Mass Law Blog
Intellectual property and business litigation, Massachusetts and nationallyWritten by humans
Lee Gesmer’s Mass Law Blog began in 2005, and contains almost 600 posts. The site initially focused on Massachusetts law, but today it follows business and intellectual property law nation-wide. The site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm represents startup and established companies in the areas of litigation, transactions (including financings, mergers and acquisitions), IP rights, taxation, employment law, standards consortia, business counseling and open source development projects and foundations. You can find a summary of the firm’s services here. To learn how Gesmer Updegrove can help you, contact: Lee Gesmer
Yoko Ono, Ben Stein and Copyright Fair Use
Here is a copy (below) of the June 2, 2008 decision of Judge Sidley Stein in the Southern District of New York, holding that a 15 second snippet of the Lennon song "Imagine," within the feature length movie "Expelled", is "fair use" under U.S. copyright law. In other words, the film makers did not infringe Yoko Ono's copyright rights. "Expelled" is a documentary that deals with "intelligent design" (vs. Darwinism, Creationism, ect.), and is narrated by Ben Stein of Ferris Buehler fame...
Are Judges Intuitive or Analytical? Ruminations on the Cognitive Style of Judges
The best aspect of law school is the subordination of math. Anon _________________________ Are judges good at math? Foolish question, of course. Since many lawyers have a math phobia, it follows that many judges would, as well. Nevertheless, a group of academics gave a three-question quiz to a group of several hundred trial judges. The purpose of the quiz was to determine whether the judges' style of cognitive reflection, as a group, was "intuitive" (i.e., bad) or "analytical (i.e. "good")...
"Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It?" – Harvard's Berkman Center to Debate Economic Implications of Noncompete Agreement
See Xconomy article here for details. Quoting from the article: Employee Non-Compete Agreements: Protecting Innovation or Stifling It? Thursday, June 19th, 3:00-7:00 pm Ames Courtroom, 2nd floor of Austin Hall, Harvard Law School There will be a panel discussion, followed by a cocktail reception. Anyone is free to attend. You just have to register by June 12 (a week before the event) by emailing your name, title and company to Amar Ashar at the Berkman Center: ashar@cyber.law.harvard.edu.
Quick Hits: Supreme Court Arguments, Unpublished Mass Appeals Court Decisions, Trademark Law Decision
The "Oyez" web site now presents oral arguments before the Supreme Court in multimedia: As you listen to the argument you see a synchronized transcript, and a photo of the judge or lawyer speaking appears every time there is a change in speaker. This multimedia presentation makes the experience of listening to these arguments much easier and more pleasant. Link here. The Massachusetts Appeals Court has made its unpublished decisions available here. This is particularly helpful, since these...
Dummies Guide to Understanding Subprime Mortgages
A lot of people are having a hard time understanding how the country got into the sub-prime mortgage mess, or even exactly what a "sub-prime mortgage" is. How could so many intelligent, responsible people in housing, banking, finance and government have gotten this so wrong? If you're are one of these people, this skit may aid your understanding.
Judges Who Blog
Very few judges blog, but Massachusetts Federal District District Court Judge Nancy Gertner is one of the first, if not the very first. An article in the May 27, 2008 Boston Globe discusses her blogging for Slate, one of the best online magazines. If you're interested in reading Judge Gertner's blogs, go to "Convictions: Slate's Blog on Legal Issues" and use the "Search This Blog" field in the upper right corner of the screen to search for "Gertner". Judge Gertner's first blog entry, on March...
This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find a summary of our services here. To learn how GU can help you, contact:
Lee Gesmer