Law Commons^™

When Does A Work Infringe The Derivative Works Right Of A Copyright Owner?, Amy B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

Consider the following fact situation: A, an artist, designs art work and registers the copyright in that art work. A then licenses P to publish note cards using the art work. The note cards are published by P and distributed to retail card stores. T purchases several hundred cards and then takes each card, glues it carefully to a ceramic tile, and sells the tiles for a profit as "tile art" that purchasers can use to decorate walls, counters, even floors. If A now sues T for copyright infringement, how should the court rule? Has T infringed A's copyright?

In …

Massachusetts' Domestic Partnership Challenge: Hope For A Better Future, Jennifer Levi

Faculty Scholarship

Acknowledging that its decision means that "some household members" may be without a "critical social necessity," the Massachusetts Supreme Iudicial Court (SJC) ruled in Connors v. City of Boston that Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino's executive order granting health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of city employees could not stand in the face of a Massachusetts state insurance law. In Connors, the SJC simultaneously recognized that although the demographics of Massachusetts households have changed within the more than forty years since the state insurance law, G.L. c. 32B (Chapter 32B), was adopted, that law nevertheless constrains municipalities from extending …

Commenting On Student Writing, Beth Cohen, Jocelyn Cuffee, Harris Freeman, Jeanne M. Kaiser, Myra G. Orlen

Faculty Scholarship

The Authors from Western New England College School of Law discuss perspectives on and approaches to responding to student writing.

Leveling The Playing Field: Reforming The Office For Civil Rights To Achieve Better Title Ix Enforcement, Sudha Setty

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article the Author discusses improving Title IX compliance in athletic programs by reforming the Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"), the agency within the Department of Education responsible for Title IX enforcement. The Author addresses several problem areas within OCR's procedures, including OCR's approach toward student grievances, its standards for assessing alleged Title IX violations, and its inadequate monitoring and enforcement of institutions in violation of Title IX.

Part I introduces the history of Title IX. Part II describes the legislation and regulations that mandate gender equity in educational institutions. Part III summarizes the case law that has affected …

Libraries Face Internet Filter Question, Pat Newcombe

Faculty Scholarship

The Author describes how libraries electronically bar access to objectionable Internet sites and the legal trouble encountered with this policy by free-speech advocates. The ALA, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other free-speech advocates have strongly resisted having libraries play the role of lnternet censor. But parents and patrons who use the libraries on a regular basis have pressured libraries in a growing number of communities to devise some kind of barrier to viewing sexually explicit material from the Internet on library PCs.

Cross-Border Bank Branching Under The Nafta: Public Choice And The Law Of Corporate Groups, Eric J. Gouvin

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines a question left unresolved after the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): whether the banks of the member countries should be permitted to engage in the business of banking in the other member countries simply by branching across national borders. Under present law, the United States permits branching subject to extensive restrictions, while Canada and Mexico permit access to their banking markets only by acquisition or establishment of institutions chartered in their countries. While the NAFTA does not provide for unfettered branching across national borders, article 1403(3) of the NAFTA left the issue of …

Of Hungry Wolves And Horizontal Conflicts: Rethinking The Justifications For Bank Holding Company Liability, Eric J. Gouvin

Faculty Scholarship

To what extent should bank holding companies bear the costs of bank failure? Current banking law provides a number of ways to impose liability on bank holding companies for bank failure. Those devices, however, have developed haphazardly and sometimes rest on inconsistent theoretical foundations. This Article critiques the regulatory justifications that have been offered for holding company liability and offers an alternative justification for imposing liability on holding companies based on the idea that directors of bank subsidiaries suffer from an especially difficult form of horizontal conflict--the situation where the board of directors owes several different duties and chooses to …

The Intersection Of Peremptory Challenges, Challenges For Cause, And Harmless Error, William G. Childs

Faculty Scholarship

The Author provides a history and overview of peremptory challenges and their relationship with challenges for cause. Part I of the Article outlines the various types of state statutes and state case law related to the mandatory or permissive use of peremptory challenges to correct perceived error in deciding challenges for cause.

Part II includes a discussion of the current law of error analysis in the federal courts and recent trends in that area of law. Part III consists of a review of the Supreme Court case law involving error analysis and peremptory challenges. This Part examines the specific situation, …