally liable for the data breach?

texts:
I'm trying to create a very general example, i know there are surely hundreds of variables that must be analyzed but even just some general considerations from who had some experience can be useful for me.

3 actors:

A - The programmer who wrote the website. He had wrote a "not so secure" code because it loss in experience. He's employed at Agency B

B - The web agency who had employed "Programmer A" with a regular contract

C -The the customer who ordered the construction of the site to Agency B

The website:

A quite standard website, where users can register and store personal information

The attack:

An hacker broke the light defense of the website and acquires many personal information of the users registered to the site. It can broke the system because the Programmer A had wrote a very poor code.

Location:

Italy

Who is liable?

1 - Programmer A because for the Hacker it was too simple to hack the site.

2 -  The Agency B because she was how sells the website to the customer. The agency B can only dismiss the Programmer A

3 - The Customer C because he's the owner of the site


texts: Assuming someone worked in the UK Oil and Gas industry on a platform on the UK continental shelf and were paid bonuses for work that they did offshore compared to onshore. Should this person sustain an injury, say chemical inhalation, that was not there fault whilst working offshore and had to be medevaced for medical care, and thus lose out on their offshore bonus for that trip. Would they be liable for compensation or at least the lost earnings?


texts: Could I be held liable for simply sharing the idea for a crime?

texts:
If I were to share an observation that I made using publicly available information/knowledge, and then somebody acted upon this to commit a crime, could I be held liable in any way?

For example, let's say that I observe from a public vantage point some security guards at a building that fall asleep. I then post online in a public place the following: "I saw the security guards at Building 123 had fallen asleep, that place would be easy to rob!"

If somebody who I did not know had intent to commit robbery then went and robbed the building, could I be held liable for providing the information about the sleeping security guards and 'planting the seed' for the crime?

An alternate example would be for fraud. Let's say I publicised a potential fraud/scam method that I had thought of - with the intention of raising awareness and sharing the idea, could I be held liable if somebody actually committed fraud or scammed somebody using my idea?

I am interested in the UK law on this.


texts: Responsibilities (legal and fiscal) for individual (based in Germany) hiring an international freelance contractor online

texts:
Suppose that an individual hires a freelance contractor (through online platforms like Fiverr, UpWork, or Freelancer.com). The contractor may be from any country and may or may not have a regular VAT.

In Germany, does the individual that purchases the service have to pay any taxes or social security contributions (or in general any other fiscal, legal, or bureaucratic responsibilities)?


texts: Actions to take against parcel delivery service that lost my parcels

texts:
I sent five parcels using a UK parcel delivery service called parcelhero. The parcels were collected by parcelforce UK. Only 1 of the parcels was delivered, another was returned to sender, and three are still missing. The phone number of the parcel delivery service does not work, and chasing parcelforce UK is futile. The missing parcels contained valuable items such as a passport, notebooks etc.
Considering one of the missing parcels contained a passport, what kind of action can I take against the parcel delivery service?


texts: Does the US Second Amendment grant the right to not bear arms?

texts:
Does the Second Amendment in the United States grant the right to not bear arms? For example, if laws were enacted forcing ordinary people to bear arms, could they try to strike down the legislation as unconstitutional?

Although this sounds very hypothetical, Kennesaw, Georgia, in the United States has a law mandating the ownership of firearms, with some exemptions, including on disability and religious grounds.


texts: In the UK, can a private limited company have as its only shareholder a juridical person?

texts: The reason I'm asking is that a bank refused to open a business current account for us upon me divulging the information in the title during the application process. In addition, the juridical person is a company based outside the UK, if that could possibly matter.


texts: A teacher at my college is being threatening towards my friend, is it illegal to catch him in the act with audio?

texts: For a while now, a tutor at my college has been bullying and threatening my friend and she told me today that she did not feel safe around him at all. When no one is around he raises his voice and gets up in her face to try and intimidate her for absolutely no reason. With this attitude being aimed towards her, is my friend well within her rights to protect herself and record the incidents without him knowing? If not, what do we do to make him stop? He seems to be trying to do the same with myself and another friend of mine. We've tried going to the college about this but they refuse to do anything as well.


texts: Is there a (EU) law that a written contract has to be in a certain language?

texts:
I live and work as a freelancer in country A. I am about to sign a contract with a company that has its offices in country B. They therefore insist on having the contract written in language B.

Both A and B are in the EU.

Would having the contract only written in language B be a problem for the various institutions (e.g., fiscal/tax) from my country A to whom I may have to show the contract in case a government audit comes? If the worst that can happen is that they make me pay for a translation that would be absolutely fine.

In other words, is there a law against having written contracts in other languages?

(Of course, I could make a bilingual contract, but this would really delay sealing this deal and I'm keen on getting this signed very soon, so doing a bilingual contract only comes into question if I definitely know I'll expose myself to significant legal risk by having it only in language B.)


texts: Are judges immune from prosecution of crimes committed while acting as a judge?

texts:
Discussing the civil lawsuit to Hans Reiser's murder conviction, Wikipedia states:

  "Judges ... are immune to lawsuits regarding their official conduct."

In the United States, is that true?  Surely, if a judge colludes, conspires, or otherwise rigs a trial's impartiality while performing his official duty he isn't immune from prosecution for such crime.


texts: Received defective Rx. Pharmacy and manufacturer refuses to refund me

texts:
I need advice on how I can get a refund on a defective ~$186 Sam's Club prescription. They were not only ineffective, but I experienced withdrawal symptoms taking those.

What legal recourse do I have? Obviously, the attorney's fee will cost more than the Rx. Here are the details...

Cutting the tablets in half, it was obvious that the previous tablets --that were effective-- looked different from the last Rx that was not. The tablets that were effective had a layer of dark gray on one side; the "dud" batch did not, but instead had an all-white interior.

As soon as I took the replacement non-time-release alternative Rx prescribed by my physician, I experienced relief from the withdrawal symptoms as well as my medical condition. The M.D. told me that I needed to contact the pharmacy.

Well, both the manager of the Sam's Club pharmacy in Springfield, MO and the lady I spoke with at the drug manufacturer have flatly stated (over the phone) that they will neither accept a return (or even samples for testing) nor refund the price we paid for these dud, ineffective tablets.
The lady at the manufacturer told me that they would file a manufacturing defect report to the FDA. That was all.

The pharmacy manager claimed that the tablets for the previous, effective Rx was from the same batch as the last, "dud" Rx refill.

What to do? I've already contacted a local TV news station that has excellent consumer-advocacy spots (On Your Side Contact KY3). However, it now seems clear to me that she is not going to televise this.


texts: Am I allowed to cut a 1 second scene from a movie and use it in my 10 minute YouTube video

texts:
My YouTube video is 10 minutes long. There is a one-second scene in a movie that I want to insert into my video to create a funny effect.
Is this copyright infringement?


texts: Can a F1-visa student have income from renting his or her apartment?

texts:
I know the international students (F1-visa) are limited when it comes to work (max 20 hours/week on campus job).

However, are they allowed to have other sources of income in US? Is renting his/her apartment a legal way to earn income?

Thanks!


texts: Step child if I am no longer married to the child's parent. How can it be?

texts:
I'm reading instructions to U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQlh2d2EbQ&feature=youtu.be, http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2016-Instructions-Translations/DV_2016_Instructions_English.pdf).

It states:

  Be sure to include:

  all living natural children;
  all living children legally adopted by you;
  and, all living step-children who are unmarried and under the age of 21 on the date of your electronic entry, even if you are no longer legally married to the child’s parent, and even if the child does not currently reside with you and/or will not immigrate with you.

I can't get last list item: how can I have a step-child if I'm no longer legally married to that child’s parent?


texts: Origin/purpose of "Language" section in legal agreements

texts:
I've noticed a number of legal documents recently (FastMail's ToS, Apple's Developer Agreement, etc.) which include a "Language" section containing more or less the following:

  It is the express will of the parties that this agreement and all related documents have been drawn up in English. C'est la volonté expresse des parties que la présente convention ainsi que les documents qui s'y rattachent soient rédigés en anglais.

Whence did this practice originate and what is it for? Also, why state the same thing in English and French?


texts: What is the principle that children can consent to other children of the same age, but not to an adult, called?

texts:
Two three year old children that agree on "playing doctor" and examining each others bodies, including genitalia are not committing a crime (but if one three year old child forces another three year old it is a crime, although it will be a case for the parents/psychologist/school counsellor not the police). Two 13 year old children/adolescents that consent to have sex are not committing a crime (there are some weird exceptions, particularly in America, where holding a nude photo of yourself is considered child pornography but that is an exception). Furthermore, two 13 year olds can enter a contract if it is "reasonable" for their age, e.g., maybe €/$ 30-50 or so.
However, if one party in all those situations was 25, it would be illegal because children can't consent or enter binding contracts with an adult (for substantial amounts of money).
Is the principle described above called something? How old is it? Did the Romans apply a similar concept? The medieval Catholic church?


texts: Can a pro se defendant make statements of fact in his opening and closing arguments?

texts:
If a defendant in a criminal case testifies on the stand, then they must submit to cross examination, which is not good for them.

However, if a defendant is conducting his case pro se, then can he make statements of fact during opening and closing arguments and thereby avoid cross examination of those facts or statements. Will a judge try to prevent this?

For example, imagine a defendant is charged with vehicular manslaughter for running over a pedestrian. The defendant conducts his own defense and in his closing arguments says, "The man ran in front of my car, there was no way to stop in time" and this fact has not been introduced to the case previously. Will the judge in such a case try to stop the defendant from making such a statement in his closing argument?


texts: Is it legal for a private foundation to compensate a "disqualified" person for direct charitable activities?

texts:
For obvious reasons, US tax law restricts the role that relatives of the founders (called "disqualified persons") of a foundation can play in the foundation. I have two questions:

Would it be legal for a private foundation to pay a disqualified person to provide managerial services that are necessary for the mission?

Would the compensation of the disqualified person apply to the foundation's 5% distribution requirement?


texts: Can the US government be compelled to honor the NATO treaty?

texts:
The North Atlantic Treaty (which establishes NATO) commits each member to mutual defence in case any member is attacked. The treaty has been ratified by the US, so it is legally binding.

My question is, can the US government be legally forced to honor this? For example, if hypothetically a NATO country is attacked and the US refused to help (for some reason, e.g. it has an isolationist President or it doesn't want to escalate the conflict into a world war), can someone go to a US court and make it force the US government to do it? For example, the court might achieve this by making people in the government go to jail if or pay a lot of money they don't do it.


texts: What is the difference between a law and an act?

texts:
In context of Indian legislature, I know that when a bill is put to vote in the Union parliament and gets the votes of majority of the members in all the houses, it is sent to the President of India for his assent and on receiving the President of India's assent, it becomes an Act.

I really do not understand the difference between an Act and a law. Do they refer to the same thing or are they different things?


texts: Source of Supreme Court's authority to overrule prior Supreme Court decisions

texts: If the Supreme Court is the final authority, where does the authority of future Supreme Courts come from, to overturn prior results? Wouldn't past and future courts be of equal authority?


texts: As a customer, am i liable for messaging another customer found on a Facebook business page?

texts:
I am a customer for a Wedding dress shop, and I messaged another customer with a warning about the shops impending closure because of issues with lack of contact from the company.

I have received a warning from the Company who have stated a serious complaint has been made, using GDPR within their warning message.

Have I broken any laws/rules in contacting another customer through Facebook? The message contained no disparaging remarks towards the business.


texts: Copying Another Computer Program's Design

texts:
I'm coming over from Stack Overflow because I cannot find any answers to my questions there, so I'm asking here.

I've created a computer program that looks similar to Steam's (www.store.steampowered.com)

This is what Steam's Client looks like:

Here's what mine looks like:

I could not find any patents on their design (Maybe I missed some). I don't know if this would cause any troubles with them considering I made mine completely from scratch using completely different styling and images (even different website inside the client that is mine). No reverse engineering was done either. The only thing I'm afraid about is copying their menus word-for-word. I wanted to do this to give customers a similar feel to what they are used to (I've seen many programs do this; however, Valve is a huge company.

Is what I'm doing illegal if I sell / release a product like this?


texts: When can a customer be denied service for not wearing a (COVID) mask, considering medical exceptions?

texts:
I work in a retail liquor store. We require customers to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID19. Technically speaking is wearing masks a law, a health order or the store policy as a result of the health order?
A customer asked if we had a mask he could use. We said no. He then argued he had a medical exemption and isn't supposed to be refused service.
My questions are:
Can a customer be denied service or entry for not wearing a mask even if they claim they have a medical exception? Must they prove it with some sort of certificate? Some people have claimed that they do not need to show proof. If the customer is acting in a dishonest manner, for example if I see them wearing a mask before entering the store, does that make a difference? Does the quality of mask or the material it is made of make a difference? Some customers pull their shirt over their face and my coworkers tell them that is alright. I am considering putting in a complaint to the health inspector.
Also can customers remove their masks to use the face unlock feature of their smart phone? Some customers pay with their phones.


texts: Will I have problems if I accept two job offers in two different EU countries?

texts:
I am non-European and I have never lived in France. I recently got a job offer from a company in France and I signed it. A few weeks later, I received another job offer from a company in Germany.

Being non-European, there is a risk of not obtaining the necessary papers in France since it has to be proved that I am the best candidate on the market (ie. no other EU citizen is fit for the job). So I thought about signing the German offer as well in order to have a plan B if things do not work out with France.

My question is: by signing these two offers, will the two countries know that I have two ongoing visa/work-permit procedures at any given time? If yes, could this cause me problems?

Thank you


texts: Can you hire attorney to obtain birth certificate for your child if you are out of country?

texts:
Consider a situation where non-US citizen parents (say Indian parents) have a child in US thus child is US citizen by birth. They obtain birth certificate and passport for the child and go back to India with the child. Then all of a sudden, birth certificate requirement changes like April 2011 rule or in worst case like this Puerto Rico Birth Ceritificate Invalidation.
Birth certificate is needed to obtain minors passport. Now the issue is minors passport cannot be obtained after previous one expires if birth certificate does not match up with new requirement.
Also Birth certificate cannot be obtained if you are out of US soil.
What are the options for Indian citizen parents in such a case if they cannot come to US:

Can we hire an attorney who can obtain birth certificate and send it to India via fedex ?
If yes - what kind of attorney ? family law ? immigration ? estate planning ?
Can attorney mail the birth certificate from US to India (in other words is it legally allowed to mail birth certificate out of country) ?
How can we prove that we indeed hired attorney and we authorize attorney to obtain birth certificate on our behalf, while we (parents) are not in the US ?


texts: Does a DOJ grant of immunity protect against contempt of congress, or reenforce it?

texts:
For example, let's take Clinton tech aide Bryan Pagliano, who was granted some form of immunity by the Justice Department.   The timeline on this seems confusing, but I'll summarize information I found:

In March of 2016, Republican senators sought to compel Mr. Pagliano's testimony reportedly indicating that his grant of immunity by the DOJ prohibited him from invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.  In May, it was reported that "The [State] Department has searched for Mr. Pagliano’s email pst file and has not located one that covers the time period of Secretary Clinton’s tenure,”

In June 2016, it was reported that Pagliano had filed a motion in seeking to keep the immunity agreement secret in a case involving a Judicial Watch FOIA request.  Later that month the judge the document should remain sealed “because the government’s criminal investigation through which Mr. Pagliano received limited immunity is ongoing and confidential.”  (Presumably Pagliano's deal was related to the FBI investigation into the private e-mail server he administered for and which Hillary Clinton used instead of official state department servers.)

Later, on September 13 of 2016, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to send to send a contempt resolution to the full House for Pagliano's refusing to testify in a hearing.  (Note: Pagliano's attorney indicated he would take the 5th in open session, but be willing to testify in closed session.)  Wikipedia's summary indicates that the full House never considered the resolution.

Can Congressional Committees still compel Mr. Paliano's testimony?

Has this situation been clarified in the subsequent 24+ months?


texts: How can I commercially use a font with a copyright but no licensing information?

texts:
I found a free TTF font from freakfonts.com. When I look in its properties, it shows a copyright by Southern Software, Inc. from 1995.

Am I allowed to use this font commercially? If not, how do I obtain a license to do so? (Ideally I would like to use this font in my product designs and sell the resulting products)
Am I allowed to use this font personally? (eg for decorative purposes or to make gifts?)

Notes:

I found a Southern Software, Inc. online, but they don't seem to be the kind of company to develop fonts (though looks can be deceiving!).

Since the font had "SSK" in its name, I looked up "SSK" online and found this person who says it's a reference to the company SoftKey, which has gone through multiple acquisitions and ownership transfers based on this Wikipedia article.


texts: How do community websites and forums defend against copyright claims?

texts: If I have a blog and post up a picture of some artists work, he/she can come after me for a copyright breach. However what happens on a large website where users can upload images  as they wish. Moderators can't be educated on whether every user has permission to publish that image. In the event that a user posts a copyright image that they do have have permission for on a community forum, how to the website owners protect themselves from a claim?


texts: Can a jury find guilt based mainly on "mens rea?"

texts:
In the actual Frank Quattrone case, the conviction of the investment banker was overturned by an appeallate court, because the trial judge had wrongly instructed the jury to disregard "mens rea" (guilty knowledge) in ordering the destruction of documents.

Suppose, in I call a "reverse Quattrone" case, the jury found that the defendant had mens rea in ordering the destruction of documents in an "obstruction of justice". But the prosecution was unable to prove the relevance of the documents in question because they had been destroyed.

Could an American jury still find guilt based on its finding of mens rea? That is, the jury thinks, "we don't know what this guy is hiding, but he sure must be hiding something?


texts: In the United States, is one legally obligated to display vehicle registration in a parking lot?

texts:
Per every state law, it's required that every vehicle parked or driven on public roadways displays registration (ie. a license plate), except per certain exemptions (police, military vehicles, etc).

It is not legally required to display registration information while the vehicle is driven or parked on private property, even if the vehicle is visible from a public roadway.

Given that, is there any legal obligation to display a license plate while a vehicle is parked in the parking lot of a private business? Would there be any possible repercussions if someone, for instance, removed their license plate and put it in their trunk when they parked at the local Walmart?


texts: How many vehicles can I register under my name in Virginia (USA)?

texts:
I'm currently trying to move all my business cars under my name and I was wondering if there is any limit on how many vehicles I can have registered under my name or under my business?
I couldn't find any info on the DMV (Virginia) website.


texts: Is disclosure of subprocessors absolutely necessary under the GDPR?

texts:
Under the GDPR regulations, is there a way of avoiding the need to disclose the full names and details of subprocessors?

Must I absolutely declare this information in the appropriate manner or can I limit the amount of this information I reveal?


texts:
I paid $100 for 6 TB of cloud storage (Microsoft) for a lot of personal videos.
That contract ends May 31, 2021.
I'm sure I can then renew it, but are there any laws in any country preventing
a large price increase (e.g., to $800 per year)?  I'm most interested in
United States laws if any exist.
Assuming there are no laws in place, would class action lawsuits win if one
showed that the costs of the provider had not increased?
Of course, I could simply move all of my data to a cheaper competitor's cloud,
but that is a hassle.


texts: Software copyrights - can i use screen name instead of real name?

texts:
I'm trying to use my screen name (say "Cyfrost") instead of my real name (say "Billy Raymond") for a copyright notice inside my software, by doing so, I'm hoping to achieve credit to my work.

Here's a better illustration of what I'm trying to achieve:

and not this: (assuming my real name is Billy Raymond)

Can i use my screen name in the Copyright notice label instead of my real name?

I'm relatively new here, so please suggest any corrections.

My software will be closed source, but always freely available on the internet.
For legal jurisdiction, I live in India and I do not plan on Registering copyrights for these software.


texts: Is kumaran's email an offer or invitation to treat? Why

texts:
Kumaran, an electrician, develops novel lampshades. In January 2016, he developed a new lampshade suitable for use with compact fluorescent lights.

On 1 May 2016, he emailed Bobby and Chew, both wholesalers, to whom he had previously sold lampshades. In his email, he asked each of them whether he would be interested in becoming the sole distributor of his new lampshade.

Is this an offer or an invitation to treat?


texts: Jurisdiction and Unauthorized Practice of Law

texts: Joe in state A asks a question online: "I did _____. Is it legal? What are the consequences? What should I do?" Jake in state B responds in a manner which, while entirely okay according to state B's UPL rules, clearly falls under state A's definition of UPL. Is Jake guilty of the unauthorized practice of law?


texts: (India) Is it legal for hotels to charge 5x the MRP on items in their ORIGINAL PACKAGING, with the MRP CLEARLY PRINTED on the package?

texts:
I am staying in a hotel room, and the in-room minibar has some chocolate bars in their wrappers, with the MRP printed, and the bars themselves are not wrapped in any way, nor are they part of a "hamper". Is it legal for the hotel to charge FIVE TIMES the MRP for each bar?

I am aware of the ruling about water bottles in restaurants (https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/supreme-court-allows-restaurants-charge-above-mrp-bottled-water/story/265891.html) but in this case the hotel is providing the exact same product, with no other service attached, and with no attempt to increase the value of the product.


texts: Hospital billed me for services that I explicitly refused. Are there any legal ramifications for hospital?

texts:
(well, my wife).  Background - we lost a pregnancy early this year.  Got pregnant again.  Wife had some spotting during first trimester, became panicky, and rushed off to a hospital.  The main thing they wanted to do was perform STD screening.  We've been exclusive partners for over 7 years now and neither of us have ever had any STDs, so my wife outright refused.  Doctor was flustered and asked what she did want done, and she said an ultrasound to check on the baby.  They needed to do a urine test first (checking for HCG levels and what-not) and then after the HCG levels were deemed high enough, did an ultrasound (baby was fine).  I wasn't there for the visit (I was out of town) but she called me while waiting for the ultrasound and gave me the full run down, reiterating to me her refusal to have STD testing done.

A couple months later and lo-and-behold I get a bill from the hospital, including over $500 for the STD screening she refused.  There were some other items on the bill that without question did not happen, so it is possible that this is a billing mistake and not simply them outright ignoring my wive's clear desires.  As a result they either billed me for a test that didn't happen, or performed a test that my wife refused.  Either way I obviously have no intention of paying for this.  The hospital itself has been very obstinate about my attempts to get any information out of them.

My goal here isn't some poorly-thought-out plan to sue the hospital for damages.  Rather, they made a number of serious billing mistakes, to the tune of about $2000 that I absolutely should not have to pay (the total bill is about $3600).  So far they have not been receptive to my attempts to fix this, and I'm trying to find any leverage I can to get them to take me seriously.  I'm not above threatening to (or actually) taking them to small claims court over this.  I would like to figure out what legislation or regulations might be applicable before I start throwing the word "lawyers" around.  So, to recap:

My wife refused some specific procedures.  The hospital may have performed them anyway and definitely charged us for them (>$500).  Are there any specific laws/regulations that this would violate that I can use to get them to take my requests seriously?

Update

After some more heated phone calls with customer service reps (I got out my grumpy voice, which is not my norm), they eventually assigned a manager/dedicated customer rep to discuss my case with me (took a couple weeks to finally get a call from them).  They said they would look into it in more detail, and also suggested I file written requests for all hospital notes from my visit (which I was already doing anyway).

After getting the results we determined that (not surprisingly) the procedures which we knew never happened really didn't happen.  As a result of the manager's own digging they finally realized that some of the billed services never happened and finally removed them from the bill.  However, I was told that the STD screening did happen, that the notes showed the results were discussed with my wife (they weren't), and that there was no mention of a refusal for STD testing in the notes, so those charges would stand.

I fully intended to argue more (there were many mistakes in their notes so the fact that there was no record of us refusing the STD screening was meaningless, in my opinion).  However, I got distracted by the holiday season.  Fortunately, at the beginning of the year (aka a couple months after our last exchange) we got a phone call from the hospital telling us they were taking the charge for the STD screening off the bill.  I'm not sure what changed their minds.  All-in-all they took about $1700 off the bill.  It's still far more than is reasonable (there was an expensive item which I contested which they did not change), but it's a big difference and I'm out of items that can be easily argued so...


texts:
The Australian Tax Office requires that all registered companies have a dedicated bank account for their business.

Does the ATO recognise a PayPal business account as a valid business account?

I've tried my best to find a definitely answer on the ATO site, however it is not explicitly mentioned.


texts: Uncontrolled rocket re-entry kills my dog. What are the legal consequences?

texts:
The Chinese CZ-5B rocket launched last week had no support for controlled re-entry (or other managed demise), and is substantial enough that it can survive re-entry and hit the ground. This is unusual: these days, large launchers execute a planned "safe" re-entry, and crash into a defined area in the ocean.  Last year, a launcher of the same type crashed in West Africa, having overflown New York. It's all over the news - where will it crash? (More details). Several decades ago, the US Skylab came down into Western Australia, which was, and is, sparsely inhabited so no damage was caused.
Hypothetically, space junk could crash in my garden and kill my dog. If it did, I would be expecting to instruct my solicitor to seek maximum damages!
But seriously, what are the implications of this? Does the fact that it's specifically a spacecraft make any difference? It's pretty reckless - does that element play a part?
(I'm in the UK. Does that make any difference? Actually the UK isn't under the flight path, so this is even more hypothetical in this case than you probably thought.)
My suspicion is that it would be considered a minor international incident, and China might pay some compensation if it seemed in their interests, and wouldn't if it didn't. It might be considered a more major incident if it hit, say, the Pentagon...


texts: Which country's court interprets EULAs and Terms of Services online?

texts:
I'm thinking of writing a new kind of EULA for my software and Terms of Service for my art commissions and website. I'm not sure of which country a court interprets those legal documents. I live in Croatia, but the laws in Croatia about electronic goods and services are unknown to me and I have no money to afford a lawyer. I'm not sure if I should afford a lawyer in Croatia if maybe there's a united internet law of some kind where the EULAs and Terms of Services are interpretted.

Who interprets those? May I ask someone who's not in Croatia to write and interpret my EULAs and Terms of Services? Should I ask a free lawyer online? Of which country should that lawyer be?


texts: Legality of "viewing/listening" Illegally uploaded material

texts: So, it's common for the average person to no longer directly download and store a file that contains a movie/tv show but to listen directly from a website, as these files are not stored and not kept by the end user, what laws exist to "charge" these people, and can it be constituted as pirating if the file is stored bit by bit and deleted as soon as each individual bit is "read".


texts: I moved permanently to Alberta from BC.  I now have Alberta driver's license and Alberta license plate.  Can I continue using my BC license plate?


texts: When should my "Date of Formation" be for my LLC Company?

texts:
Please let me know if this should be posted somewhere else! Sorry if it isn't in the correct location!

Background

I am starting up a Web Development & Marketing Company in Ohio. I am not finished finalizing all of the small details, but plan to start taking client at the beginning of 2016. When filing for my LLC, what should I write down for my "Date of Formation"? I can only set it at a maximum of 90 days after filing. If I choose January 1st, 2016 is that going to work?

"Date of Formation" Idea?

September 16th, 2015?
December 15st, 2015? (To ensure the effective date is within 90 days.)
December 31st, 2015?
January 1st, 2016?

Forms

Limited Liability Company Certificate of
Amendment.
Articles of Organization for a Domestic
Limited Liability Company

Thanks in advanced!


texts: Paying salary back after leaving the company

texts:
A few days ago I received a pretty interesting letter from my ex employer. During my time there I made minus hours, caused by the project situation (I am a software developer). The letter says I should pay the amount of minus hours back. In Germany there is a specific difference between Lohn (wage) and Gehalt (salary), I got the last one. That confused me cause Gehalt is payed independent from the days I worked.

What I would like to know is, do I have to payback anything? And if yes, why? And something I am pretty interested in, how does that comply with taxes and social insurances?

I hope it fits here, if not feel free to close it. I am not seeking legal advice I am more curios honestly.


texts: Does travelling through the US border with encrypted files break the law?

texts: If I have encrypted files and I'm going to US, do I break any encryption import laws? Likewise, if I go out of US with those files, do I break any encryption export laws?


texts: Would the Oracle v. Google lawsuit imply that any API can be re-implemented, including hardware CPU ISAs?

texts:
I understood that the lawsuit implies that APIs are not copyrightable.

Hardware CPU ISAs (e.g. x86 and ARM) are an API (?), and could have different implementations.

However, there are precedents where CPU developer companies have sued / "cease and desist"ed re-implementors, such as ARM v. Amber.

So would the lawsuit mean that ISAs can also be re-implemented?

Of course, I expect the answer to be no and that it is just my lack of understanding of the case. How is the Java API different from an ISA?

This video claims that companies managed to re-implement the "retractable pen" hardware "API" to avoid patent infringement seen here on YouTube, how are ISAs different?

ReactOS is a project that comes to mind back to software land.


texts: In California, landlords cannot retain security deposits at the end of tenancy in bad faith. If a landlord provides an itemized statement of deductions but fails to disclose that it was written by a family member (who made them outrageously high), would it result in punitive damages?


texts: Is downloading a non-copyright paid video course illegal?

texts: I have found an online video course that the user is selling for around $200, and it says on the website that the course is copyrighted in the footer. However, I have checked everywhere online but there is no mention of the copyright on the online libraries. I have found a URL that has this course available for download for free, but I am skeptical of downloading it since I feel I may be subjecting myself to piracy, but at the same time am unsure on the other end since there is no mention of any copyright on this course in the online libraries, which means the person who is claiming to have a copyright may be giving a false claim. What should be my course of action? Is it legal to download the course then?


texts: Can a company raise the cost of a service partway through a service period?

texts:
We've been paying $500/month since we started using this SaaS company several years ago, as one of their first customers.  The company sold to some other company in April.

On July 19, of this year they sent us an invoice for June saying it cost $500 (the usual rate, Due Aug 1 and we already paid it) and then mentioned in the same email that in July, the same services would cost $2500+.  This came as a complete shock, so we fully moved off of the service by August 3.

Can this company charge us $2500 for July even though they gave us notice of the rate change 2/3 of the way through?  We are happy to pay them $500 for July.


texts: Does killing witnesses before trial suppress them?

texts:
If a witness is killed, or dies, before formally testifying at a criminal trial in what manner, if any, can his relevant statements be admitted or used against a defendant?

For example, if sworn testimony has been recorded can that be admitted?  What about unsworn written testimony?  What about hearsay?


texts: Contempt of court (for certain speech and remaining silent included)?

texts: What's the worst/maximum sentence or sanction one can receive for remaining silent in court when asked to speak by a court official (with and without a subpoena)?


texts: Does microphone recording of audio content from YouTube violate terms of service?

texts:
I would like to study the audio patterns of certain recordings on YouTube for scientific purposes, but don't want to violate their terms of service or any laws. Can I:

play a youtube track,
record it through my computer microphone (aka analog hole),
save it as an audio file, and
conduct analysis of the track?

I would not share the recordings with anyone, except perhaps for the results of the analysis in a scientific journal.

Below are the YouTube terms of service, for reference.

  Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content. You shall not copy, reproduce, make available online or electronically transmit, publish, adapt, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. YouTube and its licensors reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the Service and the Content.


texts: Can the FBI indict someone unilaterally? Or do they only recommend their boss, the Attorney General, to take one action or the other? For instance, in 2016, the FBI recommended not to press charges against Hillary Clinton. Is it how it usually works (only recommendations with the AG having the final say)?


texts: Using GDPR against cold-call marketing emails

texts:
I recently received a "cold-call" email from a salesman to my professional email address, which is in the form firstname.lastname@company.com. The firstname is a very formal version unlikely to be known by non-natives. We are both based in the UK.

The address is assigned to me by my company
It's not uploaded to my personal Linkedin profile (see edit below)

The message seems personalized and doesn't have an Unsubscribe option.

The salesman claims to have found me through Linkedin. Normally this kind of thing earns a one-way express ticket to the Spam folder, but I'm wondering, can I use GDPR to request either

how he found my address, or
that I be removed from his list?

edit The message was sent to an alias of the form easy-name.lastlane.company, as opposed to firstname.lastname@company as I had originally thought. Outlook's interface didn't make it obvious that the alias was used. That one can indeed be easily guessed from my Linkedin profile, but is still not public.


texts: Does an emailed promise of confidentiality constitute an NDA?

texts:
I have a product idea and very rough prototype I want to take to a local 3D print/prototyping company to have a higher fidelity version made. I would of course not want them to make the 3D model available publicly or otherwise print/sell my idea or product. However, the product idea is very small/simple and in my eyes not yet worth pursuing a lawyer and fees to have an NDA or patent written up. In previous talks with this company they too prefer avoiding NDAs as they then have to consult their lawyers to insure it doesn't accidentally block them from working on other projects, etc. They did however assure me confidentiality over an email stating that anything we discuss will be a professional service and kept between us.

I read here: https://www.lawgives.com/guide/551c797e777777655d8e0000/What-Do-You-Mean-We-Have-A-Contract-How-to-Prevent-an-Email-Exchange-From-Inadvertently-Becoming-a-Binding-Contract that emails could constitute a legally binding contract. Would that promise of confidentiality be enforceable if they did leak my idea or product?


texts: i live in EU. somebody from another EU country is writing me that they intend to take me to court for a very minor possible copyright infringement. my question is - if meanwhile i move to live in a completely different EU country, can he have success in court over there since the actual copyright infringement took place in a different country?


texts:
The US term GWOT (global war on terrorism) is frequently used, however, as I understand a nation is or is not at war (via declaration or some other formally documented mechanism) with another party.   In order for the US to be at war, what are the requirements for the other party?  In the distant past the party has been recognized nation states (Germany, Italy, Japan, etc.)

QUESTIONS

Is it possible for the US to be at war with a non-nation actor (ISIL, Al-Qaeda), in the same way that the US was at war with other recognized nations in WWII?
If yes, has there been a declaration of war with XXXX (ISIL, Al-Qaeda, etc.)
Do the conventions of war apply to ideological combatants (i.e. not representing a recognized state)?


texts: If a law changes very recently, is there a grace period due to not knowing the new law change?

texts:
I was recently watching a video of a police officer who lied to a driver that "a new law passed" that allows police officers to stop someone from recording. The driver was an attorney and knew better.

I was curious about this situation where a law changes that you may not be aware of because it only very recently passes. It seems wrong that someone who may have been not aware it was recently changed would be punished. I imagine it depends on the severity of the law, but is there some sort of grace period due to information not travelling fast enough?

While I think the above scenario is a little extreme, any advice is appreciated.


texts: Can I sue my gas company if they disconnect my service without notice?

texts:
On the 13th my gas was disconnected without notice.

When I called my gas company they said I was past due.  I paid them the same day.

My service was reconnected on the 15th.

On the 15th I got a letter saying my connection will be disconnected if I didn't pay before the 20th.

That means they disconnected me one week earlier than they gave notice.

What remedies do I have for this?


texts: Autoresponders and GDPR - do they comply with the law?

texts:
Would it be GDPR compliant to have an autoresponder request opt-in permission?

For example, a customer makes an enquiry by sending an email to the company in question. The company in question then sends the customer an automated email confirming receipt of their enquiry and inviting them to join a mailing list via an opt-in button.


texts: Is this considered a renewal or a new lease?

texts:
My lease has a provision that if you've been on the lease more than 9 months, the penalty for breaking the lease is smaller than if you've been on the lease for less than 9 months.
I signed a lease in 2019. In 2020 I signed an identical lease except for the dates and rent amount. It's more than 9 months since the signining in 2019 but less than 9 months from the signing in 2020.
I gave intent to break the lease and the landlord is claiming that I owe the larger penalty because I signed a new lease. I think the landlord's logic is questionable. Because the new lease is the same as the old, I think the new signing was simply a renewal and I should pay the smaller penalty.
Who is right?


texts: Merchantability of low quality video games & UCC 2-315

texts:
For the purposes of this question, let's assume an online retailer who sells digitally distributed video games, based in California, selling to a consumer in New York. The NY based consumer is using a Windows PC that is not unusual in its hardware or configuration.

My understanding is that a seller can't sell goods that they know aren't fit for their intended purpose. For example, this is in the UCC:

        § 2-315. Implied Warranty: Fitness for Particular Purpose.
    Where the seller at the time of contracting has reason to know any
particular purpose for which the goods are required and that the buyer
is relying on the seller's skill or judgment to select or furnish
suitable goods, there is unless excluded or modified under the next
section an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose.

§2-316 talks about exclusions or modifications and says they must be conspicuous. For this question let's assume that the seller doesn't have any specific text regarding this in their terms of sale or in the terms of service for their online storefront.

My understanding of this is that a particular good has to be able to do what goods of its type do. For example, a retailer can't sell a shovel made of metal so weak that it bends instead of digging into the ground.

How does this apply to products whose purpose is to entertain? In particular I'm looking for information on video games.

I have three points I'm curious about, and wondering if the retailer is violating the UCC (or any other laws) in any of these cases:

Some people like some games while others dislike them. Would different people have different abilities to claim that a retailer had violated the law based on personal tastes?
Some games are universally disliked. They receive nearly universally bad reviews by both consumers and professional reviewers, with very few positive reviews and nearly nobody praising the game. The game is simply not enjoyable in any way for the vast majority of people.
The game simply will not run on the consumer's PC. Others are able to get it to run, but the particular consumer mentioned in the first paragraph cannot get the game to run.


texts: Is it legal to make two competing brands of the same product without making the public aware of the common source?

texts:
Suppose I create rocket boots and brand them as "Super Jumpers". After a couple months of selling them, I stealthily create a new brand of rocket boots called "Mega Fliers".

I do not publicly reveal them as created by the same person or corporation, and perhaps I even market them with improvements I intentionally left out of the original boots.

Would this alone be illegal, or only under certain conditions? For example, if I had a monopoly on rocket boots, if I was inflating prices, or if using other consumer manipulation to make them purchase more of both.


texts:
In the 1987 movie, The Untouchables, there is a courtroom scene in which Al Capone's lawyer spontaneously announces that his client wants to change his plea to guilty and Capone displays his displeasure with that by attempting to attack his attorney. The change of plea is apparently accepted by the court.

Is this just a movie fiction or did this happen in reality? Can an attorney change his client's plea without the client's consent?


texts:
I own a flat in the UK and I have a problem with pigeons living under the the decking of my balcony.

The balcony is within my demised property (as the leasholder), but the drainage pipe that the birds have crawled up is on the outside of the property.

The freeholder is refusing to pay for repairs as they're saying it's within my demised property.

To me this seems a similar situation to damage being caused by a roof leak.

Three separate properties have experienced the problem and bird guards have been installed on the other drainage pipes.

Would i have a case in a small claims court?


texts: Bed Bug Liability/Responsibility: Landlord or Tenant?

texts:
Situation:
I'm currently paying someone monthly rent to live in one of the rooms of their house.  There is no signed contract or any records of this exchange.

Recently, the room I am in appears to have become infested with bed bugs.

I've taken reasonable steps to moderate and control this, but it is getting out of hand.

I am considering simply moving out.  I respect and like the homeowner, but I can't seem to eradicate the pest on my own.

Do I have any legal obligation to pay for a professional pest control service?  Morally, I'd like to, but I simply can't afford it.

EDIT: This is for the state of Texas, although I'm interested in how any jurisdiction handles this.


texts: I am writing a childrens book and a character in it is supposed to be called Google. Is that legal? I am only using the word 'google' and not the colors, font etc that the word is written on the actual site. Mr. google knows everything about everyone :)


texts: Car was registered and insured but proof wasn't in the car

texts:
This occurred in California.

Can the police give you a ticket for $1,200 for a first time violation with no registration or insurance paperwork in the vehicle? The vehicle was registered and had insurance. Does it matter if the car is not yours?


texts: What is legally citable from printed material such as books and references when I want to reproduce a photograph of a page?

texts:
I'm writing a style guide for programming and one of the examples I'm providing for describing what it's like to read bad code is by comparing it to reading a bad novel.

I know through experience that typesetting can greatly benefit the comfort of the reader and I would like to provide actual examples of this from other works. Am I able to provide a picture of whole pages, portions or pages, does it have to be public domain work, etc.

The information I'm interested in is the typesetting and not the actual content. I believe that someone's presentation of even public domain work has rights, which is why this is questionable. It's not the content but that person's presentation that I want to provide an example of for critique.


texts: Can I use the recycling bin of a residence or business that's out on the street?

texts: Oftentimes I'll be carrying around some piece of recycling until I can find an appropriate recycling bin. There are usually public garbage cans everywhere, but sometimes there aren't any recycling bins to be found. If it happens to be collection day and some house or business's recycling bin is out on the curbside, is it okay to put something in as I'm walking by?