Features
Social Media Invades and Modernizes Employment Practices
For employers, social media sites present a potential treasure trove of information on applicants, but mining this information for use in recruiting, hiring, firing and monitoring of employees is fraught with risk. Nonetheless, some studies show that 40% of employers search social media during the hiring process. While there are not currently any laws in the United States forbidding employers from gleaning information from social media, improper use can get them into trouble.
Features
Back to School
With schools back in session, now is the time for employers to review hiring, payment and scheduling practices for workers under the age of 18. The myriad federal and state child labor laws that employers must heed range from work permit requirements to the hours and type of work performed, all of which vary based on an employee's age and whether school is in session.
Features
Criminal Subpoenas for Online Data
Never before has so much personal data been available anywhere but also completely outside the immediate control of the person who created it. Companies like Google and Facebook are the entities responding to government search warrants and subpoenas for individuals' personal information. Federal courts continue to struggle ' and sharply disagree ' over the scope of Fourth Amendment protections for this data.
Features
<i><b>Online Extra:</i></b>Facebook Fights to Snuff Out Privacy Suit
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton was set last month to be the latest jurist in the Northern District of California to grapple with how decades-old federal wiretapping laws apply to today's technology.
Features
Interpreting China's New Trademark Law
Despite China's quotas on film and TV program imports, and the country's aggressive content restrictions, the U.S. entertainment industry continues to look at the world's second largest economy as essential for expanding the international audience for U.S. productions. With that in mind, this article examines the first major amendments to China's trademark law in more than 20 years.
Features
Courts Conflict on Anonymous, Allegedly Defamatory Online Speech
Anyone spending 10 minutes on the Internet reading content is often assaulted by angry and coarse language supporting frequently outrageous opinions. The First Amendment concepts of free speech have reached either new highs or discouraging lows when dealing with opinions and blogs on the Internet. In this unrestricted environment, can individuals or businesses protect their reputations?
Features
Evolution of the Patent Infringement Safe Harbor
Since its enactment in 1984, the scope of the "safe harbor" provision of the patent code has been in flux. The provision is intended to exempt from infringement certain acts related to the development of drugs and medical devices that are subject to FDA regulatory approval, to enable competitors to immediately enter the market upon patent expiration. However, the contours and boundaries of the safe harbor have been a consistent source of controversy in the courts.
Features
Collecting Social Security Numbers
In the first half of 2014, at least 96 significant data breaches were reported, compromising more than 2.2 million records. Of these breaches, at least 46 involved records that may have contained Social Security Numbers (SSNs). What the affected businesses may not know is that the mere collection of SSNs may have put them in violation of state laws, in addition to the liability they may now face for having failed to protect the SSN information.
Features
CFPB Gets Real About Bitcoin Risks
Consumers should be cautious when using bitcoin and alert the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to any problems with the virtual money, the agency said last month after a government watchdog this summer urged the CFPB to engage more on the currency.
Features
Valuation of a Law Firm and a Law Practice
Lawyers leaving a law practice have an economic interest in monetizing their career-long investment in building a client portfolio and a referral network. How each lawyer has accomplished this depends on his or her particular practice, market and style. But while the means may vary, the results are the same ' access to clients who have legal needs. And this is the value the acquirers wish to capture.
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- Law Firms and the Rise of HospitalityThe law firm office cannot remain unchanged, as if frozen in time set to some date prior to the onset of pandemic, when the terms and meaning have all changed. In fact, the office must now provide benefits or an experience the lawyers and staff cannot get at home.Read More ›
- Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel'Disconnect Between In-House and Outside Counsel is a continuation of the discussion of client expectations and the disconnect that often occurs. And although the outside attorneys should be pursuing how inside-counsel actually think, inside counsel should make an effort to impart this information without waiting to be asked.Read More ›
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- Lack of Logo Placement At Center of Ruling Over Meat Loaf Album PackagingTo build visibility for its brand, a record label or production company will want its logo included on products containing its master recordings manufactured and distributed by third parties. This will be addressed in the agreement between the label or production company and manufacturer/distributor. The failure to include the logo may raise a host of issues, from the breadth of the logo-placement obligation ' such as whether it includes Internet downloads ' to the proper theory on which to base any damages and just which album-sales figures are subject to evidentiary discovery. A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ' in a long-running dispute between Cleveland International Records and Sony Music Entertainment ' illustrated how these issues may be argued and decided.Read More ›