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While consumers are often delighted and confused as to why certain songs, albums, and movies get remastered, a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals might have lawyers for the music industry paying very close attention … again. The decision in ABS Entertainment Corp v. CBS Corporation has some music insiders reeling as the appellate court explained that remastering a recording generally isn’t going to be creative enough to be considered a new work for federal copyright protection purposes....

Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed at his home on the West Indies island of Nevis around 9:00 p.m. last Thursday night, reports the Associated Press. The robber, armed with a machete, took approximately $1,000 in cash from Breyer, his wife, Joanna, and their guests. No one was injured. Breyer is not the first Supreme crime victim. In the last 20 years, Justice David Souter was attacked while jogging in Washington, D....

Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit heard the long-awaited arguments in same-sex marriage cases out of Idaho, Nevada, and Hawaii. And if you were expecting anything other than downright skepticism of states’ arguments from the judges, well, you haven’t been paying attention. Monte Neil Stewart was the primary recipient of the judges’ questions. The private attorney first represented Idaho, then pinch hit in Nevada’s case for intervenors, since the state declined to defend its laws in the wake of the Ninth Circuit’s Smithkline Beecham v....

This has been going on for far too long – the litigation, that is. “Stop and frisk” was a terrible, constitutionally suspect practice where police officers would stop and pat down pedestrians in high-crime areas for no real reason. Disproportionately, those stopped were minorities. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall after multiple unfavorable court decisions, or perhaps because he understands the Fourth Amendment better than his predecessor, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to settle the case....

On Monday, the Supreme Court released its order list, and while it only granted certiorari in two cases, it denied cert. in a slew of them. One of the cases that it denied had already been before the Supreme Court, was remanded, and the parties field for cert. – again. This time around, the Supreme Court said no, and let stand a Ninth Circuit opinion that found Los Angeles County in violation of pollution levels allowed under permit....

With the skyrocketing popularity of social media use, cyber bullying has become an increasingly serious problem for young people. However, it won’t be up to school officials to regulate their off-campus conduct. The United States Supreme Court denied cert to three free speech cases involving some of the first challenges to the free speech rights of students on the Internet. The cases involved student comments made about administrators or peers on social media websites....

The definition of “employer” is crucial to a valid federal employment claim and for class certification in class action lawsuits by employees. In a recent decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed down the Fair Labor Standards Act’s definition of “employer.” The district court had previously held that Enterprise Holding (of Enterprise Rent-a-Car) was not a “joint employer” under the FLSA. How did the Third Circuit Court of Appeals deal with the question?...

Conviction for bank robbery and using a firearm during a robbery is affirmed where there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant on both counts as the the jury could rationally connect defendant’s presence in the house to the description of Robber #2, and defendant’s work in the bank vault aided and abetted the use of the firearm in the robbery. Read US v. Moore, No. 07-3978 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division....

A bank robber was caught soon after a robbery with the help of a GPS device thrown in with the stolen money. As a result, he was tracked. The police found in a stolen van, through a warrantless search, his cell phone with photos and videos. The phone videos and photos along with the GPS evidence were all later submitted as evidence against him. The Eighth Circuit has upheld the district court’s admission of all of this high-tech evidence....

When the Windsor decision was announced two months ago, we knew that the country was headed for a season of rapid change. Indeed, in the days after the decision, the Obama administration pushed the government to carry out the decision quickly and smoothly, and while progress is being made by a multitude of federal agencies affected by the decision, the process has been, and will be, far from smooth. From conflicting federal and state tax laws, to differing interpretations of the opinion, and reluctant agencies that attempt to persist with the “man and woman” only definition, the process is far more complicated than simply declaring “equality....

Following a years-long trend, 27 law firms merged in the first quarter of 2019. Legal consultancy Altman Weil said the mergers continue a rapid pace from last year. In 2018, the legal industry saw a record-setting 106 law-firm mergers. All of the mergers so far this year have been acquisitions of small law firms. It suggests that if you have fewer than 20 lawyers, your firm could be next. Small Firm Movement Altman Weil’s Eric Seeger said acquisitions of small law firms can be smoother than mergers with large firms....

We here at FindLaw have heard our fair share of driving stories, tips, and tricks – especially when it relates to traffic laws, the police, and the legal system. So whether you’re about to hit the road or smarting from a ticket you don’t think you deserve, check out our favorite five driving myths. 1. Posted Speed Limit Is Always the Speed Limit You’re generally required to drive safely, no matter the circumstances....

Theodore Stewart was entering the United States from Japan, when he ran into Customs and Border Protections (CBP) agents at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. His “standoffish” and “confrontational” responses to their routine inquiries let them to believe that something was amiss, and led to a search of his belongings and computers. One of his laptops, the Twinhead, required a foreign power adapter and could not be searched. The other, a Sony, was searched and about a dozen images, which appeared to be child pornography, were found....

One of the safety nets for recently laid off employees is unemployment benefits. Most employers pay into state-run unemployment insurance programs to cover some of the salary lost to workers who were laid off through no fault of their own. That said, each state runs their unemployment insurance systems a little differently, so the exact rules on eligibility and benefits can vary from state to state. And between vacations, relocations, and remote work locations, you may need to apply for and collect unemployment from a state in which you currently don’t reside....

Micro-influencers are online personalities who are not as popular as cat videos, yet have dedicated fans. That comparison may be mixing species, but you can’t ignore 69 million views for a cat flipping head-over-heels. The point is, it’s not always the numbers that matter. In the social media age, a micro-influencer can still command a market. They can also put solo attorneys or small law firms on the map. Force of the Future?...

For start-ups, employee retention can be a big problem. In addition to having to recruit replacements that will believe in the company enough to accept stock options or future promises in lieu of a bigger salary, each employee that leaves the company could be leaving with important intellectual property and trade secret information that would be valuable to competitors. Recently, Magic Leap, a company seeking to be a pioneer in the way people view AR computing, filed a lawsuit against competitor Nreal and the company’s founder....

Denial of Qualified Immunity in Excessive Force Action Affirmed In Cavanaugh v. Woods Cross City, No. 10-4017, an action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 alleging that defendant-officer’s Tasering of plaintiff violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment by using excessive force, the court affirmed the denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity where 1) although Tasers may not constitute deadly force, their use unquestionably “seizes” the victim in an abrupt and violent manner; 2) plaintiff did not pose an immediate threat to defendant or anyone else at the scene; and 3) a reasonable jury could easily conclude that when the Taser was deployed plaintiff was not fleeing – she was quickly walking towards her own home – where defendant could easily arrest her if he so desired....

Despite a bankruptcy reorganization, Owens Corning Sales LLC can still be liable for its supposedly defective roof shingles, ruled the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last week. The decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals established a new test for determining when a claim exists under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Generally, under a bankruptcy, many claims are extinguished or discharged. But some claims survive bankruptcy and others fall into a grey area....

Managing a staff isn’t easy, and letting a team member go can be one of the most difficult tasks for any manager or business owner. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the more legally complex and challenging tasks as well. When you fire an employee, making sure you have the employee’s final paycheck ready can go a long way in avoiding exposure to liability. In many states, failing to pay an employee their final paycheck within a short period of time can lead to pretty severe penalties for the business....

Tamika Covington just wants to ref boys’ high school varsity basketball games. After more than 10 years as a basketball official in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Covington sued various entities that have some role in high school athletics in New Jersey, alleging gender employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The district court dismissed her claims against all the defendants with prejudice, holding Covington had not adequately alleged facts sufficient to establish an employer-employee or other relationship necessary to hold defendants liable under Title VII....