Digital Commons Network^™

Whose Social Network Account: A Trade Secret Approach To Allocating Rights, Zoe Argento

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Who has the superior right to a social network account? This is the question in a growing number of disputes between employers and workers over social network accounts. The problem has no clear legal precedent. Although the disputes implicate rights under trademark, copyright, and privacy law, these legal paradigms fail to address the core issue. At base, disputes over social network accounts are disputes over the right to access the people, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands, who follow an account. This Article evaluates the problem from the perspective of the public interest in social network use, particularly the …

Property And Relative Status, Nestor M. Davidson

Michigan Law Review

Property does many things-it incentivizes productive activity, facilitates exchange, forms an integral part of individual identity, and shapes communities. But property does something equally fundamental: it communicates. And perhaps the most ubiquitous and important messages that property communicates have to do with relative status, with the material world defining and reinforcing a variety of economic, social, and cultural hierarchies. This status-signalingf unction of property-withp roperty serving as an important locus for symbolic meaning through which people compare themselves to others-complicates premises underlying central discourses in contemporary property theory. In particular, status signaling can skew property's incentive and allocative benefits, leading …

The Incompetent Spouse's Election: A Pecuniary Approach, Susan P. Barnabeo

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Although many state legislatures have preserved the incompetent widow's right of election, these states have developed only general guidelines to govern such an election. These guidelines merely direct the court to act in the "best interests" of the incompetent widow. Courts of the various jurisdictions differ in their approach to determining the "best interests" of the incompetent. Most courts examine all surrounding circumstances regarding the incompetent widow's situation, such as the intent of both the wife prior to her incompetency and of the testator, and the adequacy of the will's provision for the incompetent widow. A minority of jurisdictions, however, …

Law For The Elephant: Property And Social Behavior On The Overland Trial, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Law for the Elephant: Property and Social Behavior on the Overland Trial by John Phillip Reid

Gifts-Lnformal Writing As Substitute For Delivery, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Traditionally, three requirements must be satisfied in order to make a valid inter vivos gift of personal property: (1) the donor must demonstrate his intention to make such a gift; (2) there must be a delivery to the donee of the property itself or of an instrument or deed of gift; and (3) the donee must accept this delivery. If the subject matter of the gift is not susceptible of immediate delivery, a question arises as to the means by which the delivery requirement may be satisfied. Although a donor in such a situation commonly delivers an informal writing which …

The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to examine the history and origin of the wills branch of the worthier title doctrine, to ascertain the extent of its application and the manner of its application, to determine the legal consequences flowing therefrom, and to consider the desirability of its continued existence.

Casner: American Law Of Property. A Treatise On The Law Of Property In The United States., Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

A Review of AMERICAN LAW OF PROPERTY. A Treatise on the Law of Property in the United States.A. James Casner, Editor-in-Chief.

Rights Of Finders, Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

Because the deeply important jurisprudential concept of possession is involved, cases dealing with the problem of finders assume an importance far beyond their practical significance. The recent decision by the Oregon Supreme Court in Jackson v. Steinburg suggests further discussion of the problem, with particular reference to the cases in that state.

Conflict Of Laws-Enforcing Tax Laws Of Sister States, Bernard L. Trott S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the recent case City of Detroit v. Proctor, the defendant, a resident of Detroit, was owner of personal property located there in the year 1939. The city levied a tax on this property, which tax became a debt under the laws of Michigan on the first day of April, 1939, and became due and · payable on the 15th of July, 1939. During the month of June, 1939, the defendant removed both his person and his property from the state of Michigan and has since resided elsewhere. The treasurer of the city of Detroit, who is empowered by …

Soviet Law Of Inheritance: I, Vladimir Gsovski

Michigan Law Review

The Soviet law of inheritance has suffered several drastic changes. Not only were the statutory provisions changed, but the attitude of soviet jurists to the very institution of devolution of property on death has presented a constantly changing picture.

Implied Warranties Of Non-Infringement, Louis Robertson

Michigan Law Review

When a manufacturer or dealer sells a product, is there an implied warranty that the product does not infringe adversely-owned patents? In other words, does the purchaser who is successfully sued for infringement have the right, without an indemnity clause, to be indemnified by the seller?

Many lawyers, especially patent lawyers, who are accustomed to advising the insertion of express patent warranties in sales contracts to take care of the matter, have answered this question instantly and positively in the negative, and it is quite possible that according to fundamental principles of implied warranties they are right, and yet all …

Developments In The Conflict Of Laws, 1902-1942, Ernest G. Lorenzen

Michigan Law Review

The writer's interest in the conflict of laws coextends substantially with the life of the Michigan Law Review. This may be some excuse for attempting to trace some of the developments in this field in the intervening years. Let us consider first what has happened in this country and thereupon what has occurred in the rest of the world.

Insurance - Gift Of Life Insurance Policy, Robert A. Solomon

Michigan Law Review

The employer insured his employees under a group insurance plan. Each employee was given a certificate evidencing his personal insurance. The master policy contained a provision that no assignment should be binding until the original or duplicate of the certificate was filed at the insurer's home office. It was established by the evidence that there had been a manual delivery of one of the certificates by an employee. The insurance company paid the amount 0£ that particular certificate into court. Held, in an action by the plaintiff, the alleged donee, against the estate of the insured, the named beneficiary, …

Trusts - Compromise Agreement As Means Of Terminating Testamentary Spendthrift Trust

Michigan Law Review

In Rose v. Southern Michigan National Bank, the Michigan Supreme Court refused to terminate a spendthrift trust composed of both real and personal property, although to end litigation upon the will all the parties in interest had signed a compromise agreement to terminate the trust according to the Michigan statute. There was no objection as to the fairness of the agreement, upon which ground the court might have refused to sanction the compromise under the statute. The decision seems to have been based upon the theory that to give effect to the compromise agreement would defeat the purpose of …

Wills - Executor's Right To Deduct From A Legacy A Debt Due The Estate But Barred By The Statute Of Limitations

Michigan Law Review

The decedent left his estate, by will, equally to several persons, one of whom had owed to the testator a debt which was now barred by the statute of limitations so that the executor could not collect it by suit. The executor claimed a right to collect this debt by deducting it from the share of the personal property of the estate given the debtor. The court held that the debt, though barred by the statute of limitations, was still in fairness and good conscience due to the estate and that the executor might deduct it from the share given …