Week9 EOC: Used Cars

1.       Theft of Intellectual Property

2.       Theft of someone else’s property

3.       Insider information

4.       Tampering with intellectual property

5.       Assault

6.       Illegal Gamboling

7.       Destruction of Property

8.       Assault

9.       Cheating

10.   Theft

11.   Bribery

12.   Lying under oath

13.   Illegal operation of a vehicle

14.   Illegal possession of property

15.   Driving down the line

16.   Speeding

17.   Driving in the wrong lane

18.   Assault on an officer

19.   Fleeing the scene

20.   Avoiding the law

21.   Driving through a construction zone

22.   Impersonating an officer

23.   Assault with a deadly weapon

24.   Kidnapping

25.   Attempted murder

26.   Running through a stop sign

27.   Forgery

28.   Illegal passing

29.   False advertising

30.   Public disruption

31.   Destruction of police property

32.   Driving without a seatbelt

33.   Drug possession

34.   Littering

35.   Hit & run

Your Own Argument and Opinion

To make things simple, I agree with everything the lawyers said to me. After reading about it in the Text book, what they said was very accurate. In my blog post The Rule of Law, I have some of the quotes from the book that pertain to some of what the lawyers have explained to me.

Rule of Law

I began with a piece of paper, pen, and my cell phone. The time for the project due date was coming at me at a fast rate. I tried to ask around for anyone who knew a lawyer I could chat with. All of the responses I received were about how they didn't want to bug the person, or they hardly talked to the person anymore so they didn't want to let me have their info. I decided to just bite the bullet and sit down and call random lawyers that I have researched. The first lawyer I called was John Lambersten. He seemed really friendly and had acted like he wanted to actually talk. I decided to quickly ask questions before he decided to change his mind. I asked him if there was more than one type of intellectual property protection. He had started to list the types starting with patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial design rights, trade dress, and trade secrets. “A patent is a grant by the government permitting the inventor exclusive use of an invention for 20 years from the date of filing.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.502. “A trademark is any combination of words and symbols that a business uses to identify its products or services and distinguish them from others.“ Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.509. The phone then went dead. I had lost connection. This made me worried knowing that this was my chance to finally get this project done and get the stress off of my shoulders. I proceeded to call him back. No answer. I then decided why not call a couple more. After the next 2 not getting an answer, I then called Ed Chansky. I had successfully asked the rest of my questions. He did not seem happy to answer these questions. He really seemed like he just wanted to get it over with. He had a little sarcasm behind his voice throughout the process. He even questioned my motives for asking my questions. I told him that it was for a school project to help me learn more about intellectual property. He insisted I was up to something, but continued to answer anyway. My second question was how original does my work have to be for it to be considered my own. I then started to have trouble writing down the answers as fast as he spoke. I was too nervous to ask him to slow down as I knew I was on his time and was worried he would hang up on me. He told me that it really depends on how much you change the work. If it appears to be someone else's work, then it most likely is. As long as you can make it appear to be your own and original you might be fine. “Because the period of copyright protection is so long, it has become even more important to uphold the exceptions to the law. Bear in mind that the point of copyright laws is to encourage creative work. A writer who can control, and profit from, artistic work will be inclined to produce more. If enforced oppressively, however, the copyright laws could stifle creativity by denying access to copyrighted work.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.507. I then asked if I could protect multiple pieces of work with one registration. He told me that it depends on if the work is in a set or series like a newspaper. If it is than you can register that series once. I asked if I was planning to register my intellectual property, where does he recommend I go? He told me it pretty much depends on what type of registration I need. If I need a copyright, I go to a government copyright website.”To obtain a patent, the inventor must file a complex application with the PTO. If a patent examiner determines that the application meets all legal requirements, the PTO will issue the patent. If an examiner denies a patent application for any reason, the inventor can appeal that decision to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the PTO and from there to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. “ Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.504. I asked are there ways to protect your work without needing paperwork? He said you don't need a a copyright at all for it to be copyrighted and yours, but if you think you need to begin legal actions in the future to show proof, then you would have to go get it done the legal “paperwork” way. A work is copyrighted automatically once it is in tangible form. Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.506. I had asked if you can patent a specific idea for an application for a phone. He said since it is a computer program it depends if it us useful or novel, if needed its determined by the copyright persons.”Novel. An invention is not patentable if it (1) is known or has already been used in this country; (2) has been described in a publication here or overseas or (3) is otherwise available to the public. For example, an inventor discovered a new use for existing chemical compounds but was not permitted to patent it because the chemicals had already been described in prior publications, though the new use had not.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.503 “The holder of a copyright owns the particular expression of an idea, but not the underlying idea or method of operation. “ Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.506. I had asked him how long a copyright would last. He pretty much told me its usually your life +70 years. I then asked, after contacting a lawyer about someone stealing your work, what is the next step for me. This is when he questioned me about why I was really contacting him. I could understand his suspicion. I was trying to hold back a laugh at this point. He answered that there is still a 90 day grace period on the piece and I could go get it registered asap, but other than that get a lawyer and start the legal process. I then asked what right I had as the legal registration owner. He said that he had to look this one up as he couldn’t really explain it off the top of his head. He told me I should have the right to distribute the work, make unlimited copies, use the work publicly, or reproduce it. “In 2011 Congress passed a new patent statute entitled “America Invents Act.” Under this statute, anyone who has been charged with infringement of certain financial service business method patents will have the right (from 2012 to 2020) to challenge the validity of that patent.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.503.

The last question I decided to ask him was if my registration on my work was recognized all over the world, or just in the area I chose to register it in. He told me that its for in your own country or in any country in treaty with this country. The copy right can also be transferred onto another country using their copyright laws. “Under the Paris Convention, if someone registers a trademark in one country, then he has a grace period of six months during which he can file in any other country using the same original filing date.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.512.

“The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is a step toward providing more coordinated patent review across many countries. Inventors who pay a fee and file a so-called PCT patent application are granted patent protection in the 143 PCT countries for up to 30 months. During this time, they can decide how many countries they actually want to file in.” Beatty, J.J., & Samuelson, S.S. (2012) Introduction to Business Law, 4th Ed. South Western College Pub. Pg.506.

Reasoning of the Law

The first lawyer I could get a hold of, seemed really educated about the law. He was cheerful and answered my first question with ease. It felt like he had already heard questions pertaining to the subject of intellectual property and new exactly what to say and how to explain it. The second lawyer I could get a hold of seemed like he didn't really want to talk to me and wanted to go home. He had some great knowledge of the subjects, but didn't know certain answers by heart. When the answers had lists, he had to go look it up. It was kind of him to do that instead of saying he didn't know at all.

The Questions

My questions (which are on my Week 8 EOC1 blog) started with whatever I could think of because I never have needed to ask a lawyer anything or ever really wanted to. As I started running out of questions that I could ask, I decided to ask questions that I was curious about. Most of my questions revolve around getting intellectual property registered. Being an Art student, I realized that I will eventually need to know something about intellectual property and that's why i chose those questions.

Legal Authority

 At first I thought how easy it would be for me to personally find a lawyer, because I knew there were lawyers that worked as teachers, or someone in my family must know a lawyer. I then realized that the teachers are usually asked by students for help, so I decided to just ask my family. I was surprised to find out that nobody knew of one. The only family member that said they knew of one, I knew to be unreliable. That person said that they would give them my info and have them call me. Deep down I knew that would never happen(And it never did). After being tired of worrying about it, I decided to call the lawyers off the list of lawyers we created in class. I started at the beginning and worked my way down.

Week 10 EOC: Lawyer Jokes

Question: Do you know how to save five drowning lawyers?
Answer: No.
Reply: Good!
Question: Why don't snakes bite attorneys?
Answer: Professional courtesy.
Question: Why do male attorneys usually wear tight shirt collars and ties?
Answer: It keeps their foreskins from creeping up and covering their faces.
Question: How can you tell that an attorney is about to lie?
Answer: His lips begin to move.
Question: How can you tell the difference between an attorney lying dead in the road and a coyote lying dead in the road?
Answer: With the coyote, you usually see skid marks.
Question: How many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer: How many can you afford?
Question: What do you get if you send the Godfather to law school?
Answer: An offer you can't understand.
http://www.stromer.com/jokes/185jokes.html

Q:   Where does a vampire learn how to suck blood?

A:    During his first year of Law School.

Where can you find a good lawyer?

     In the cemetery

Why is it that many lawyers have broken noses?

     From chasing parked ambulances.

http://mason.gmu.edu/~rrotunda/lawyer.htm

Top 10 Reasons Why Lawyers Should Replace Lab Rats

1. There is an endless supply
2. Lab assistants don't get attached to them
3. It's more fun to shave and stick needles in lawyers
4. There are some things rats just won't do
5. It's fun to dispose of them when you're through
6. It's not "inhumane" treatment, when it comes to lawyers
7. No one cares when a lawyer squeals
8. We've seen what happens when they are allowed to breed in the wild
9. Lawyers belong in cages
10. Animal rights activist don't care if you torture lawyers

• Top 10 Things That Sound Dirty in Law, But Aren't

  1. Have you looked through her briefs?
  2. He is one hard judge!
  3. Counselor, let's do it in chambers.
  4. His attorney withdrew at the last minute.
  5. Is it a penal offense?
  6. Better leave the handcuffs on.
  7. For $200 an hour, she better be good!
  8. Can you get him to drop his suit?
  9. The judge gave her the stiffest one he could.
  10. Think you can get me off?
  11. 
      
  12. http://people.ku.edu/~dadams/lawyers.htm

Week8 EOC2: Bratz Brawl

Brats Brawl

“In yet another twist in the epic Barbie-vs.-Bratz brawl, a U.S. District Court slapped Mattel Inc. with $88 million in damages after tossing out its claims that rival MGA Entertainment stole the idea for its blockbuster Bratz dolls, an embarrassment for the blond teen queen, to say the least.”
 Barbie vs. Bratz: In a Doll-Eat-Doll World, Lawsuits Go On - TIME http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2067001,00.html#ixzz2lJFIF4pO

“MGA said it intends to appeal the judge's order and Mattel said it remains open to "all viable options" as the matter moves through the courts.” http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/12/11/bratz.vs.barbies/

At this point, neither the American Girl Doll nor Bratz pose much of a threat to Mattel, which still has over 16 percent market share. So why would Mattel continue to pay huge legal fees to fight this battle? According to toy industry analyst Sean McGowan, it's not about the money. "From Mattel's perspective, it was very important for them to send a message," he says.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/barbie-v-bratz-never-ending-court-battle

I believe that changing the style of your toy to appear to be the style of someone else’s toy should be acceptable.  You see it in the world around you every day.  An example of this would be how some car companies are harder to recognize just by the cars appearance.  If you want to be noticed for becoming the first to have that doll design, then say it in your commercial or something.  

Week 8 EOC1: 10 Questions

                                                                                           10 Questions

1.       Is there more than one type of intellectual property protection?

2.       How original does my work have to be for it to be considered my own?

3.       Can I protect multiple pieces of work under the same registration?

4.       If I was planning to register my intellectual property where do you recommend I go?

5.       Are there ways to protect your work without needing paperwork?

6.       Can you patent a specific idea for an application for a phone?

7.       How long does your copyright last?

8.       After contacting a lawyer about someone stealing your work, what is the next step for me?

9.       What rights do I have as the intellectual property owner?

1.        Is my registration or copyright recognized all over the world or just in the country it was created in?

Week7 EOC: Lawyers

• John C. Lambertsen             6900 Westcliff Drive, Suite 104, Las Vegas, NV 89145 --702-997-1732

• Thomas R.C. Wilson      2300 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 1000, Las Vegas, NV 89102 --702-873-4100
  
  
  Watson Rounds                        5371 Kietzke Lane Reno, NV 89511 – 775-324-4100
  
  
  Keith E. Gregory                       631 s 10^th street, Las Vegas, Nv 89101 – 702 979-4730
  
  
  Randal D. Shimon     5510 S. Fort Apache Rd., Suite 21 Las Vegas, NV 89148—702-312-4175
  
  
  John Craig Courtney  830 Las Vegas BoulevardSouth Las Vegas, NV, 89101-6723—702 382-4044
  
  
  Ed Chansky    3773 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 400 NorthLas Vegas, NV 89169—702-599-8016
  
  
  William J. Wray        3773 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 400 North Las Vegas, NV 89169—702-938-6873
  
  
  Jennifer Ko Craft 3773 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 400 North Las Vegas, NV 89169-702-796-5555
  
  
  Robert A. Steller 3773 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 400 North Las Vegas, NV 89169-702-228-7717

Week 6: EOC Supreme court prayer

"The justices have struggled for decades to come up with a coherent set of rules for prayers conducted at government forums. Past decisions have allowed public bodies, including Congress, state legislatures and city councils, to open their meetings with prayers, but the justices have also ruled that public officials may not take actions that appear to endorse a specific set of religious beliefs."

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-court-prayer-20131107,0,4489674.story#axzz2jzH1J3SZ

"Two local women brought suit against Greece, New York, officials, objecting that the monthly public sessions on government open with invocations they say have been overwhelmingly Christian in nature over the years."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/supreme-court-board-meeting-prayers/

“The two residents filed suit and a trial court ruled in the town's favor, finding that the town did not intentionally exclude non-Christians. It also said that the content of the prayer was not an issue because there was no desire to proselytize or demean other faiths.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/06/supreme-court-wrestling-with-prayer-at-ny-town-meetings/

I personally believe that it is wrong to publically pray. The reason I believe this is because we know everyone has their own beliefs and own religion.   It may offend someone that has a belief about there being no gods when someone brings up the word god. It isn’t too hard to keep your beliefs to yourself, or share it with those you know believe the same thing, but when there is a question about someone else believing something different, you should respect them and don’t bother them with your own beliefs.

Week 5 EOC: Legal Challenges With Modern Internet

One of the ongoing issues is if it is in fact right for Internet websites and communication businesses to give private information to the NSA.  The so called secret program these businesses use is called Prism.

“The government justifies Prism under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Section 1881a of the act gave the president broad authority to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance. If the attorney general and the director of national intelligence certify that the purpose of the monitoring is to collect foreign intelligence information about any non­American individual or entity not known to be in the United States, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can require companies to provide access to Americans’ international communications. The court does not approve the target or the facilities to be monitored, nor does it assess whether the government is doing enough to minimize the intrusion, correct for collection mistakes and protect privacy. Once the court issues a surveillance order, the government can issue top-secret directives to Internet companies like Google and Facebook to turn over calls, e-mails, video and voice chats, photos, voice­over IP calls (like Skype) and social networking information.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/opinion/the-criminal-nsa.html?_r=0

               

  3D printing is the new way to create life like objects easily. There is a debate ongoing about if it will be legal to print 3D Guns.

“A May 21 bulletin distributed to numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies and obtained by FoxNews.com states that the guns, which can be made by downloading blueprints into cutting edge computers that mold three-dimensional items from melted plastic, "poses public safety risks" and are likely beyond the current reach of regulators. The guns threaten to render 3D gun control efforts useless if their manufacture becomes more widespread.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/23/govt-memo-warns-3d-printed-guns-may-be-impossible-to-stop/

            Is it legal for judges and lawyers to friend each other before and after trials?

“Two opinions have raise issues about judges' friending lawyers before their court on Facebook.  In the first situation, a North Carolina judge was reprimanded for friending a lawyer on Facebook and accessing the website of an opposing lawyer.  The judge and one of the lawyers in the case exchanged messages about the case, which the judge revealed to the other lawyer the next day.  The judge also referenced a poem he found on the second lawyer's clients website during a hearing.  The judge recused himself at the request of the second lawyer.  The judge was reprimanded for the ex parte communications and for independent fact gathering. “

http://www.tlie.org/newsletter/articles/view/56

Week 4 EOC: Copyrights

"A copyright is a legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or other creative work the sole right to publish and sell that work. Copyright owners have the right to control the reproduction of their work, including the right to receive payment for that reproduction. An author may grant or sell those rights to others, including publishers or recording companies. Violation of a copyright is called infringement."
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Copyright

"Copyright does not protect the mechanical or utilitarian aspects of such works of craftsmanship. Copyright may, however, protect any pictorial, graphic, or sculptural authorship that can be identified separately from the utilitarian aspects of an object. Thus a useful article can have both copyrightable and uncopyrightable features. For example, a carving on the back of a chair or a floral relief design on silver flatware can be protected by copyright, but the design of the chair or the flatware itself cannot, even though it may be aesthetically pleasing."
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl103.html

"Copyright laws protect the rights of people who create movies, TV shows, artwork and other products by providing the creator with exclusive rights to sell, license or otherwise use his or her creative work. In the case of movies and television, these laws help safeguard the creative works that support the livelihoods of the 2.4 million Americans who work as set painters, costume designers, make-up artists, writers, actors, directors and more. The MPAA works with governments around the world to pursue commonsense solutions that advance innovative consumer choices, while protecting the rights of all who make something of value with their minds, their passion and their unique creative vision."
http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/copyright-info

"Copyright is the area of law that deals with creation, ownership, sale, and use of creative and expressive works."
https://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/basics

I personally believe that its a great thing to have copyright laws. People work so hard to achieve their work and would be so afraid to share it with the world if people could just steal it and use it for their own personal gain.

Week 3 EOC: Erin Brokovich

 "Erin Brockovich became famous in 1993 when she helped residents of Hinkley, California, to claim a record-breaking $333m settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric after groundwater was contaminated. She had no legal training."
 http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/feb/28/erin-brokovich-jury-out-details

 “After nearly four years in arbitration, the Hinkley case was settled behind closed doors for $333 million - the largest direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history. The underdog, dyslexic girl from Kansas, who doubted she would amount to much in life, had brought a multi-billion-dollar corporation to its knees.”

 http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/erin-brockovich.html

 “It would be difficult to imagine a more damning assessment of Erin Brokovich’s crusade in Hinkley, a crusade for which she was handsomely rewarded. Brokovich got a $2.5 million (more than £1.5 million) bonus for her work.”

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1343559/Was-Erin-Brockovich-single-mother-claimed-towns-water-poisoned-wrong.html#ixzz2i0LhPM6S


 I personally believe that the company PG&E, being as it made so much at the time, should have paid more to compensate the families and help pay for relocation and hospital bills for the rest of their life. It was their mistake, and their job to fix their mistake.

Week 2 EOC : Supreme Court Case

Kansas Vs. Cheever - Whether the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination was violated when the state used a court-ordered mental evaluation to rebut the defendant's expert testimony that claimed the defendant lacked the requisite mental state to commit capital murder due to methamphetamine use.

(http://www.willamette.edu/wucl/resources/journals/wlo/scotuscg/2013/02/kansas-v-cheever.html) I personally believe that the privilege against self-incrimination was violated. I believe that calling in a psychiatrist only further brings in extra testimonial evidence that only helps further incriminate the defendant.

“Still, the question presented is one never explicitly addressed by the Court before, and it would resolve a split in the federal circuits (albeit an uneven one disfavoring defendants). Since it has been so long since SCOTUS has even heard a case about the use of evidence from a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, we won’t have a very good idea about how the Court will rule on this until after oral arguments, which will likely be sometime at the beginning of the Court’s next term (between October and December). Although the decision will undoubtedly impact the use of mental state defenses and evidence nationwide, the grimmer consequence of the ruling is the fact that the Court’s decision will almost certainly determine whether Cheever receives the death sentence or life imprisonment.” -Jeremy Byellin

- http://westlawinsider.com/top-legal-news/hot-docs-scotus-to-decide-whether-fifth-amendment-protects-against-testimony-by-court-ordered-psychiatrist/

Week 1 EOC: Voice

When I first wake up and shut off the alarm on my phone, I am pleased to experience great visual effects. We always have things to say about these amazing visuals. “I love the way that object flies across the screen. I believe it would look better as a triangle.” I'm proud to say that as a visual effects professional, I can be the one who makes that shape a triangle. I am here to make things look more visually pleasing to our eyes. When I spend my countless hours looking at a computer screen or tv, the visual effects are what always catch my attention. From video games to simple TV commercials, I notice the little effects that may be over looked by the average viewer. I know that one day in the near future, I will be creating visuals that are not only visual pleasing, but also visually addicting. My goal is to make a visual to be so overwhelming beautiful, weather it be from a feature length film to a hit video game, that you can not look away. I want to make the viewer feel so amazed, and give them the feeling of wanting more and to see what might be next. From informative to entertaining, I know that I will always have what it takes to produce these wonderful visual effects.