texts: What effect does the EU Biopatent Directive have if there is the independent European Patent Office with its own law and court?

texts:
The EU Commission and the European Patent Office (EPO) are currently fighting over whether plants that are not registered varieties are patentable.

The EPO exists independently from the EU as an autonomous international organization, based on the European Patent Convention (EPC). It has its own court system, independent from other courts, e.g. the European Court of Justice.

The story goes like this:

In 2015, The EPO granted patents to Broccoli and Tomatoes derived by breeding ("essentially biological processes") (cases G 2/12 and G 2/13)
Some european countries, and the EU Commission renounced this decision. In Nov 2016, The EU Commission issued a "clarifying notice", a legally nonbinding statement that, according to the EU Directive 98/44/EC ("Biopatent Directive"), no patents can be granted on those kinds of plants (Scientific Service of the Bundestag (in german))
In response to this, In July 2017, the EPO changed its own set of rules to comply to the opinion of the EU Commission. They added a new rule 28(2) to their executive orders: "Under Article 53(b), European patents shall not be granted in respect of plants or animals exclusively obtained by means of an essentially biological process." CA/D 6/17
In Feb 2019, a chamber of appeal of the EPO declared this previous decision  invalid. They argued that that amendment changed the spirit of the EPC treaty, what the EPO is not allowed to do on its own, but requires a change of the EPC by the member states (Kluwer Patent Blog)

My Question is now: If the EPO has to follow the EPC and not the EU Biopatent Directive, what effect does the EU Biopatent Directive have after all?

All EU member states are also members of the EPC (as well as ten non-EU states). Therefore I see no situation in which the EU Biopatent Directive could excert any force over the EPC. One step to answering this is maybe this: The EU Biopatent Directive needs to be converted into national law, as needs every EU Directive. However, if the member states change their patent law, does this in any way affect the EPC?

EDIT: I found a passage in the European Patent Office's "Guidelines for examination", Art 5.2 referring to the EU Directive:

  European Union Directive 98/44/EC of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of
  biotechnological inventions (OJ EPO 1999, 101) is to be used as a
  supplementary means of interpretation. In particular the recitals
  (abbreviated as rec.) preceding the provisions of the Directive are also to
  be taken into account.


texts: Can a court decision be appealed by a sheriff?

texts: A case recently came up in my area of Kentucky in a district court where a man had been convicted of growing and selling marijuana. The sheriff had drove by his residence on a hot day and smelled marijuana emanating from the man's property. The sheriff was able to narrow the location down to a mobile home which was on the man's property. The sheriff then obtained a search warrant to search the mobile home for marijuana, with the smell of marijuana being probable cause. Upon conducting the search, the sheriff found 154 marijuana plants and several firearms in the man's possession. The man is a convicted felon, so they were also seized. When the case went to court, the case was dismissed. The judge said that the smell of marijuana was not probable cause to have issued a search warrant. If the prosecutor will not ask for an appeal of the court's decision, can the sheriff ask for an appeal himself?


texts: In small claims court, can either party have a lawyer? Can decisions be appealed?

texts: Many people assume that no lawyers are ever allowed in a small claims court, and that decisions in such courts are always unreviewable (final) because of their informal nature. Is this true in all US states? In Any?


texts: Is it commercial disparagement when one business confuses other business customers on how to schedule appointments?

texts:
CGLI policies have following trigger for advertising injury:

  d. Oral or written publication, in any manner, of material that slanders or libels a person or organization or disparages a person's or organization's goods, products or services;

These policies usually do not clearly define what exactly "disparages" means. So I started to search around and came across HARTFORD CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY v SWIFT DISTRIBUTION, INC, where California court defines disparagement as:

  We hold that a claim of disparagement requires a plaintiff to show a false or misleading statement that (1) specifically refers to the plaintiff‘s product or business and (2) clearly derogates that product or business.

So in a hypothetical scenario where plaintiff/claimant is accusing defendant/insured of misleading plaintiff's customers that appointments from now on must be scheduled with defendant (and not plaintiff's general manager) - would that qualify as disparagement?

  DEFENDANT'S AGENT began to tell customers assigned to him for services at PLAINTIFF that in the future, the customer should call DEFENDANT'S AGENT directly on his personal cell phone so that DEFENDANT'S AGENT could ensure that future appointments of PLAINTIFF'S clients would be handled by DEFENDANT'S AGENT and bypass PLAINTIFF'S GENERAL MANAGER responsible for scheduling appointments. In addition to controlling the appointments that would be serviced by DEFENDANT'S AGENT, DEFENDANT'S AGENT also solicited and instructed PLAINTIFF'S customers to instead go to DEFENDANT's location where DEFENDANT could deny all profits to PLAINTIFF.

It seems that there is a falsehood as defendant is confusing plaintiff's customers on how to schedule appointments from now on (disparagement of business title?). And it detracted customers from plaintiff's business.

Court ruling for similar case would be appreciated.


texts: New trial motions-once the motion for summary judgment has a response may new trial motion be invoked?

texts: Litigation in the pretrial phase progresses to the point of possibly one party filing the MSJ. After that motion has been responded to and the judge has the responsibility to rule on it, may he, for any reason whatever-so-ever, dismiss plaintiff's case without addressing the motion. Has there been enough to qualify for a new trial despite an actual trial not transpiring,for the sake of qualifying under civil rule 59.


texts: What are some good sources for the rights of individual in an international context?

texts:
I am looking for sources for the international rights of individuals between nations. Nations might have problems politically, yet one might say individuals of nations have some international rights. For example, when 2 nations are in war, individuals of each nation have right to travel to the other when necessary.

I am looking for some sources for such concept of rights.


texts: Can landlords refuse to show you contract prior to application?

texts:
I've seen some landlords refuse to provide a sample residential lease contract prior to making an often non-refundable application, in California and other states.

Is it legal?  Aren't you supposed to be able to verify the contract with your lawyer prior to even looking at the premises, let alone paying any application fees and submitting oneself to the credit check?


texts: Advice sought regarding GDPR and managing sensitive data

texts:
We have a site that has very sensitive information including medical and information about children.
This is on a public website with many organisations shared on one server.

There are files that are available without a login, they are not linked on main site, but they are available that share this information (excel files).

The site is vulnerable to many different attacks, including sql injection (which allows you to download all data). I have a list of about 10+ major security holes.

It is being treated as not a major issue as there has been no reported breach, and we do not know of any. It is kept being said - "has a breach been reported?".

If we keep the site up knowing it has issues and fix them "when we can", and we don't tell customers that their data has been insecurely kept for a very long time, are we breaking laws?

Or is it only really something that should take the site down and be communicated to customers if we know of a breach.

This is in the UK and we need information valid for prior to GDPR I would guess?


texts: Can I destroy intellectual property (code) if I don't get paid, India?

texts: My company is withholding salary for the last 6 months. The problem is a year and a half old. Can I destroy (delete) the code that I wrote with a backup but not making them know until I get my salary.


texts: How can UK police fine people when it is not supported by law?

texts:
United Kindgom

During the COVID pandemic, police officers have taken to fining members of the public who break government guidelines (exercising too far away from their houses, exercising more than once a day, etc). It has been reported numerous times (and is clear from reading the text of the law), that none of these behaviours are actually illegal, they are simply government guidelines.

How can police officers enforce something that is not stated in law, and, therefore, and these fines lawful?


texts: Federal courts under the Articles of Confederation

texts:
This is meeting with silence at history.stackexchange.com, so I'm trying it here:

The ninth Article of Confederation establishes federal judicial jurisdiction in some cases, including "disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other causes whatever" and "controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different grants of two or more States" and some others. It provides that whenever a case is filed with the Continental Congress, a temporary federal court will be appointed to hear the case.

Is there any published account of the history of federal courts under the Articles of Confederation?


texts: What classes of positions does the term "Law enforcement officer" include?

texts:
The term "Law enforcement officer" (LEO) is often used to refer to police officers, which are often the first to come to mind when prompted for example of law enforcement.

As I understand it this term also covers corrections (jail) officers.  Does the term also encompass judges?   What other classes of positions does the term LEO include?


texts:
My car speaker exploded.

The volume was all the way down to zero, but there was a sudden and explosive boom. Now the speaker rattles and my ears hurt for a couple of days.

Videos from others have shown a tendency for water to leak into the door in this model, which is then ineffectively routed away from the speaker, usually leading to speaker corrosion.

It's my guess a short occurred.

Is a maker at fault for a design which can lead minor rainfall to cause ruination to vehicle components and pain to the operator and passengers? (Or does this fall under standard wear and tear?)


texts:
A supreme court decision says police do not owe a personal duty to individuals.

However, police do have an oath of office and duty to the laws of the state.

If a police make an unlawful arrest:  In Texas it is known as 'unlawful restraint'.  Unlawful restraint is a class A misdemeanor unless the victim is recklessly exposed to substantial risk of injury which then makes the crime a third degree felony.  For example, if an officer points a firearm at the unlawfully arrested person that would be a felony.

Other police on the scene are backup and immune from prosecution because they were merely there and did not physically make the arrest.

Question 1: Are any police on the scene responsible for reporting the crime of unlawful restraint which has become a felony in their presence?

Question 2: Would the police in not reporting the crime be implicating more involvement than mere presence and thereby threaten their immunity stance?

If the police do not owe a duty to protect the person being unlawfully restrained, it would seem they still owe a duty to uphold the laws of the state like they would for the crimes of jaywalking, driving without a seat belt, or rape.

This seems pretty complicated to me.  If the police do not owe a duty to the citizen to arrest another officer for violating the law do they at least owe a duty to the law to make a criminal complaint regarding the violation they witnessed?  And if so, and if they do not, would they be more accountable than the populace who are required by law to report felonies?

Texas Penal Code - PENAL § 38.171. Failure to Report Felony


texts: May I contact a person who wrote an opposing affidavit?

texts:
I wrote an affidavit for a divorce proceeding in Georgia (USA), as a fact witness (not an expert witness).  I read an affidavit of someone who wrote an affidavit for the other side.  I am concerned about the content of that affidavit because it misleading.  I believe the person who signed the affidavit is sincere but signed a version that had been heavily edited by someone else.  Are there legal constraints on my contacting that person and attempting to talk w him about his affidavit.  (I have had some contact with him in the past.)

Update: Two witnesses on the other side said they have changed their affidavits based on my discussions with them, removing incorrect guesses that they originally had presented as fact.  An attorney could have shown their original affidavits were not based on their own personal knowledge, but rather on conjecture, but that would have meant 2 depositions, costing several thousands of dollars. Already the case has cost many tens of thousands of dollars and is a severe strain on family resources.


texts: Help with law vocabulary. The use of the word "enact" and definition of consolidating statutes in UK law

texts:
This might sound like a stupid question, as it is probably a very easy question. It's just I am new to studying law and want to get the vocabulary right. I am mostly a science and math orientated person and I am not good at English language / English litrature, which may be part of the reason I struggle with vocabulary.
Is the word "enact" only used for laws passed by Parliament i.e. an Act of Parliament?
Can you use the word enact for delegated legislation?
And are consolidating statutes Acts of Parliament or Acts of Parliament and delegated legislation? I was thinking they may be delegated legislation as sometimes consolidating statutes are just amendments, corrections and minor improvements, which is what statutory instruments often are. It does not seem logical that you should go through the long rigorous law passing procedure of passing multiple readings in the House of Commons and the House of Lords just for amendments, corrections and minor improvements.
Also I have no professor to ask and the internet is not clear. I cannot seem to find the words enact and delegated legislation in the same sentence on the net.


texts: If I do not password protect my phone, do I forfeit reasonable expectation of privacy?

texts:
Let's say I am arrested and I have a smartphone in my possession. A police officer cannot, without a warrant, seize my phone, unlock it and go through my pictures, messages, etc. The US Supreme Court unanimously concurred in Riley v. California. In such a case, a person who locks his phone is asserting a reasonable expectation of privacy and the 4th Amendment protects said person.

Now let’s say I am arrested and I have a non-password-protected smartphone in my possession. The phone is completely unlocked. By simply not setting a password or other “lock screen,” have I inadvertently waived my expectation of privacy?

The closest court case I’ve found is US Court of Appeals 6th circuit Huff v Spaw. The phone owner accidentally pocket-dialed another person. The court held (to paraphrase) that while the phone owner assumed an expectation of privacy, he did not exhibit the expectation of privacy because he did not take precautions to prevent pocket-dialing.

Without a warrant, the police cannot enter your house, even if your closed front door is unlocked. But phones are not houses and the expectation of privacy is different. I’m wondering if there are any court cases, laws, etc. that confirm or deny that I have (or don’t have) a reasonable expectation of privacy if I choose to not password-protect my smartphone.


texts: Can someone be indicted for possession of illegal material through access logs alone?

texts:
If police obtained a search warrant to seize a suspect's electronics on suspicion of illegal material on their hard drive on account of them having access logs that the suspect viewed such material, (by, for instance seizing the servers of the web host and looking through its database to find the access logs of its visitors) if they are unable to find anything are they still able to land an indictment just from the access logs?
Added bit:
What if as well the user had a user account on the website linked to an email address that identifies him/her, but no evidence of possessing any illegal content upon seizure (nor any evidence on his/her computer that he/she had registered, just the appearance of a personally identifying email address on the seized database)? And to muddy things further, suppose the website wasn't dedicated to showing illegal content but just hosted some (maybe with a legally negligent set of site rules), so it would be hard to conclusively state that the user was seeking out that illegal material.
Update to question
I recently stumbled upon this news article, which seems to purport that police aren't able to make arrests from an online footprint alone. Here are some relevant excerpts:

During the tour in February, Carly Yoost demonstrated the system, starting with a dashboard that showed a list of the "worst IPs" in the United States, ranked by the number of illegal files they had downloaded in the last year from nine peer-to-peer networks.
The software is able to track IP addresses — which are shared by people connected to the same Wi-Fi network — as well as individual devices. The system can follow devices even if the owners move or use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to mask the IP addresses, according to the Child Rescue Coalition.
Clicking on an IP address flagged by the system lets police view a
list of the address' most recent downloads. The demonstration revealed
files containing references to a child's age and graphic descriptions
of sexual acts.
On top of scanning peer-to-peer networks, the Child Protection System
also monitors chatrooms that people use to exchange illegal material
and tips to avoid getting caught.
The information exposed by the software isn't enough to make an
arrest. It's used to help establish probable cause for a search
warrant. Before getting a warrant, police typically subpoena the
internet service provider to find out who holds the account and
whether anyone at the address has a criminal history, has children or
has access to children through work.

Does anyone have any sources corroborating this statement? The consensus on the answers on this question is that arresting someone in this case is possible, but difficult. Here, it seems to suggest that what seems like fairly substantial evidence is not enough without a search.


texts: Is it illegal for a landlord to waive a rent late fee?

texts:
Last month, I moved into an apartment in Chicago, IL.  This month, I was a day late with my rent check, so the landlord charged me a late fee. I asked if they could waive it and I was told they were unable to do so because if they waive this fee for one resident they are legally obligated to waive every late fee for every resident.

Is that true? I have never heard of such a law. In the past, I have waived late fees for my customers and I have had late fees waived for me. Do special laws exist just for the rental business?


texts: Counting UK Statutory Instruments implemented annually enacting EU legislation?

texts:
Is there a convenient way of determining the number of UK Statutory Instruments implemented annually as a direct result of EU legislation?

This page shows the totals, but I cannot see a way of distinguishing those that are implementing EU law.


texts:
I am writing my first mobile-app that teaches a foreign language in a "chat-like" manner. Means, the user enters a chat and you learn the language by having a bot sending you individual messages.
You, as a user, can select answers accordingly. This type of app is not new. I saw hundreds of patents for chats, bots etc but I cannot read all of them, neither are chats nor bots new. How do app developers proceed at the stage where I am at?


texts: Can a lay person help a friend bring a petition of violation of child support to Family Court?

texts:
A friend of the family, who only got up to the fifth grade, needs to file a petition for violation for child support in Family Court.  I can help her assemble her evidence -- it's pretty simple, it's bank statements showing the shortfall in the father's payments -- and I can help her fill out the form and write the letter.  But I would like to help her present her case in Family Court.  It's a simple case, but my friend can't do it alone -- her first language isn't English, and she gets nervous, flustered and can't function well when she goes to Family Court, even when there's a translator present.

The reason I don't want to use a lawyer is that when we used a lawyer for a similar petition, about unpaid medical expenses, the father convinced my friend's lawyer that he's a poor shmo who shouldn't be blamed for not paying what he should, and the lawyer didn't go after him aggressively enough.

I would not let myself be beguiled.

Side question: how far back in time can we go?  We already found proof going back two full years, and with more digging we might be able to go back farther.

(Please don't feel tempted to feel sorry for the father.  He earns three times as much as the mother does, and he doesn't have shared custody.  He doesn't even have the child for visits any more.  He dropped the child like a hot potato a year ago when the child was discovered to have epilepsy.  Also note, the amount of child support is tragically small -- $100/week.  We are going to petition to increase this, but we want to clear up the violation first.)

(Would like to create new tag for Family Court, not enough rep.)

Edit 9/27/16

Update: I was allowed to go in and sit next to my friend, which she found helpful as moral support.

The important thing we learned subsequently is that for an amazingly low fee, there is legal help available for this type of action, through the Department of Social Services.

Another thing I learned is that the low-man-on-the-totem-pole front desk receptionist at our court was not very helpful, but the main court clerk was.  I learned to phone ahead and make sure the court clerk was in before delivering paperwork.  I learned to check with the court clerk to make sure we were doing things right.


texts: What kind of attorney do I need to do the city for violating my 4th amendment?

texts: Can the city have my truck towed out of my driveway? The tags are up today and I'm working on it with no warning.


texts: Can an estate sue for defamation over statement made before decedent died?

texts: According to the answers to this question you can't be (successfully) sued for statements you make about someone who is already dead.  But what if you said something defamatory about John Doe while he was still alive, he then died, and his estate then files a lawsuit against you before the statute of limitations has passed?  Could such a lawsuit succeed?


texts: Can State/City bar US Federal LEO from certain locations?

texts:
The Official Website of the City of New York claims:

  Federal enforcement officers, which includes ICE, cannot enter hospitals, schools, or shelters.

What exactly does this mean?

E.g., suppose an FBI agent pursues a bank robber and the latter runs into an NYC public school. Can the agent enter the school to arrest the robber?

PS. Federal enforcement officers, which includes ICE... - if it includes ICE, there must be some other Fed LEO who are also covered by the sentence. However, the page is only dedicated to Immigration, and ICE is the only Federal agency doing immigration enforcement. I guess this is merely sloppy editing.


texts: Does the property manager sign the lease (and any addendums) with the tenants or must the real landlord?

texts:
When a landlord uses a property management company to take care of a rental (including things such as collecting rent and doing repairs) does the property manager sign the lease with the tenants or does the home owner?

I tried finding the answer in the Residential Tenancy Act but was unable to. Here is how they define landlord, but I'm left wondering, what is a "landlord agent" is that a property manager?

  "landlord", in relation to a rental unit, includes any of the
  following:

  (a) the owner of the rental unit, the owner's agent or another person
  who, on behalf of the landlord,

  (i) permits occupation of the rental unit under a tenancy agreement,
  or

  (ii) exercises powers and performs duties under this Act, the tenancy
  agreement or a service agreement;

  (b) the heirs, assigns, personal representatives and successors in
  title to a person referred to in paragraph (a);

  (c) a person, other than a tenant occupying the rental unit, who

  (i) is entitled to possession of the rental unit, and

  (ii) exercises any of the rights of a landlord under a tenancy
  agreement or this Act in relation to the rental unit;

  (d) a former landlord, when the context requires this;

On the stand forms it uses the word "landlord" so I'm wondering, would it be invalid if the property manager signed it as he's technically not the landlord?


texts: Can maps from Google Maps be used in school presentation?

texts: I'm doing a presentation for a class in college. Am I allowed to include images of Google Maps? To clarify, I'm not using the actual photographs or street views of google maps, just the street names. Is this allowed? I tried reading their terms of use but couldn't understand it.


texts: Is this an exercise of the US Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction?

texts:
I was checking the US Supreme Court’s website for recent opinions and came across one for State of Montana v. State of Wyoming and State of North Dakota. This opinion looks very different than the others I’ve read in the past. Specifically:

The case was based on a “Bill of Complaint,” not a writ of certiorari, which is what I’m more used to seeing.
The case references a “Special Master,” a term I’ve never seen before.
The opinion is not signed, not even “Per Curiam.”
The opinion states a “Decree,” which is quite different than the structure I’m used to seeing.
The case number is “137, Orig.,” which seems to be a different numbering system than what’s typically used.

I’ve been trying to Google these terms to see what they mean, but I’m having trouble finding anything on them.

I know that the US Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases between states. Is this an exercise of that jurisdiction? If not, what exactly is this type of opinion?


texts: Is a speeding ticket invalid if the listed speed is not what it was?

texts:
I recall reading about speeding ticket defenses in some jurisdiction in the United States or Canada that the fact that the officer "reduced" the alleged speed that he obtained through his radar and such, invalidates the whole ticket.  (Which is probably one of the reasons that the officers never negotiate what number they put on the ticket.)

E.g., if the traffic citation says you were going 80 in a 70 zone on an interstate, but, it turns out, the officer does have evidence from his laser that you were going 85 instead, then the ticket is invalid and should be dismissed by the judge as improper.  (Would it matter if, for example, the officer did have another reading at exactly 80?  Or if he has also followed you bumper-to-bumper for a couple of seconds at the speed of, say, 75, or 78?)

Could anyone possibly find any reference or confirmation of this?  Would something like this be applicable in Texas?


texts:
There's probably a very short and simple answer to this, but I have to ask anyway. I VERY briefly owned a house over 12 years ago (I think for less than 12 months). Is there any way I could still be considered a "first time" buyer in the UK?
I know, the obviously answer is "no", but I need to ask. Thanks.


texts: Who is responsible for fulfilling GDPR in university projects with EU-based industry partners - the university or the professor?

texts:
Based on a discussion with a friend who is university professor in Switzerland (which is not EU member): The professor's institute ("Research Lab", part of the engineering department) is regularly doing research projects with institutions inside the EU (typical advanced engineering work like design of complex electronics). These institutions are companies and also other universities.
The professor's institute keeps contact information of a number of students and/or engineers from these EU institutions, which it must do to do the work, and this is private data which is GDPR-relevant (to my understanding).
The university has a link to the university's privacy policy where they point out that they are GDPR compliant, and give an address for getting more details about their policy (no link, just email and postal address). Just one very short paragraph, that's it. The professor's institute webpage uses the link to this privacy policy per default.
Does GDPR apply to the scenario as described? If yes, who is responsible for fulfilling GDPR? The university or the professor?


texts: How are MMOs with real money economies allowed to operate?

texts:
A lot of Massively Multiplayer Online games include a form of "premium" in-game economy that may be purchased with real money (cash) by the player, usually for the purposes of faster progression in the game or cosmetic upgrades. For example, there are Gems in Guild Wars 2 which are originally purchased with cash (but may then be traded in-game using the game's normal currency). Taking the example a step further, Hex: Shards of Fate (an online-only trading card game with similarities to Magic: The Gathering) has a "platinum" currency which may only be purchased using cash via the game's store, and is the only way of purchasing new booster packs of cards in the game. The developers have expressed that they want players to feel that their collection of digital cards has real value and the in-game auction house facilitates trades of cards, the rarest of which are trading for amounts in platinum valued up to about $100 each. The terms and conditions for the game state (as many other games do), and I'm paraphrasing here, that items within the game may not be traded for outside of the game for real currency. Not only does this make monetary sense for the developers, but I assume this is also to avoid a stack of legal troubles around money laundering and gambling/gaming laws in different territories.

However, Entropia Universe (wikipedia link) has as its key feature an in-game economy which is tied directly to US dollars, and specifically allows players to "cash out" of the game and back into real money. They have even gone so far as to produce bank cards which withdraw from the game and have now formed an actual bank to regulate trades.

My question is why are there not more games which take this approach of a game economy tied directly to real money? I understand that the economy needs to be carefully designed and balanced to avoid over-inflation (in-game) or other exploits leading to in-game currency being "created" from nothing, but the bigger concern seems to me to be the legal issues this would create. Given the amount of random chance involved in the game is this not effectively gambling? If so, how does Entropia Universe allow worldwide users without kicking up a storm of trouble from different regional authorities and governments? Surely this is exactly the kind of thing which is banned in certain US states (I am not a US citizen) or other countries. Is it because the game is based in Sweden and their more permissive laws allow for it? If so, do the laws of the country in which the player resides not take precedent?


texts: Curious case of real-estate transaction with predatory tenants

texts:
This question is looking for some ideas and some underwater rocks that haven't been though of yet.

The context:

Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia, Canada

A buyer and a seller has entered into an sale agreement. The seller agreed to deliver the premises vacant on closing date.

Midway to the closing date, the seller is having issues with the tenants who are refusing to leave until well after the closing date.

The tenants have the legal right to remain in the property well after the stated closing date.
The new owners will not be occupying the property.
The seller has no written lease.
Although the seller had a handshake agreement with the tenants that they will vacate the property before the closing date, the tenants have turned around requesting a sum of money.

The buyers are at the point right before incurring majority of the closing costs. They have just a few days to play with, before they have to continue with the expenses.

The questions:

Can the seller enter a formal agreement with the tenants in which the seller pays a sum of money and in return the tenants vacate the premises before the closing date, and would such agreement hold over the tenants legal right to remain on premises past the closing date?
What happens if the sale goes though under the assumption that the tenants have left, and in fact the tenants are still occupying the premises?
What guarantees and proofs can the buyer demand as to the vacant status of the property?
What other questions should the buyer be asking?


texts: A perimeter search damaging one's property (e.g. motor vehicle)

texts:
It appears that one's consent is not required to perform a perimeter search.

When such a search is performed by a K9 on one's motor vehicle, it's apparently very common to result in multiple scratches of varying severity, probably due to the paws of the dog that was doing the search.

What recourse does one have from having their property damaged in such way through a perimeter search?


texts: If a man has sex with a girl he thinks is underage, but the girl is actually not, did he commit a crime?

texts:
As the title suggested. if a man has sex with a girl he thinks is underage, but the girl is actually not, did he commit a crime?
I'd think he did, since I have seen a lot of cases where the police went undercover to arrest guys who think they are hooking up with underage girls. But I have read Wikipedia. which says "in jurisdictions with due process, there must be both actus reus ("guilty act") and mens rea for a defendant to be guilty of a crime (see concurrence)." so I might be wrong?
A very general question, but specifically wondering about cases in USA.


texts: What happens if I forge a customer's signature?

texts:
So I work at a Pharmacy as a Pharmacy Technician, and it was my first day today. I got assigned to work at the drive-thru for customers picking up their prescriptions.

So our system always asks for signature of the customer after I ring up the prescription to prove that they have picked it up.
The system asks you if the customer is at drive thru or front store. I accidentally tapped "front store" so the system asked me for the customer's digital signature and I, guiltly and doubtly tried to just do the signature for them -- WITHOUT ASKING THE CUSTOMER. I was too scared to ask them if they could sign in my computer because duh, it was drive thru and they were an old couple and I was scared they'd get mad at me. And I stupidly didn't ask my colleagues for help. I didn't know I could do the signature manually instead of digital.

Am i going to jail? I'm so scared. I haven't even started college yet. I am so anxious and mad at myself I don't know what to do. I don't want to upset my family and the store I work at.


texts: Legal issues with a company called Elon selling 'musk' cologne

texts: Would I get in legal trouble in the US or UK for starting a company called Elon and selling 'musk' cologne?  I know that College Humor made a joke about this a few years ago, but this is an actual business idea. I have already bought the domain name elons-musk.com.


texts: When parties settle without going to court, what prevents from suing for same thing?

texts:
Say party X wants to sue party Y for $500 in damages. If, after some negotiation, party Y agrees to pay party X $400 if they don't go to court and make things quick and easy and party Y agrees. What would prevent from party X taking the $400 then still going to court? Would the case automatically be dismissed if the judge finds evidence this had been settled? What if party X argues that it had reconsidered and wants the full $500?

I'm assuming some sort of contract would be needed, that says something like "this issue is considered resolved upon receiving $400 from party Y and party X agrees to not initiate litigation relating to the issue". But even then, to my understanding, a contract can't prohibit a party from seeking legal remedies.


texts: Reverse-Engineering an Application without EULA

texts:
The place where I work have recently installed a tool on our computer systems. However there are a few things that I don't quite like about the tool and would like to improve them. However I am wondering if this possible?

I'd like to point out a couple of important things:

The software came pre-installed. I didn't install it and never agreed to any EULA
I have made reasonable effort to find the EULA - by downloading the setup system and also checking the site, however I could not find the EULA anywhere.

Does this mean that I can reverse-engineer the application to fit my needs better? I don't plan on making any commercial benefit from this or re-distribute it as my own. However I do plan on passing the fixed code to the others at work if it will also serve of help to them.


texts:
The question might seem basic, but why do juries in the United States consist of 12 members?

Was there an experimental determination of this number?

Would the addition or removal of a juror operate more effectively?


texts: Alleged miscarriage of justice, later proven guilty

texts:
I'm looking for examples of cases where there have been alleged miscarriages of justice, but subsequent research/appeals have turned up more evidence of guilt rather than innocence.

The only example I've found so far is that of James Hanratty, aka the A6 Murderer. Executed for murder in 1962, attracted a long running campaign to have the verdict overturned and be given posthumous pardon. Eventually a campaign by his family resulted in his body being exhumed and DNA samples being compared with those found on the victim proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Are there any other similar cases?

UPDATE - I'm looking for those cases where new evidence was found that added a final nail to the coffin, rather than those case where new evidence exonerates the wrongfully convicted. I'm also interested in those cases that became a fashionable cause célèbre rather than those largely limited to family and close friends. The Hanratty case attracted a lot of celebrity interest for nearly 40 years before the family demanded an exhumation and DNA testing - which proved beyond doubt that he was guilty. (interestingly, the family are still claiming that he's innocent)


texts: I have an Arizona judgement  against someone who ran away to Nevada. How do I domesticate it in Nevada  or do I even need to? What evidence, documents etc does the court want to show they moved? I learned  it from a PI.


texts: How can I object to a traffic fine subsequently when I didn't know the formalities?

texts:
On a recent visit to Belgium, I was fined for an alleged traffic offence as a pedestrian. In brief, I didn't notice an order by hand signal, because it was given outside my field of view. I doubt that the fine was justified.

Belgian police made me pay on the spot. They're entitled to do this because I'm not living in their country.

Before I paid the fine, I told the policeman that I didn't agree and would complain about the fine. He replied, "you pay, then you can complain".

What he didn't tell me was that I would have had to file a formal complaint immediately to turn the fine into some kind of deposit and reserve the right to object. I was informed about this subtlety only when I wrote to the police office a few days later from home.

When the policeman had handed me the payment receipt, I asked him if there was anything else, and he said we were finished. In his favour, I assume he simply forgot about my intent to complain.

Is there anything I could do to object and have the case reviewed?

I should add that, although I had to pay a considerable amount (174 euro), it probably won't pay off to hire a lawyer.

Thanks for any helpful replies.

(Admins, feel free to move this question to 'travel' or wherever it fits best.)


texts: GPL: Does changing makefiles and configurations considered as "modifications"?

texts:
I know that editing GPL source code is considered as a "modification", which means all the copyleft rules apply.

However, most software includes configuration files and makefiles which you can tweak before rebuilding.  Does that count as modification?

For example, I am using the swupdate package through Yocto.  I override the meta-swupdate layer to specify specific configurations (e.g. CONFIG_LUA_PARSER=y to enable LUA parser), and then build swupdate.


texts: When a criminal statute is repealed, are those still held under it automatically freed?

texts: How was this handled in the past when things were decriminalized, e.g. homosexuality? Is there an automatic process that guarantees freedom for those held under an abolished law, or does this have to be made explicit every time? Can one's criminal record include an offence against a statute that is no longer valid?


texts: How do people deal with contracts that they suspect didn't exist until after some judgment was made?

texts:
This is purely hypothetical, but as a total layman it's gotten my curiosity.

Say Person A owns, say, 50% equity in a company.

Person B, the plaintiff, is awarded that equity as damages in a lawsuit.

Person A writes out a contract after the judgement that transfers all the equity to a trusted family member or friend.

Doesn't that mean that Person B isn't able to get that equity anymore? How are situations like this not commonplace?

Or instead of money, maybe Person A only has $50k in the bank, or some IP, and they quickly "give" a trusted friend that money before the judgement is to be collected by Person B, so now they don't actually have any of that to their name - it's owned by someone else now (even though it's someone that Person A knows will give it back to them when they're ready).


texts: Declaring pending criminal prosecutions in a different country for home insurance purposes in the UK

texts:
I am currently in the process of renewing my home insurance in the UK and most insurance providers require that you tell them whether or not you or someone in your household have any unspent convictions or pending prosecutions.

My partner who lives with me currently has an ongoing prosecution in the Republic of Ireland and I'd like to get some advice as to whether or not I need to declare this as it is in a different country?

As an example here is the statement from Churchill home insurance provider:

Have never been convicted of any criminal offence (other than motoring convictions) or have any prosecutions pending.


texts: Limitations on protected by copyright font usage for commercial targets

texts:
I want to use the "Arphic PRond-Gothic" font for my commercial web-site.
Because it was initially installed on my computer (or it was installed with certain soft automatically, anyway I did't bought this font), I can to reason that it is not requiring payment font. If check the font file info, it reads "Copyright 1994-1999. Arphic Technologies".

Is it legal to use this font on my commercial web-site?


texts: If Section 230 is repealed, are aggregators merely forced into a role of distributors rather than indemnified publishers?

texts:
According to the article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) "Section 230 is Good, Actually"

Section 230 says that any site that hosts the content of other “speakers”—from writing, to videos, to pictures, to code that others write or upload—is not liable for that content, except for some important exceptions for violations of federal criminal law and intellectual property claims.

They go on to say,

Basically, Section 230 means that if you break the law online, you should be the only one held responsible, not the website, app, or forum where you said the unlawful thing.

Just to be clear, that isn't strictly correct, right? A quick wikipedia search shows that in Cubby, Inc. v. CompuServe Inc.

As a distributor, CompuServe could only be held liable for defamation if it knew, or had reason to know, of the defamatory nature of the content. As CompuServe had made no effort to review the large volume of content on its forums, it could not be held liable for the defamatory content.

In one source online, I even saw Section 230 described as

Congress enacted § 230 to remove the disincentives to self-regulation

So which is it? Does the removal Section 230 mean a site will be held liable for the content created by others? Or, does it mean that a site will only be held liable if they engage in optional moderation or acts of "publishing" (such as filtering and removal of offensive material). It seems like it's still the creator that is liable. And you can still have a free and open moderation-free internet in a post-Sec 230 world?
Handling spam
Update: On spam, the same case above Cubby, Inc. v. CompuServe Inc., 776 F. Supp. 135 (S.D.N.Y. 1991) states that,

CompuServe's ultimate right under the contract to remove text from its system for noncompliance with its standards merely constitutes control over the result of CCI's independent work. This level of control over the Journalism Forum is insufficient to rise to the level of an agency relationship.

With this text, I don't think it's sufficient to say that in a post-Section 230 world removal of content would be defamation per se, it seems it has satisfy some standard.


texts:
I see that the International Organization for Standardization has the following disclaimer in some of its standards (example: https://web.archive.org/web/20200503214211/https://people.engr.ncsu.edu/jwilson/files/mathsigns):

  PDF disclaimer: This PDF file may contain embedded typefaces. In accordance with Adobe's licensing policy, this file may be printed or viewed but shall not be edited unless the typefaces which are embedded are licensed to and installed on the computer performing the editing. In downloading this file, parties accept therein the responsibility of not infringing Adobe's licensing policy. The ISO Central Secretariat accepts no liability in this area.

What's the point of adding a disclaimer in a PDF file to respect Adobe's licensing policy when editing the PDF? I would have guessed that even if ISO didn't have this disclaimer the same licensing policies would apply.


texts: How to make data brokers delete my information without providing more information? Can I take legal action?

texts:
I've been reading this terrifying list of data brokers after finding my information in a Google search result. I want to reach out to the "high-priority" data brokers and get them to remove me from their databases. At the very least, I would like personally identifiable information to be kept off their websites. Ideally, I'd like them to delete my entire dossier. And moreover, I want them to do so without having additional information like my email address or drivers license details. I am more than willing to call them and create disposable emails, though I prefer to interface as little as possible with them (including spending time on their websites, which often sound suspicious and sensationalist).

I also don't know how feasible or worthwhile litigation would be in this case, but I have dual US-American and European citizenship (specifically for a country with heavy data privacy laws). I have heard that European citizens can get their information removed from American companies, but as far as I know, that only applies to European servers. (However, I don't know this for a fact and would like for this to be confirmed or denied.)

I have looked at the following posts, which are all related to my question but in tangential ways.

Removing information as a European from a specific website
Removing information from third-party sites and legality
Removing/anonymizing information from a specific third-party site

;tldr
I'm European-American and have information on data brokers' US-American websites. Can I get them to delete me without providing extra PII and pursue a lawsuit if they don't?

What are my options? Please include sources.

Thank you in advance!


texts: Is it allowed for the driver to eat in the car? (not alcoholic)

texts:
I eat my breakfast in my car (when I am driving to my work office). I am wondering if it is illegal or not?

Extra information: I live in Ontario, Canada. Also, I am interested to know if it is different in United States?


texts: Is the LIHTC assistance program exempt from the lawful source of income discrimination?

texts: I am applying to lease an apartment in California that rents under the "Low-income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC). My source of income is S/S and secondary income from investment interest. The manager is demanding an explanation of how I derive income from this financial product. I have submitted 5 years of 1099 INT forms prepared and reported to IRS from my broker. They declare that they do not accept 1099 INT as proof of income. When I brought up the question of the source of income discrimination, the on-site manager stated that they are exempt from that law because the apartment provided rental assistance under the LIHTC program. I had not heard this before and assumed the source of income discrimination applies to all assistance programs. I have not been able to verify.  Does anybody know where online this can be verified?


texts: How can illegal immigrants safely, legally return to their home country?

texts:
If one over stays his visa, and wants to go back, how can it be done?
{For example, from California to Israel}
I heard rumors that if one "gets caught" they might be held in detention centers for years, and even if they can afford a flight back, how can they fly internationionally without any valid documentation?


texts: How can I determine whether a copyright troll actually owns the copyright they claim?

texts:
In recent years "copyright trolls" have been sending demand letters to web sites that claim images found on the sites infringe copyrights, and that they (the trolls) are authorized to settle the infringement.

Suppose you receive such a demand letter.  Prior to any formal litigation:

How can you determine whether the troll has the authority of the copyright owner to settle an infringement claim?

E.g., if you respond to the troll with a demand that they prove they have such authority, and they do not, are they estopped from pursuing that claim in the courts?

Or do you have to wait to be sued before you have an absolute right to such discovery?


texts: What is the U.S. law that lets the president “protect industry on grounds of national security”?

texts:
From The Economist | The threat to world trade:

  The tariffs are based on a little-used law that lets a president
  protect industry on grounds of national security.


texts: What is the legal definition of an "as of" date in the banking world?

texts:
My American Express credit card account is being sold to Barclaycard because JetBlue was not able to "reach terms" with American Express.

JetBlue has been sending communications via email that this change will be smooth and will not require anything on my end. However, I do not wish my account to be transferred.

In the email communication, it is noted:

  You’ll automatically receive your new card* — there’s no need to
  reapply.

and later on in the email:

  *Your account must remain open, in good standing and in eligible status as of March 18, 2016, to be transferred to Barclaycard.

I contacted American Express requesting them to close my account. They say the cannot because the transfer already started. But, open, good standing, and eligible status are card statuses that can change?

Also, the change is stated to take place As Of March 18. No time is stated;  how can that be understood in the legal area? As of start of March 18th? What time zone? Where?


texts: Do these terms contradict each other for who owns work created by contractor?

texts:
These two sentences are literally side by side and seem to be saying opposite things.

  All deliverables and associated documents...developed by Contractor
  during the term of this Agreement shall belong to Agents or its
  clients for whom work is being performed by Contractor. Contractor
  retains all rights to source code or content, pre-existing code or
  content...or other methods it may employ in the course of creating
  deliverables for Agent.

With Deliverables defined as

  Software provided in object and/or source format or documentation or any
  other materials required by Contractor by Agent...

In this scenario would it be interpreted in favor of the person who did not draft the terms? In general, does position in contract matter where a term occurs? For example if term A) is written on line 10 and term B) is written on line 11, is it reasonable to assume term B) takes precedence or modifies term A?


texts: Son opted out of uni insurance in 2016, but wasn't refunded. Student union and insurers are blaming each other. Who's liable?

texts:
Daughter graduated at a univ. in ON Canada in 2017. Each year that she attended, she opted out of the student union (SU henceforward)'s health insurance as mine covered her. SU confirmed each year they got ALL her opt-out requests.
She chased SU for refunds in 2018 but they just stalled her. Because she's been too polite and I don't want this to worsen her suicidal ideation, I'm taking over. I wrote the Uni President in 2019. THEN SU  replied

We can't refund you just because we have no record of you getting an opt-out refund. We don't handle refunds or collect proof of refunds for our health plan – We just handle the receipt of opt-out requests, and forward them to the plan liaison. Insurer 1 was the insurance liaison that had to retain proof of the refund. If you already got refunded, we wouldn't know, just like when current students ask for opt-out refunds. We have to rely on Insurer 1 and when we asked for you, they replied that as the account has been closed, they can't prove if you got refunded or not.

Insurer 1 replied

Your student union would have refunded you. But we no longer administer the plan, and we sent all of the refund information to the new administrator. They are responsible for retaining it. We can no longer access the bank account where the funds were withdrawn anymore, so we cannot know if you got refunded or not.

Then I emailed Insurer 2, but they replied

Insurer 1's answer is wrong. We never got records of opt-outs before we became the new administrator. There was no reason for anyone to provide us that information. Insurers just receive information on students covered by the plan, not students who have opted out.

My questions

Is Insurer 2 correct that insurers "just receive information on students covered by the plan, not students who have opted out"?

Insurers 1 and 2 are saying opposite things. Who's correct?


texts: Can one publish a glossary created using a bilingual dictionary without copyright infringement?

texts: Assume that someone creates a glossary with one word definitions extracted from a bilingual dictionary with multiple word definitions, choosing only one word to define every word in the other language. could that glossary be published without copyright infringement?


texts: Do we have to take down the material for 14 days even if the DMCA notice is erroneous?

texts:
A very large site and my site are both licensed to use product images created and photographed by the same vendor. Now the large site comes after my site and sends a DMCA notice to my hosting provider, asking us to take down quite some of our most popular products.

While it's absolutely a false claim and it's possible that they had no idea we were licensed just as they were, it seems I have to take down the infringing materials and send back a counter-notice and wait for 14 days?

My question is is this fair?

14 days are enough for Google to de-index the page and for it to lose all the ranking juices. Not to mention the sales losses.

What if they actually know we are licensed but just wanted to ruin our site rankings and keep coming after us in future?

Do we still have to follow the legal procedures to take down whatever products they claim infringing for 14 days? What better options do we have here?

Update

After I first posted this question, my host restored the allegedly infringing product after 14 days of my providing the counter DMCA notice. Now the same complaint is after us again on another of our popular products. This is really annoying and stupid.

How can I end this once and for all?

We are not physically in United States, can we still find someone to win the lawsuit for us? Or is there any other way to stop them?


texts: Why may the German government decide if Jan Böhmermann will be prosecuted?

texts:
According to the German ZEIT ONLINE article Bundesregierung prüft Strafbegehren der Türkei, Turkey requested that Germany prosecutes the German citizen Jan Böhmermann over a poem, and now German politicians in the Bundesregierung intend to decide if Böhmermann should be prosecuted.

I don't get it. I thought Germany has a separaton of powers?


texts: Must the State compensate individuals from whom property is seized as evidence?

texts:
Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement officers routinely obtain warrants under a "probable cause" standard to seize items that may contain evidence of a crime.

This is a taking of private property for public use (i.e., the public interest in prosecuting crimes) and therefore, pursuant to the Fifth Amendment, "just compensation" should be paid to the owner.

I have come across examples in which police seize items from third parties (e.g., computer or video systems that may have captured evidence of a serious crime by unrelated suspects).  As best I can tell, in practice so long as police assert that the seized item is potentially useful in their investigation of a crime (which, if serious but unsolved, may never be formally abandoned), they can avoid returning seized property – even if the ownership is uncontested and the items are not contraband.  I.e., even when the owner is effectively permanently deprived of their property, I have not found any practical legal mechanism for them to seek compensation.  (The only redress I have found is a right to petition for return of property, which is apparently denied so long as police assert the property has value in a criminal investigation or prosecution.)

Are there any particular laws, rules, or procedures that provide for payment of compensation in these cases?


texts:
I'm renting a house in Santa Cruz mountains where the CZU fire is. Our 9 day evacuation was lifted on Saturday and our lease was up yesterday (Monday). We were in the process of moving when the evac happened and now I’m scrambling to get everything packed up and out of here. The landlord (who was also evacuated) said I need to pay 150% daily rent per day I’m occupying the house after the end of the month (Aug 31st). He also said that I’m responsible for making this a livable condition so if there’s any smoke damage that it’s my responsibility to clean (walls, carpets, etc).
I mentioned that his Homeowners insurance should cover that but he said he didn't want to start a claim as he has a high deductible.
My Renters insurance Adjustor said I'm not liable for smoke damage as I didn't cause the fire, but only my property is insured through my insurance and they can't help with the additional daily surcharge of staying past my lease.
My questions are:
Am I required to pay the additional holdover fee of 150% per day I'm occupying the property?
As the house is currently not in a livable condition, is there a reasonable expectation to receive a refund on my rent paid for the remaining 11 days that I was unable to occupy my place?
Am I responsible to clean the house (carpets, walls, etc) from smoke damage caused by the nearby forest fire?
Thank you.


texts: How are US grand juries instructed not to 'indict ham sandwiches' if there is no judge or opposing counsel?

texts:
In the May 26, 2021 video How a NY special grand jury could impact Donald Trump CNN’s senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig mentions the following in a background piece outlining the basics of a US Special Grand Jury. After about 01:17 they say:

It is a one-sided presentation; it’s only the prosecutor, the grand jurors, and a court reporter. There’s no judge, there’s no defense lawyer. So it is extremely one-sided; you hear this expression ‘the grand jury would indict a ham sandwich’ there’s some truth to that; it’s not an adversarial process like you’d have at trial.

and the origin of the 'ham sandwich' reference is mentioned in Wikipedia's Grand Juries in the United States; Rubber Stamp for the Prosecution:

[...]Grand jurors also often lack the ability and knowledge to judge sophisticated cases and complicated federal laws. This puts them at the mercy of very well trained and experienced federal prosecutors. Grand jurors often hear only the prosecutor's side of the case and are usually persuaded by them. Grand juries almost always indict people on the prosecutor's recommendation. An unnamed Rochester defense lawyer was quoted in a 1979 newspaper article claiming that a prosecutor could get a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich", a saying subsequently repeated by the chief judge of New York State's highest court, Sol Wachtler. And William J. Campbell, a former federal district judge in Chicago, noted: "[T]oday, the grand jury is the total captive of the prosecutor who, if he is candid, will concede that he can indict anybody, at any time, for almost anything, before any grand jury." (references therein)

Question: With only prosecutor(s) and a court reporter, are jurors at all instructed to not simply "rubber stamp" the prosecution's desire to indict? Are the terms and concepts necessary for them to function as a jury (e.g. "preponderance of evidence") explained to them? If so, by who? Is there a standard "script" or talking points for such instruction?
--


texts: Can a breach of contract lead to a lack of "personal jurisdiction?"

texts:
Plaintiff and defendant sign a contract. Plaintiff then sues defendant in say, New York state, for breach of contract. Defendant (a corporation) claims it never did business in New York state, and that the New York court does not have jurisdiction. This is literally true because defendant did not perform its obligations under the contract. Had the defendant performed those obligations, it would have done business in New York. The contract does say that it will be governed by New York law, but does not specify that disputes must be litigated in New York.
The plaintiff is domiciled in New York and the contract was signed in New York. The defendant is a foreign company. Let's say that the contract is for delivery of imported goods at New York harbor.
Can such a plea hold up? Or is it a case of "unclean hands'?


texts: Like in contract law, does patent law have to be specific enough to avoid ambiguity?

texts: If you're writing a patent application does the patent need to be specific enough to avoid ambiguity, but not so specific that it locks you into a pinhole sized area (example: define a type of device, or software specs)?


texts: Landlord refuses to do anything about tenants who do a lot of drugs

texts:
If other tenants in a rental home (roommates) are breaking the law and the landlord has been informed but refuses to do anything about it, is the landlord breaking the law or does a tenant (who's not involved in the illegal activity) have any special power?

In particular if you move into a house and find the other tenants do a lot of drugs (and have photos/videos proving it) but most of the drugs are "light" such as marijuana. However they trash the house and make loud noise at 4am, house is filled with smoke, always intoxicated etc.

If relevant the tenants signed a lease saying they wouldn't do anything illegal.


texts: Conflict between a religious belief that accounts for the existence of transgender people vs. one that doesn't

texts:
Country: US

State: Michigan

Example:

Ann belongs to a denomination that accepts the existence of transgender people as what they claim they are. Ann starts a company that grows to over 25 employees, at which point the company must follow EEOC regulations, which include nondiscrimination on the basis of religion.

Then let's say a different Christian, Christine, applies for a job at Ann's company. Christine previously worked for a Christian organization that belongs to a denomination which believes that transgenderism is against God. When Ann sees this past experience on Christine's resume, she immediately excludes Christine from consideration for employment.

If Christine wanted to sue Ann's company, would she have a case? Let's assume that Ann gave written evidence to Christine that she was excluded because of her past religious work - clearly, few employers would be stupid enough to do this, but let's grant that assumption for the purposes of this question.

How would the law settle a dispute like this - one that is between two Christians with divergent beliefs.


texts: Can I carry a gun in a case in Florida while riding a bicycle?

texts: I am riding an extended bike trip.  I've already been attacked by multiple dogs.  I applied for a concealed carry permit but I don't want to delay my trip in the meantime.  Can I carry in an unlocked case on my bicycle without my license to carry concealed?  Would a bicycle be sufficient to be considered a vehicle?


texts: Contract necessary for the most basic processing under GPDR?

texts:
I am very pleased to have found this resource and am hoping I can be guided to some clarity on some points regarding processing of webserver access logs. I have not yet found these addressed here or elsewhere.

My partner and I host a number of websites for a range of clients. For some of those clients we consider we do not process any personal data - we set no cookies, use no analytics services, collect no data from the user via forms, and so on. We do however collect IP addresses in our webserver access logs.

It is clear from all I have read (particularly re Patrick Breyer vs Germany) that we need to consider IP addresses as personal data, however I have read (I have sadly mislayed the source) that the CJEU considered there were legitimate cybersecurity interests for recording them (though see comment below).

My query:
Collection of IP addresses in access logs is noted as normal operations for a web host, and GDPR outlines provisions for doing so to maintain security and investigate breaches. But because IP addresses are personal data, do we now need to create a new contract to outline how we will use this data?

Additional info:
I see from this resource that Article 11 has a provision for my query:

Article 11 (1) "Where, in cases referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the controller is able to demonstrate that it is not in a position to identify the data subject, the controller shall inform the data subject accordingly, if possible. In such cases, Articles 15 to 20 shall not apply except where the data subject, for the purpose of exercising his or her rights under those articles, provides additional information enabling his or her identification."

http://www.privacy-regulation.eu/en/article-11-processing-which-does-not-require-identification-GDPR.htm

This though would not exempt us or the Controller from having a contract for the collection of the IP address (unusable as it is for identifying a person, but recognised in law as personal data).


texts: Is it legal to keep a controlled substance at work?

texts: If someone has a prescription for a controlled substance and stores it in their desk at work, can they get in trouble? Can someone get in trouble if it is discovered?


texts: Has a pedestrian ever been fined for not wearing a mask in California?

texts:
California has a statewide mask order.
However, I see people violating it all the time: pedestrians getting closer than 6 feet to each other while not wearing masks. (Occasionally, I also see people shopping indoors without masks, but this question is about pedestrians)
Has a pedestrian ever been fined for violating the mask order?
(A previous question I posted was unintentionally broader, while this one is asking about pedestrians, specifically)


texts: Why isn't it copyright infringement to condense an NBA game into a 10-minute YouTube video?

texts:
There are now many channels whose only purpose is to take a whole NBA game and basically condense it into a 10-minute video. What they do is to show only the plays that lead to a made basket in chronological order from start to finish. There is no commentary or criticism. They show the video as it was broadcast.
Why isn't this copyright infringement?


texts: Isn't it impossible to respond to certain data access requests?

texts: There is an european named A. He goes to a website and tells the website "under my GDPR right to access (given by this one) I hereby ask for my ip address which you logged on september 4, 2018." . Well no company can figure out which ip belongs to whom.What should they do?


texts: At what point and how should I change the license/Copyright notice when I create a derivative?

texts:
If I take a piece of software that is licensed as MIT (quoted at the end), and use it as a scaffold to create for my own thing, do I need to keep including the old license perpetually? This would seem ridiculous (although the law may see it differently), as I could potentially change (in actual meaning, rather than just rewriting the same logic but with different terms) every line of code and it would cease to have anything to do with the original author.

If I am correct, than at what point does the old author cease to retain copyright/the license ceases to hold?

In either case, at some points I would have made enough changes to warrant copyrighting them as well. How does one indicate which portions are under copyright by the old author and which are under mine?

I am interested mainly in answers from the perspective of US/common law.  I understand that not all of these questions might have been tested in court, so a philosophical answer would suffice.

As a concrete example regarding which to test/explain, I would propose the "software" to be a style sheet for website. These are composed of relatively similar statements describing how different elements should look/behave (i.e. font size, font color, placement, etc., so if two people were to style the same element, there is a high probability that they would get at least some of the statements to coincide).

Finally, bonus points for explaining the relevant parts with regards to GPL(v2). I understand that it works differently as the license is supposed to be infectious, but copyright question still remains.

The license:

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright (c) <year> <copyright holders>

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

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

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


texts: Can Polaroid force me to remove my app from the store?

texts:
A few years ago, I create a simple app that allowed the user to create fake instant camera photos on their smartphone.

A few month ago, I received an email from Polaroid stating that my app had to be removed from the store, because they own a trademarks for the "Polaroid Classic Border Logo".

To avoid having problems, I removed the app from the store, but now I'm wondering: is this normal?


texts: If a tutor asks someone to use an online service for doing class meetings could a student have just sued the tutor  saying that he must take liability of the fact that he is forcing every one to accept the terms of a service and privacy policy of the website(the website used for video conferencing).Moreover even if the student agrees the tutor has not forced him to accept still as the tutor is sending links he will be liable for any processing done by the video conferencing company by b posting a link to it.How do tutors avoid this liability?


texts: I have looked up if it is legal to buy a tank, and I found that you need a FDDL (Federal Destructive Device License). Is that all one really needs, or would one need to get a gun permit as well?


texts: Where is the rule guidance on implementing the Collin's amendment?

texts:
BACKGROUND

The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into United States federal law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010. Section 171 known as the Collins amendment states:

Minimum risk-based capital requirements:
The appropriate Federal banking agencies shall establish minimum risk-based capital requirements on a consolidated basis for insured depository institutions, depository institution holding companies, and nonbank financial companies supervised by the Board of Governors. The minimum risk-based capital requirements established under this paragraph shall not be less than the generally applicable risk-based capital requirements, which shall serve as a floor for any capital requirements that the agency may require, nor quantitatively lower than the generally applicable risk-based capital requirements that were in effect for insured depository institutions as of the date of enactment of this Act.

I need to locate detailed guidance on calculation of the above mentioned risk based capital requirements.

I found the below reference for Dodd Frank:

Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376, codified in relevant part at 12 U.S.C. § 5301, §§ 5481-5603, and in laws amended (Title X); and 12 U.S.C. § 5481 note, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 note, § 1602, and § 1631 et seq. (Title XIV)

I'm translating this as:
Public Law number 111 to 203, statute 1376. Title 12 of the United States Code, chapters xx, etc.

I understand that when a bill is signed into law by the President it is sent to the Office of the Federal Register to be assigned a law number and paginated for the United States Statutes at Large. Afterwards, a List of Public Laws is created, posted online, and then published in the Federal Register which I understand to be the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices.

USC Title 12 and Statute 1376 are very high level. No details/guidance on the calculation of the floor that they rule on. No breakout of how credit risk, market risk, operational risk fit into the calculation for example. I'm currently reviewing the federal register but making very slow progress.

QUESTIONS

Is there a guidance manual such as the MPEP in Patent Law that accompanies USC Title 12?

What is the next level of publications down? I am looking for publications with more detail and granular discussion of implementation of the laws in the USC and Statute.

In Statute 1376, it's title is "124 STAT. 1376". What does the 124 reference? Is that a grouping of Statutes? Banking for example?


texts: Religious exemption from alcohol monopolies

texts:
Do any of the areas that have government imposed alcohol monopolies (e.g. Pennsylvania,
British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, The Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, etc.) provide exemptions for religious use?


texts: Can I sue the government because a minor on probation committed homicide?

texts:
My father was killed by a teenager last year in TN, USA. We are still in the one year statue of limitation for wrongful death civil suit. The suspect has been transferred to adult court and the criminal case is pending.

The suspect has numerous charges prior committing the murder (aggravated assault, domestic violence, obstruction of emergency service, illegal handgun posession, etc).  She was also in the probation period when she killed my father.

With her long history of violence, the court still allow her to be on the street and commit more crime, do we have a claim to sue the court or the government for 'state created danger' or other claims for government negligence?

Thanks.


texts: Is loading assets from another game's install folder copyright infringement?

texts:
Suppose I make a video game which uses assets from another game. The assets are however not included, but rather obtained by loading them from the other game's install folder (the player needs to have bought and installed the other game too). My game is a fan-made sequel to the old game, which was discontinued.
No assets or code from the original game are included in mine. Can this still be considered copyright infringement?


texts: to be in photo and video, and right to ask for removal these data relying on GDPR

texts:
At the beginning of 2010s, with a consent through email, I gave permission to some people, to put my pictures in a catalog, or online catalogs.

Now, I want my pictures to be erased, or any data, which involves me inside, want to be removed, or at least the part where I am.

The data owners deny it. If I go to my lawyer, by law, do I have a right to dictate those data owners to erase any information where I am? If they do not, will there be any law regulations on such people?


texts: Is it legal for a an employer to require employees to undergo medical examinations

texts:
My contract has a clause

  The Company reserves the right to require you to undergo a medical
  examination at its request at any stage of absence due to sickness.
  The company will pay the cost of any such examination and all
  information given in connection with the examination and any
  subsequent medical report, shall be fully disclosed to the Company.

Is this legal? If not does it void the contract?

This is in the UK


texts: Can a shortened name be used in legal documents in the UK?

texts:
Suppose a person in the United Kingdom has a name in their birth certificate and passport, with a contraction of this name being common.

Can this person use the contracted form (e.g. Chris instead of Christopher or Christian) on legal documents such as an employment contract or lawyer correspondence, while their full name is used on government documents such as the birth certificate and election enrolment?

If limitations on this usage exist, what are they, and what is their basis in law?


texts: At what point is it breaking the law during an online scam

texts:
Generally speaking, at what point it becomes illegal to be pretending that you're a Microsoft tech support (or better yet a random tech support not affiliated with any well known company) OR pretend to be a Nigerian Prince?

Is it at some point while going through the script, for instance being granted access to the target's machine, or is it at the point where they receive money from the target?

Assume either jurisdiction.


texts:
You are a juror on a serious criminal case in the United States.

One of the witnesses, a tourist, has no knowledge of English.

Questions and answers for this witness (both direct and cross) are translated into and out of the witness' native language in the court.

You, the juror, happen to be fluent in both English and the witness' native language.

To the extent that the translation process is imperfect, you thus have a slightly different understanding of the witness' testimony than your fellow, unilingual jurors.

Can you use this added understanding in reaching a decision in the case? In trying to persuade other jurors to share your decision?

Or should jury selection eliminate this possibility?

(Vague recollection of an early Law and Order episode with this a a plot element...


texts: Can the police in California seize your car (i.e. tow it from where it's parked) without a warrant?


texts: Was it legal for the US government to torture detainees?

texts:
After the events of 9/11 the Bush administration started torturing (by international standards of the word) people suspected of terrorism. For example "enhanced interrogation" was used which included things such as water boarding. It's my understanding this was allowed, because according to lawyers such as John Yoo, the methods that they were using did not fit the definition of what the US considered torture.
It has been found the John Yoo's argument was poor but he never faced charges.
Did anything illegal happen? Was it illegal for the government to use enhanced interrogator and was it illegal for John Yoo to advise the government it was legal to use such techniques(for example could he be guilty of criminal negligence)?


texts: The difference between a self-governing colony and a dominion

texts:
In 1949 Newfoundland became a part of Canada. Before 1949 it was a separate country. This Wikipedia article says in 1907 Newfoundland made the transition from the status of a "self-governing colony" to that of a "dominion".

A "dominion" is what Canada called itself before 1982. As a "dominion", Canada was an independent country, which in particular sent and received ambassadors, etc., except that the basic constitutional law of the country was an act of the British Parliament, and so could be altered only by the British Parliament. I don't know whether that is how Newfoundland was organized when it was a "dominion". The Wikipedia article suggests the concept of "dominion" is defined in the Statute of Westminster, but that statute did not exist until the 1930s, so it could not have governed whatever it was that happened in 1907.

What is the difference between the status of Newfoundland before 1907 and the status after 1907?


texts: What resources are available to a pro se litigant?

texts:
Suppose I am not a professional lawyer but I have standing and want to bring a case to court pro se.  To make this widely applicable and more readily answerable: Suppose I want to file a 42 USC 1983 complaint in U.S. federal court for some violation of my fourth-amendment rights by a municipal police officer.

I believe the first thing I would want to do is find and read similar cases that have been adjudicated on that law using similar claims in my district.  In fact, if I'm reasonably literate I assume I could construct all necessary filings and arguments using examples from prior cases, in addition to getting a sense of my odds of success in court.

But a person who is not a professional lawyer typically lacks ready access to Lexis, WestLaw, and other such professional resources for researching recent and applicable case law.  (Let us assume that the Bar does not exist in principle as a barrier to citizens seeking redress of grievances through the judicial system.  I.e., "That's what lawyers are for, so pay up if you want justice" may be the practical answer.  But I want to know how practical it is for one to seek justice pro se.)

How can a pro se litigant to find applicable case law and bootstrap his way through the judicial process?


texts: Is it possible for somebody to copyright a route on a map?

texts:
The Tour de France makes it quite difficult to get good map data about their stages. They publish some low-res images (possibly for purchase by media, I'm unsure). There is no modern 'navigable' map, like Google Maps.

If I can see the route on the maps they've published, does making a new map displaying the route infringe a copyright? I understand the image of the maps themselves are copyright, but what about the route path on public roads?


texts: I'm giving my landlord an oven. How do we word the next lease?

texts:
I rent an apartment in Anchorage, Alaska.  I applied for covid relief rental assistance. I was approved and the assistance I will be receiving is much more than I expected.  My landlord has no objections to me making some improvements and replacing the oven with a better one.
What phrasing is appropriate in my lease for this? Basically, I want all future rent and rent increases to be commensurate with the rent I am paying now, before I make the improvements?


texts: Should I be taxed on electricity in Florida as a private resident?

texts:
I live in Tallahassee, Florida where everyone gets their electricity from Talgov. I recently looked at my utility bills and realized my electricity charges were about 10-11% larger each month than I expected from the rate posted on the website. I went to my account and saw this discrepancy came from a section on the monthly bill called "Taxes & Credits" so it appears I am being taxed on my electricity. However, when I Google "florida sales tax exemption electricity", the first result has a paragraph that says:

  Condos & Homeowners Associations

  This exemption is based upon Section 212.08(7) (j), Florida Statutes and Department of Revenue Rule 12A-1.053(1)(a). The sale of electric power or energy by an electric utility is taxable. The sale of electric power or energy for use in residential households, to owners of residential models, or to licensed family day care homes by utilities who are required to pay the gross receipts tax imposed by Chapter 203, F.S., is exempt.

Section 212.08(7) (j) reads:

  (j) Household fuels.—Also exempt from payment of the tax imposed by this chapter are sales of utilities to residential households or owners of residential models in this state by utility companies who pay the gross receipts tax imposed under s. 203.01, and sales of fuel to residential households or owners of residential models, including oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, coal, wood, and other fuel products used in the household or residential model for the purposes of heating, cooking, lighting, and refrigeration, regardless of whether such sales of utilities and fuels are separately metered and billed direct to the residents or are metered and billed to the landlord. If any part of the utility or fuel is used for a nonexempt purpose, the entire sale is taxable. The landlord shall provide a separate meter for nonexempt utility or fuel consumption. For the purposes of this paragraph, licensed family day care homes shall also be exempt.

The second Google result says:

  Florida Sales Tax on Energy/Electricity

  Florida has an automatic residential sales tax exemption for residences and common areas
  of residential complexes used exclusively for residential purposes. If any of the energy
  serving a meter is used for commercial purposes, the entire electricity usage is taxable.

There is also a PDF link on the Talgov website to an "Application For Refund Of Florida State Sales Tax". Can I just fill out this application and get back the 10% extra I've been paying on my electricity? I certainly don't use any of my electricity for "commercial purposes".

I found this news article from over four years ago that seems to be related, but it doesn't give a final answer either way.


texts: What characters are allowable in a US name?

texts:
Someone mentioned to me that they ran into someone with "Æ" (the AE grapheme) in their name, which got me wondering what characters are allowable in the US.

I've done a bit of research and found that it seems like name changing, baby registration, (and maybe immigration?) are state specific forms, though do have to be followed by a federal request to get your social security card.

All of the state specific forms and the social security forms I've been able to find don't have any information on what is allowable characters.  They are all forms to be printed out and hand filled in so presumably any character you can write legibly can be submitted, though, presumably, may not be accepted.

The only information I was able to find was california only allows the 26 letters and don't even allow accents or anything else.  But that doesn't really answer the questions for other states or for social security.  I would assume that the printers/software/process used to print out social security cards would only allow a specific set of characters that is probably far shot of all of Unicode, but I can't validate that.  I understand the answer might be different by state, so don't expect an answer that covers all 50 states, though it seems like the social security answer would override other answers.

NOTE: I'm just curious about this and don't actually want to change my own name or name a kid with numbers/symbols/emojis/etc.


texts: Under what circumstances could laying hacker "traps" cause civil or criminal liability for non-law enforcement civilians?

texts:
The answer to If a hacker is infected as a result of their actions, is the victim liable? that explained laying a trap to injure someone could go either way depending on the severity of the injury and the threat the criminal posed made me wonder about a case where the person laying the trap reasonably didn't expect it to cause injury.
To extend the hacker example from the initial question, and sidestep the question of physical harm, what if the trap was a ransomware virus that required the hacker to contact the intended victim to get a key to unlock their encrypted files? If the intended victim provided the key as promised, but gave the hacker's contact information to the authorities and reported their intrusion, was the hacker legally injured?
Would it make a difference if the intended victim's system was a honey pot intended to attract criminals?
Would it make a difference if all the virus did was "phone home" so that the hacker could be traced, but didn't encrypt any files?
Would it make a difference if the system had some sort of warning on it that intrusion attempts could result in a counter attack? I'm not sure how such a thing would be implemented, but let's assume it would be similar to a sign posted on a property boundary indicating some sort of danger to trespassers.


texts:
Article 4(2) GDPR states:

  ‘processing’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

What exactly is "disclosure by transmission"?


texts: Can the Queen still dissolve parliament?

texts:
Traditionally it has been the constitutional power of the monarch to dissolve parliament and trigger a general election at will.

Ostensibly, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act of 2011 removed this power.

However, since parliament derives its power from delegated royal prerogative and acts can only become law with royal assent. Is this actually binding and could the Queen still dissolve parliament if she so wished, even if she had to take a few steps to repeal that law first?


texts: Is it illegal to publish a screenplay on web?

texts: I am not talking about screenplays that written by me. Just screenplays of popular movies. I've seen other websites doing it, but I am not sure if it is illegal or not.


texts:
Suppose that I found a C corporation, Superlative Widgets Inc., within the U.S.  I would like to both fund the corporation and issue myself 100,000 shares in a way that avoids or minimizes my personal tax liability.  However achieving this seems to require a clear understanding of how founder shares are created.  What exactly is the nature of this process?

Here are two possibilities:

I file forms to create Superlative Widgets Inc. as a new legal entity, with myself as its incorporator.  Then, operating as the company's board of directors (?), I approve the company to issue 100,000 shares.  Next, I obtain a 409A valuation, using average numbers and probabilities common in studies on startups, and compute the "fair market value" per share, which—say—turns out to be $0.25.  Finally, I purchase all shares at this price, opening a company bank account and depositing $25,000 into it.
I file forms to create Superlative Widgets Inc. as a new legal entity, with myself as its incorporator.  I then create a company bank account and deposit $1000 in this account.  Next, operating as the company's board of directors or other custodian, I approve the company to issue 100,000 shares.  Since I am the incorporator of the company, I become its sole shareholder, owning all shares, as an immediate implication of issuing the shares.

Oddly, neither of the above seems entirely sensible.  In the first case, it appears that I must fund the corporation with at least $25,000 or pay income taxes on the difference if I buy the shares at a lower price – this conclusion seems absurd given that the company is newborn and contains no actual content.  In the second case, there is no attempt to compute fair market value at all, which seems like it may be at odds with tax law (see this article for example).  What then is the right way to think about creation of founder shares in a new company?


texts:
I'm in a band and we have a concert coming up. We play our own music, and even though we include some covers in our performances, I'm aware of venue blanket licenses and that I should not worry about those.

However, I just had an idea to make things a little more interesting. I have some experience programming lightshows and I'm wondering about the implications of using a copyrighted recording as the music for an opening lightshow to the concert. Under what conditions would it fall into fair use.

I'm asking under US because the piece is under an american record label (WMG), even though my performance will be here in Brazil.


texts:
This article (and my knowledge about trademarks) says Generic Names can't be trademarked. So my question is about the genericity of a name and the probability of getting it trademarked.

I own a generic domain name with .com since 2010 but lately found that another person is using the .co.uk tld of the same domain since 2016 for a website and doing business. I am planning to develop on my domain.

The domain name looks something like freecupcakes.com (just symbolic but not about cupcakes) and another party use the domain freecupcakes.co.uk.

my observations about the other person's business are.

They are using it since 2016
They don't have trademark registerd but a company with the same name in UK

So my questions are,.

Can I use proceed building the business with my domain which I own from 2010?
Can I register a company with the same name in another location not in UK/Europe?
Can this type of name be ever trademarked?
Can the other person using the same business name ever trademark this name?


texts:
I am thinking about buying a car which I plan to drive around the French-Swiss border, maybe around Italy too. However, the car I found has quite visible damage from something which might look as a car crash (rear door is damaged quite badly, but it doesn't affect its functionality).

Can this create any issues (e.g. making police suspicious)?


texts: Does an "Own building insurance fee" breach anti-competition law in the UK

texts:
Reading this Money Supermarket article about various fees associated with buying a house, I came across an "Own Building Insurance Fee", which is described as follows.

This is charged by your mortgage lender for checking you have taken out building insurance if you choose not to buy it from them. The fees are fairly small – around £25 to £50 each.

The assesment of "fairly small" seems to be relative to other fees as it still seems to me like quite a lot for what I imagine is essentially glancing at a document. I can't escape the feeling that the primary purpose of the fee is to encourage homeowners to buy insurance from the mortgage provider, by financially punishing them for buying elsewhere.
Is this not a breach of anti-competition law?


texts: How do I go about using a game title that already exists but does not appear to be trademarked?

texts:
I want to release my game on several platforms however the title I really want to use is already being used by an individual. The creator made their game through a "Game Jam". This is when one or multiple people create a small game under a short time period. The creator is not an established company. After looking at their store page on steam and on the website in which the game is advertised on, I can't seem to find any instance of a TM, R, or C reserving the title of the game.

I don't know a whole lot about trademarking, registered trademarking, or copyrighting property and I want to know what actions I need to take to be able to legally use this title and have them remove theirs. Can I simply use an unregistered trademark it or do I need to register the title?