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15 May 2013

Can a Biotech Company Own Your Genes?

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Can a Biotech Company Own Your Genes?

Yesterday Angelina Jolie revealed in a brave and candid op-ed in the New York Times that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy earlier this year after discovering that she carried a “faulty” gene that placed her at an increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The faulty genes referenced in Ms. Jolie’s article are called BRCA1 and BRCA2 and are currently a source of dispute in the medical research community. Ms. Jolie’s article comes in the wake of oral argument last month before the Supreme Court in Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., et al. (Docket 12-398) regarding the right to patent the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

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10 May 2013

What Are the “Cool Kids” Wearing? A Brand With A Lot of Potential Liability On Its Hands

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Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries and his controversial comments from a 2006 Salon article are back in the hot seat. Jeffries told the magazine, “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids…”

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10 May 2013

Update: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 100 Years Later, and the TSCA: Responsibility as Opportunity

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Update: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 100 Years Later, and the TSCA: Responsibility as Opportunity

On May 3, 2013, we reported on the Bangladesh garment factory collapse at Rana Plaza and its connections to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911. Since then, the Rana Plaza tragedy has deepened as the death toll has soared to over 1,000, placing it among the worst workplace disasters in history

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09 May 2013

Copyright Infringement: a Novel Song

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Copyright Infringement: a Novel Song

This month is less than half over and already, two well-known works have been subject to different lawsuits dealing with copyright issues.

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03 May 2013

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 100 Years Later, and the TSCA: Responsibility as Opportunity

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 100 Years Later, and the TSCA: Responsibility as Opportunity

On March 25, 1911, 148 garment workers, mostly poor, Jewish and Italian immigrant women, died in a catastrophic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s factory in New York City. More than one hundred years later, in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh which killed at least 386 people, and a fire at the Tazreen Fashion factory in the capital city of Dhaka last year which killed 100 people, garment workers’ safety and working conditions clearly remain of serious concern.

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23 Apr 2013

Warner Bros. vs. Universal Pictures vs. Dead Man: Bourne Identity Edition

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Warner Bros. vs. Universal Pictures vs. Dead Man: Bourne Identity Edition

Have you ever wondered what Jason Bourne would have looked like if The Bourne Identity had been made in 1980? No? Well, Warner Brothers probably wonders. In 1981, the film rights to Robert Ludlum’s 1980 spy novel, The Bourne Identity, were acquired by Winwood/Glen Productions (WGP), owned by Anthony Lazzarino and Henry Morrison. WGP sold the rights to Warner Bros’s predecessor Orion Pictures in exchange for a 3.75% interest and presentation credit.

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15 Apr 2013

Public Interest Law Group Claims Dry Cleaning Underwear is Necessary Litigation Expense

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Public Interest Law Group Claims Dry Cleaning Underwear is Necessary Litigation Expense

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) the domain of what is “necessary” for litigation includes dry cleaning underwear and so much more. In the past, the SPLC has fought courageous battles which have helped end discriminatory, violent, and demeaning practices by community organizations, county payroll departments, and vigilantes. Yet, the SPLC today bears a poor resemblance to its former self, seemingly embodying a culture of greed and excess more than one of devotion to a just cause.

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10 Apr 2013

Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors, LP: Employers Must Pay Piece-Rate Employees Minimum Wage for Waiting Time

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Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors, LP: Employers Must Pay Piece-Rate Employees Minimum Wage for Waiting Time

The California Court of Appeal filed an opinion earlier this month that confirms employers’ obligation to pay a separate hourly minimum wage to any automotive service technician compensated on a “piece-rate” basis for time spent waiting for vehicles to repair or performing other non-repair tasks directed by the employer.

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04 Apr 2013

No Place for the Virtual Used “Record” Store in the Digital World?

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No Place for the Virtual Used “Record” Store in the Digital World?

Once upon a time, a music lover could buy records to her heart’s content, knowing that one day, when she tired of the songs, she could haul those records to the used record store and sell them. And another music lover could thumb through the pre-owned records and buy them at a discount (in exchange for enduring a few scratches perhaps). Such sales were perfectly legal under the First Sale Doctrine of Section 109(a) of the Copyright Act, which allows the owner of a lawfully made and purchased record to re-sell the work without the copyright owner’s permission.

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