Contracts Commons^™

Mending The Gap: The Use Of Common Law To Supplement Virtual Mass Contracts, Floyd Morris

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Mistake And Nondisclosure In Contract Law, Jeffrey L. Harrison

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article reconsiders the analysis of the disclosure/nondisclosure issue. Part I of this Article elaborates on the basic model and some of the complexities of identifying the actual impact of nondisclosure. Part II details the social costs of the default nondisclosure rule. In Part III, a case is made that concepts like "mistake" and "defect," both "patent" and "latent," unnecessarily retard allocative efficiency by limiting what must be disclosed. In Part IV, alternatives to the default nondisclosure rule are examined in the context of several cases, some of which have been used to illustrate the virtues of the default rule.

Economic Value, Equal Dignity And The Future Of Sweepstakes, Anthony N. Cabot, Glenn J. Light, Karl F. Rutledge

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The three basic forms of prize gaming are gambling, sweepstakes, and contests. Most states have a common approach to determining the legality of prize gaming. In general, states analyze if an activity includes three factors associated with gambling: (1) opportunity to win a prize, (2) winning based on chance, and (3) consideration paid to take that chance. If you take away any one of the three elements of gambling—consideration, prize, or chance—you have an activity that is lawful in most states. A contest, for example, differs from gambling because the winner is determined by skill. Determination of whether a (pay-for-play) …

Excuse Doctrine: The Eisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Victor P. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

The world is in a bit of a mess. Oil prices soared to more than $140 per barrel and within months plummeted to below $40. The pound fell from $2 to less than $1.40. Housing and stock prices crashed. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and bailouts became newspaper staples. When things go awry like this, inevitably many people and firms regret having entered into contracts under more favorable circumstances. Many of them will be looking for ways to limit, or better yet, avoid the consequences. A preeminent contracts scholar, Melvin Eisenberg (2009), has provided them with considerable ammunition in a recent paper, arguing …

"No Man Can Be Worth $1,000,000 A Year": The Fight Over Executive Compensation In 1930s America, Harwell Wells

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Consideration In The Electronic Age, Robert A. Hillman, Maureen O'Rourke

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Our fast-paced age of electronic agreements that ostensibly govern transactions as diverse as downloading software, ordering goods, and engaging in collaborative development projects raises questions regarding the suitability of contract law as the appropriate legal framework. While this question arises in many settings, we focus here on the free and open source software (FOSS) movement because of the maturity and success of its model and the ubiquity of its software. We explore in particular whether open source licenses are supported by consideration, and argue that they are, and that open source licenses are contracts. We further argue that a contractual …

Contract Law In Context: The Case Of Software Contracts, Robert A. Hillman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The membership of The American Law Institute unanimously approved the “Principles of the Law of Software Contracts” in May of 2009. In this essay for a symposium in the Wake Forest Law Review, I draw on my experience as Reporter on the ALI project to add my perspective on an interesting general question: Is specialization of contract law wise and, if so, in what contexts? I certainly cannot definitively answer the question of whether in the abstract society is better off with general or specialized law, but my experience in drafting the software rules, along with Associate Reporter, Maureen O'Rourke, …

Readability, Contracts Of Recurring Use, And The Problem Of Ex Post Judicial Governance Of Health Insurance Polices, John Aloysius Cogan, Jr.

Faculty Articles and Papers

While the rhetoric surrounding the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focused on core issues such as cost, quality, and access to care, the dialog rarely acknowledged a key problem-the fact that most Americans do not understand their health insurance. Simply put, consumers do not fully grasp their health insurance coverage because the jargon found in many health insurance contracts is impenetrable to most Americans. This is disconcerting because consumer-oriented information is central to our increasingly consumer-directed health care system. Consumers are expected to make cost-effective choices among the array of health insurance plans that may be …

A Patent Panacea?: The Promise Of Corbinized Claim Construction, Jonathan L. Moore

Law Student Publications

A patent's claims define the scope of a patent-holder's right to exclude others. Because patent infringement actions often hinge on how a court construes claim terms, the interpretative approach that a court uses has a significant effect on the scope ofpatent rights. This article examines claim construction through the lens of contract law. In theory, the Federal Circuit has explicitly rejected the application of contract interpretation principles to claim construction, despite historical acceptance of the patent-contract analogy. In practice, however, the Federal Circuit applies the theory of contract interpretation espoused by Samuel Williston, a theory that focuses on the text …

When Selling Your Personal Name Mark Extends To Selling Your Soul, Yvette Joy Liebesman

All Faculty Scholarship

Identifying one’s business with one’s personal name has long been a practice in the United States. As Personal Name Marks have become increasingly commodified, however, bargaining and deal-making has led more and more to transfers of rights which had previously been considered to be closely tied to the individual as a private person. This article posits that freedom of contract doctrine should not allow the complete alienation of all aspects of one’s name, but rather there should be limitations on how far parties may bargain, so that the purchaser cannot acquire the right to control the seller’s private activities. This …

Counterparty Regulation And Its Limits: The Evolution Of The Credit Default Swaps Market, Houman B. Shadab

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Margae, Inc. V. Clear Link Technologies, Jonathan Goodman

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Continued Vitality Of Securities Arbitration: Why Reform Efforts Must Not Preclude Predispute Arbitration Clauses, Alicia J. Surdyk

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Inherent Tension Between Value Creation And Value Claiming During Bargaining Interactions, Charles B. Craver

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

This article will discuss the inherent tension present in almost all legal and commercial negotiations between value creation and value claiming. How should interactants use integrative techniques to discover areas for potential joint gains, and how should they determine the actual value of the gains achieved? The article will then explore the way in which proficient negotiators employ distributive tactics to claim a greater share of the surplus for themselves. Before we examine those issues, however, we must consider different negotiator styles and the ways in which those styles influence value creation and value claiming.

Reply: Clawback To The Future, Miriam A. Cherry, Jarrod Wong

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In Clawbacks: Prospective Contract Measures in an Era of Excessive Executive Compensation and Ponzi Schemes (the “Article”), we undertook the task of proposing a doctrine of clawbacks that would not only furnish a framework for analyzing the term more systematically, but would also describe the ways the doctrine would relate to established rules of contract law. With his response, In the Shadow of the Omnipresent Claw: In Response to Professors Cherry & Wong (the “Response”), Michael Macchiarola has provided us with an opportunity to articulate these thoughts on the doctrine of clawbacks further, and for that opportunity and his …

Protecting Free Speech For Unequivocal Fair Users: Rethinking Our Interpretation Of The §512(F) Misrepresentation Clause, Jordan Koss

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Keep Arbitration Alive: Why The Fairness In Nursing Home Arbitration Act Should Not Be Passed, Margaret Baumer

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Like it or not, arbitration agreements are part of our lives. Most cell phone and credit card companies include arbitration agreements in their customer contracts. Furthermore, many consumer complaints regarding trades through the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) are resolved through arbitration. However, despite their pervasiveness, consumers generally remain ignorant of arbitration agreements until a dispute arises, whereupon they discover that they must submit to arbitration proceedings, rather than sue sellers. Often, arbitration carries with it the added disappointment of high fees and perceived arbitrator bias in favor of the business entity. The same is true of a nursing …

Blues Lives: Promise And Perils Of Musical Copyright, Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way To Save Talent's Reputation And Money In A New Era Of Corporate Crimes And Scandals, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, Fernando M. Pinguelo, Timothy D. Cedrone

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The New Price To Play: Are Passive Online Media Users Bound By Terms Of Use, Woodrow Hartzog

Faculty Scholarship

When individuals turn on the television, listen to the radio, or purchase newspapers, they are not forming contractual relationships. Yet, almost without exception, online readers, viewers and listeners are required to enter into "terms of use" contracts. These ubiquitous agreements are generally unfavorable for the user in areas of intellectual property rights and privacy. In addition, the terms often restrict users' behavior and their ability to litigate any disputes with a Web site. In analyzing the implications of contracts for Web site users, this article examines whether courts have recognized a distinction between online consumers, interactive users, and "passive media …