: Can you tell me the difference between a copyright and a patent? Also is that something I should let a lawyer handle for me?

A: A wise man once said, “The biggest difference between a copyright and a patent is the number of lawyers it takes to do the paperwork.” There is a point to be made there, mainly that if this wise man had paid his attorney to copyright that tidbit of wisdom I probably would have had to pay him five bucks to use the quote.

Copyrights, trademarks and patents are similar in that they are designed by law to protect your rights of ownership, but that’s where the similarity ends. A copyright protects a creative work; a trademark protects a brand or company identity; and a patent protects an invention or process.

A copyright protects the rights of anyone who creates an “original work of authorship.” A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce the work; prepare spin-off works based on the copyrighted work; and to sell, perform and/or display the copyrighted work in public.

Copyright protection is afforded to eight categories of creative works: literary works (the written word); musical works (lyrics, music, melodies); dramatic works (plays, scripts, screenplays); artistic works (pictorial and sculptural), sound recordings (LPs, CDs, audio tapes); choreographic works (dance, pantomime); audiovisual works; and architectural works (blueprints, designs, renderings).

An original work is automatically copyrighted the moment it is put into a fixed format such as a paper copy or recording. In other words, once you put your original story in writing or make a recording of an original song, your copyright is automatically secured. From that moment on your work has copyright protection for your lifetime, plus 50 years after your death.

Registering a work with the U.S. Copyright Office is not required, but since it is relatively simple and inexpensive to do so, I advise that you register a copyright for each work you wish to protect. Also, your copyright must be registered in order to take legal action against someone who might infringe on the copyright in the future.

You can register a copyright without the assistance of an attorney. Simply visit the U.S. Copyright office website at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ and download the appropriate form. Complete the form and send it in with a $30 nonrefundable filing fee. This must be done for each individual work you wish to protect.

A patent is a form of protection granted to an inventor that protects his invention in the United States for up to 20 years from the date of application. Patent law states that, “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements thereof may obtain a patent.” Owning a patent gives you the legal right to stop someone else from making, using or selling your invention (or one that’s very close to it) without your permission. However, proving that someone is infringing on your patent is often difficult and usually requires a trial to settle the dispute.

Since the first U.S. patent was awarded in 1790, more than five million patents have been awarded. The patent office receives more than 230,000 patent applications every year and I can tell you from personal experience that a turtle on Prozac moves faster than the patent process. Patents can take several years, truckloads of paperwork, and considerable legal fees to obtain. The cost of obtaining a patent can run from $500 for a simple design patent to $50,000 and more for a complex utility patent. However, if your company has a truly patentable idea, you would be wise to invest the time and money required to secure your rights. A good patent can be a valuable business asset.

While you can file a patent yourself, I strongly advise that you use an attorney since a naively written patent application often isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Just recently my attorney did a patent search for me only to discover that a patent for a similar product was already in place. However, due to the ineffectual language of the patent application, the patent was practically impossible for the owner to enforce.

Good news for me. Not so good news for the wise man who wrote his own patent.

Here’s to your success!

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net



By: Tim Knox

About the Author:

Relaxing Music

It is apparent that a new day has arrived in politics, where a more positive focus on the issues and policies is being emphasized, as opposed to the negativity of dirty tactics — although some have found it hard, perhaps out of desperation, to totally forgo the latter. This is due to the public’s hunger for not just change, but change that is positive. The electorate, especially the younger generation, is rewarding politicians that are perceptive, and seemingly genuine and adept enough to tap into this emerging consensus. As with politics, so is has become with increasingly with medicine, and even with the practice of law — which arguably is the last holdout in which dirty antics and nastiness naturally exist — that practitioners are seeking a comprehensive, more positive approach to solving legal issues.

The concept of holistic medicine has been around for quite some time now, with inroads being made by Western medicine’s acceptance of practices such as yoga, physical and massage therapies, and chiropractic services as effective complementary choices. Perhaps it’s due to the “dawning of the age of Aquarius” — you know, where harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abound — that the field of law is now awakening, as well, to a new way of doing things. As with medicine, holistic law is about helping people beyond their immediate legal needs, by looking at the broader context of their lives to see how it is impacting on their legal issues. A holistic lawyer would then address her clients’ legal issues in a way that benefits them in mind, body, and spirit. In support of such lawyers, there is even an International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers.

Some holistic lawyers emphasize mediation for their clients as opposed to fueling the conflict with opposing parties; some view the rule of law as a means to end strife in the world; while others, offer means of becoming centered and transformed, to their clients. Another indication from popular culture that the time ripe for holistic lawyers, is the advent of the television show Eli Stone. It is about a corporate lawyer who sees visions about what types of cases he should undertake, and due to his epiphany, acts with integrity toward the other parties, while still serving the needs of his clients. What a novel concept. In medicine, the show Private Practice also epitomizes the concept of a holistic team approach to meeting their clients’ medical needs. A holistic lawyer does the same through the use of a multi-disciplinary approach for her clients’ immediate needs, but examines the spiritual, mental, and emotional conditions that caused their legal challenges or dilemmas to arise.

In applying the holistic/metaphysical legal approach to a famous — shall we say infamous — person that we all know, let us examine Britney Spears’ situation (if ever there was an example of someone needing a comprehensive approach to her legal and life challenges it would be Britney Spears). For example, a traditional lawyer in going forward with the case, would focus primarily on Britney’s child custody battle and counsel her client to behave more discretely. Said attorney might then seek to strategize and minimize any negative effects of her clients past “bad” behavior. Indeed, such a traditional lawyer may gather together a team of medical experts and psychiatrists to demonstrate that her client’s behavior was due to post partum depression or some other treatable or temporary condition. The attorney would then argue that custody of Britney’s children should be permanently awarded to her after she has completed the treatment.

A metaphysical or holistic lawyer might take all those steps as well, but would go the extra distance in a way that genuinely benefits her client (and perhaps her parents, children and generations to come), by addressing the spiritual (not religious), energetic, karmic, and emotional context in which her client’s crisis arose. Obviously, there are issues between Britney and her parents, and now some of those dysfunctions threaten to affect another generation of that family. That’s where karmic healing can come in to address and heal individual and generational karma, in order to provide individuals freedom from the vicious cycles keeping them bound. It is also apparent that Britney is emotionally troubled and that her energy, though creative, is chaotic, to say the least. That’s where Reiki and other forms of energy healing can come in very handy to help an individual become, without the help of prescription drugs or alcohol (and to the extent that the individual is open and receptive), calmer, stabilized (grounded) and happier. This is not an overnight process, but with repeated sessions, remarkable strides can be made in months, as opposed to the many years it normally takes a psychotherapist, acting alone to be effective.

The quicker such a client is put in touch with her soul’s true nature, the sooner her personal, familial, and legal concerns would be resolved and restored to harmony. While it is easy to see how someone like Britney Spears might benefit from a holistic approach to her legal and other life challenges, this approach would be just as beneficial for the average person. We all have challenges in life to deal with or handle, it’s just a matter of how well we do so, and whether we learn our lessons the first time so as not to keep repeating them over and over in the same grade.

This kind of approach can be a way of life for: anyone who wants to decrease the amount of stress in his/her life; insomniacs who want to sleep more soundly at night; anyone who wants to lose weight but his/her emotional, karmic, or spiritual blockages are preventing them from doing so; anyone who is preparing for surgery; a parent experiencing conflict with a teenager, etc.; people in toxic romantic relationships who want to transform or end them; people with resentment against their parents, a co-worker, boss, sibling, former spouse, or friend; people who are grieving the loss of a loved one; people who have a serious illness; or people who have had it with being in the same old financial rut and are now ready to break out of it into a new and more prosperous, not to mention successful, life. This is the new paradigm for approaching the legal and other issues confronting people — and dare I say — the most effective one as well.

Copyright by Reva M. Brown

Reva M. Brown is a lawyer, a former Administrative Law Judge, and a metaphysical minister who can be reached through her website at: www.spirit-law.com.

By: Reva M. Brown

About the Author:

Credit

Models from Los Angeles to New York have a number of common questions when they first enter the modeling business. As an entertainment attorney who has represented a number of models from London to Los Angeles to Palm Springs, this article attempts to answer some of the most important questions a model faces from day one.

 

1. What are the things you should pay attention to when signing a

modeling contract?

 

This is a tough one to answer briefly. First, a model should have an experienced attorney look over any modeling contract before signing it, but if you don’t have the money for one or can’t find one experienced in reviewing this type of contract, here are some pointers.

 

There are primarily three types of modeling contracts out there. With an exclusive contract, the agency is your exclusive manager and booking agency and you will not be allowed to sign with any other agency for the length of the contract. Therefore, as discussed below, make sure you are signing with a reputable agency that can advance your career and not an agency that will simply tie you up.

 

A non-exclusive contract allows you to find work on your own without the requirement that you pay the agency a commission. You may also sign other non-exclusive contracts with other agencies. If the agency you are meeting with does not have the money to advance your initial costs of building a portfolio and the like, this type of contract is better suited for you.

 

A one-time contract is one that is signed for just one job and one job only. When the project is complete, the contract has been fulfilled as long as you have also been paid. If you have not been paid, you can sue for breach of contract.

 

A fourth type of contract is a mother agency contract. This type of contract allows your agency to receive a commission even after you are signed by a subsequent agency. In this type of agreement, the agency may simply be looking to sell your rights to a bigger agency and still take a cut or they may even be a reputable agency, but one seeking to make every cent they can.

 

To understand how a mother agency contract works, you need to understand a little bit about how agencies are paid, and this is one of the key provisions of your contract. It is common for top-rated agencies to charge 20% commission on all monies a model receives for his or her work. Only a small percentage of very successful models over the years have been allowed by the agencies to bargain their commission down to 15% and an even smaller percentage of very successful models have been able to negotiate their own contracts with their own managers and lawyers.

 

On top of the standard 20% commission, such agencies have routinely been able to charge an additional 20% of the model’s fee for the job to the model’s employers and to pocket that 20% without giving any of it to the model. And in compensation for the agency advancing the model payments without having to wait until the agency is actually paid by the model’s employers, the agencies have often charged a further 5% commission to the model.

 

The mother agency clause of a contract, where an agency seeks to employ it, then further provides that the agency claims a commission on any modeling job the model ever obtains, even if that job is obtained by another agency. This is similar to where a scout discovers a model and obtains a percentage (often 5%) of the model’s earnings from the agency the scout directs the model to. A mother agency is often the first one that discovers a model. It is no coincidence that at the time when the model has the least amount of money and the least clout that there is no more important time, than at this early stage to have an attorney reviewing the model’s contracts.

 

Next, as discussed above, you need to research the modeling agency from whom you are being offered a contract. In a large market city such as New York, a reputable model agency should have the work and the money to invest in you to train you. That means they will advance the monies against your future earnings for a quality portfolio, comp cards, test shoots and the like. This is an important part of the contract and you need to understand what you will be responsible to repay. You do not want to owe the agency money if you or they do not find you work and payment for your work.

 

In a medium sized market, the agency may be able to direct you where to go for photos for your portfolio, training and composites, but they may not be financially able to advance you the costs. If you wind up paying for these items, you need to ensure that the agency you are signing with and the city you are in provide a sufficient amount of work to get you reimbursed for these costs.

 

In a small market (as well as larger ones) the only agencies you may find are those connected with modeling schools who use the agency simply as a hook to lure you into attending the modeling school. Be wary of such an agency that may either have no idea what they are doing or who seek to profit from your inexperience by profiting from every expense you will be directed to incur.

 

You want to read the sections of any contract that you ever sign that provide what constitutes a breach of contract by you or by the other party and what remedies or damages the parties are entitled to in the event of a breach. If the only person who can breach a contract is you, and if you are the only person who may owe anyone money in the event of a breach, run away as fast as you can.

 

2. Is a contract signed in the United States valid in other countries?

 

This question is easy. Yes, it is valid. A contract, however, can limit it’s terms or the geographical area (countries) to which it applies. In addition, you should ensure that the contract states that it is governed by the law of the state in the U.S. that is most convenient to you. If you live in Connecticut, you don’t want it governed by the law of North Dakota, much less the law of China, because you will be all but ensuring that to get your day in court, you will have to file suit in some far off jurisdiction. The contract should provide that in the event of any dispute in connection with the contract that either a lawsuit or mediation or arbitration shall take place in your state. If you want to save some costs, provide that the parties shall mediate or arbitrate any disputes. If you think you are always going to be in the right, then also provide that the prevailing party shall be entitled to any costs and attorney fees. If you don’t provide for that, you will not be entitled to be reimbursed for your attorney’s fees and costs, even if you win the mediation, arbitration or litigation.

 

3. What should a Model Release form include and what should be

emphasized in it, in order to defend the rights of the model?

 

Models, especially when they are just starting out, often feel intimidated. They fear that if they question the slightest thing in a model release, they will not get the job, more work, or be branded as being trouble. The problem is, if a model simply signs whatever she is given to sign, it will almost certainly favor the photographer and the client and take away almost every right a model may have to prevent the photos of her from being misused.

 

While it is true that a photographer needs some leeway, if you give an unscrupulous photographer the right to do anything he or she may conceive of doing with their photos of you, they may just use them in a very offensive way, and there is little a model can do to know what is in the mind or heart of a photographer he or she has just met.

 

Models who are just starting out rarely have confidence in any clout they may have. However, if the client or the photographer has selected you from all the other models they could have chosen, you may have more clout than you realize. And if you are willing to sign away every right you have in your images, you are in the wrong business to begin with.

 

People will tell you that only as you become more in demand that you can demand your fees for only certain uses of your images and allow their use for a limited amount of time. But it is at the very start of your career that you are most vulnerable to having your images being misused and if they are misused, you may find your career ending before it’s begun. Thus, if you see this type of term in a model release, you need to either run from the building, have it altered, or accept the consequences that may result from agreeing to: “I hereby release, discharge and save harmless the photographer or any other person distributing the finished product, even if the finished product is distorted, blurred, altered or used in such a way, intentionally or otherwise, such as to subject me to scandal, scorn, indignity or ridicule and waive any right to approve any use of the finished photograph or its use.”

 

On the other hand, a photographer must be allowed to enlarge a negative, manipulate the photograph, convert it to digital form, use photoshop or other software to enhance the quality of the photograph. While it is difficult to obtain the right to approve the uses of the photographs taken of you, you can limit the uses by excluding those uses that would be harmful to your career or reputation. If you want to prevent a photographer from using the photographs in such a manner, seek a provision that in the event of intentional humiliation of you in the use of the photos by the photographer, the release will be void. Some models who are unsuccessful obtaining such provisions will at least write restrictions in the margins of releases such as, “Photos may not be used on sexually explicit web sites or pornographic materials.” Be wary of allowing any use in the release and then limiting those uses only in a separate waiver of copyright. Conflicting provisions are a nightmare for the courts to weigh.

 

In the entertainment field, and that includes modeling, talent is king. You can still be friendly and cooperative while protecting your rights. Be kind to many, keep a healthy but skeptical distrust of those who would use you, and do harm to none and you will go far.

 

4. In which circumstances a cancellation of a contract is possible?

 

Fraud, duress, illegality, lack of age of consent. However, those defenses rarely come up unless a minor is involved and the contract was not signed by the minor’s parents or guardians. Even then, a parent or guardian’s signature may not be binding, if for instance, the intended use of the photographs is illegal.

 

That being said, there are still some ways to either void a contract or obtain damages when your images are misused. However, keep in mind that the broader the release you signed and the more rights you gave away, the harder it may be to assert these defenses or allegations in a lawsuit.

 

Here are four common ways in which photographers can get into trouble. First, if a photographer has intruded upon your seclusion to make the photographs, the photographer may be sued. While some courts have even ruled that such an intrusion can occur in a public as well as a private place, you will have a much easier case to pursue if the photographer used false pretenses to spy upon you in a private place such as your home. Second, if the photographs of you portray you in a false light, they may also entitle you to your day in court. Third, use of photographs of you for commercial gain without a model release may also entitle you to damages. Fourth, photographs used in an unexpected manner such as promoting pornographic products may also be deemed to constitute an invasion of privacy.

 

It is therefore imperative, that if you sign a model release, that you ensure it describes the subject matter it will be used in conjunction with or its intended use, in order to preserve your rights and your reputation.

 

If you have a modeling, copyright or entertainment law issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Palm Springs Modeling Lawyer and your Orange County Modeling Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with modeling and entertainment law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a modeling, copyright or entertainment law issue of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.



By: R. Sebastian Gibson

About the Author:

Prenatal Vitamins

Ghostwriting is a profession by which a professional writer is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other content which is credited to another person(1). Various celebrities, executives, political figures etc. hire ghostwriters to do the work for them and then they claim the work as their own.

A ghostwriter may be asked to edit and refine a rough draft or he may be asked to create an article from start to finish in which case the employer may give him a couple of points or a basic idea of what he requires. The time period spent by the Ghostwriter on writing the work depends upon the work or a time period set by the employer. The cost of the same would range from between $30,000 to $ 100,000.(2)

Plagiarize means to appropriate (ideas, passages etc) from another work or author.(3) It involves wrongfully appropriating someone else’s ideas, theories, research results, or even words and phrases and presenting them as one’s own.(4) Plagiarism is frowned upon all over the world. This is looked at very closely especially at Universities which require their students to write a dissertation or a thesis for obtaining a passing grade.

Infringement of copyright means any copy including any colourable imitation, made or imported in contravention of the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957.(5) The question that rises is whether plagiarism would amount to copyright infringement? The same can be answered through an illustration. Suppose an individual borrows a friend’s paper and passes it of as his/her own, it would constitute an academic offence and will have an impact upon his/her academic record. If the same individual has this very same paper published as his own and the original author gives his/her consent to the publication, then it may be a case of plagiarism but it won’t be a case of copyright infringement.(6)

In Universities, when a student is required by the rules of the institution to do a thesis or dissertation by himself, giving the same to Ghostwriters would amount to a contravention of the rules and guidelines laid down for the same. Thus the action of handing in another’s work as the individuals own is illegal in nature and would attract punishment.

To determine if a case of plagiarism amounts to copyright infringement, there exists three conditions. They are as follows:

1) the plagiarized work must be protected by copyright

2) the author has not given authorisation for the usage of his work

3) false attribution of authorship(7)

By plagiarizing, an individual is in a way stealing the hard work put in by another to be his own. The basic idea of Intellectual Property Rights protection is to reward the individual who has put in his skill and labour into the creation of the work. Attribution of the same by another person is unacceptable.

Ghost writing on the other hand is a method by which both parties are satisfied by the arrangement they draw up. If we look at it closely we see that the Ghostwriter knows beforehand that his work will be turned over to the individual who employs him, to be used in a manner which the employer wants. The Ghostwriter is given a very high remuneration for the same. The remuneration is the reward for his work. The Ghostwriter is aware of the same and is happy to hand over his work for the remuneration. There is no plagiarism in the same because there is no wrongful appropriation of the Ghostwriters work. He willfully turns over the work and gives up all rights in it for a due consideration.

The question is then whether copyright protection should be provided for the work. As the Ghostwriter is the original creator of the work, in whom should the copyright subsist? The question is answered by the fact that the Ghostwriter agrees to turn over all rights of the created work to the individual who employs him. He is given a good remuneration as his reward for the same. Thus it can safely be said that the copyright vests in the employer rather than the Ghostwriter.

The concept of Ghostwriting is on a steady increase. It is not something which is ethical in nature but in contemporary times, it is one which is very much in existence.

There is another issue in ghost Writing- the question is:

Would Ghost Writing amount to passing off?

To illustrate, when a fan of Jeffery Archer buys a book where the author is shown to be Jeffery Archer he expects to purchase a novel written by Jeffery Archer. If the novel is written by someone else then is the reader not deceived into buying a book which he believes to be authored by Jeffery Archer. Its obvious that is this day & age publishers would like to publish as many books in the name of a “Best Selling” author & therefore Ghost Writing becomes economically expedient when the author himself is not able to churn out en ough books.

1 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostwriter

2 publishersweekly.com/article/CA6338637.html

3 Collins English Dictionary

4 Michael Glick, Plagiarism, salami, ghostwriting and other forms of flattery; jada.ada.org

5 Sec. 35 of THE Indian Copyright Act,

6 Francisco, Javier Cabera Blazquez, Plagiarism: an Original Sin

7 Supra at fn. 6



By: Mike Smith

About the Author:

Get a Mortgage

Have you ever wondered where all these somewhat confusing terms came from? Well the answer is they are all types of Lawyers originated from various legal systems. Some of the terms are from the English legal system, some are from Scotland and some from the American legal system.

An Attorney is somebody legally empowered to represent another person, or act on their behalf.

A Lawyer is somebody who can give legal advice and has been trained in the law.

Are Attorney and Lawyer are synonyms? Basically yes, but they are not necessarily Interchangeable terms, you cannot for instance say I give you the Power of a Lawyer, but you definitely might say I give you the power of Attorney…

Look again at the above definitions, does it now make any sense? Off course it does.

An attorney in fact is an agent who conducts business under authority that is controlled and limited by a written document called a letter, or power, of attorney granted by the principal. An attorney at law is an officer of a court of law authorized to represent the person employing him (the client) in legal proceedings.

A Solicitor- One that solicits, especially one that seeks trade or contributions. The chief law officer of a city, town, or government department but does not act as an advocate in court, as opposed to the Attorney who pleads in court. (English Law).

A Barrister(Called Advocate in Scotland) presents the case in court. Most senior and distinguished barristers are designated King’s (Queen’s) counsel.

A Counselor at law- In the past at least in some U.S states there was a distinction between the term A Counselor at Law who argued the case in court and an attorney who prepared the case but didn’t argue it.

Nowadays an attorney at law is authorized to exercise all the functions of a practicing lawyer. All of them must, however, like the ordinary attorney, be admitted to the bar. The term attorney is also used for county, state, and federal prosecuting officers, as county attorney, district attorney, and attorney general.

Lawyers, also called attorneys, act as both advocates and advisors in our society. As advocates, they represent one of the parties in criminal and civil trials by presenting evidence and arguing in court to support their client. As advisors, lawyers counsel their clients concerning their legal rights and obligations and suggest particular courses of action in business and personal matters. Although all lawyers are licensed to represent parties in court, some appear in court more frequently than others. Trial lawyers, who specialize in trial work, must be able to think quickly and speak with ease and authority. In addition, familiarity with courtroom rules and strategy is particularly important in trial work. Still, trial lawyers spend the majority of their time outside the courtroom, conducting research, interviewing clients and witnesses, and handling other details in preparation for trial.

Lawyers types:

The legal system affects nearly every aspect of our society, from buying a home to crossing the street. Lawyers hold positions of great responsibility and are obligated to adhere to a strict code of ethics.

The more detailed aspects of a lawyer’s job depend upon his or her field of specialization and position. Although all lawyers are licensed to represent parties in court, some appear in court more frequently than others.

Lawyers may specialize in a number of different areas, such as bankruptcy, probate, international, or elder law. Those specializing in environmental law, for example, may represent public-interest groups, waste disposal companies, or construction firms in their dealings with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other Federal and State agencies. These lawyers help clients prepare and file for licenses and applications for approval before certain activities may occur. In addition, they represent clients’ interests in administrative adjudications.

Some lawyers concentrate in the growing field of intellectual property, helping to protect clients’ claims to copyrights, artwork under contract, product designs, and computer programs. Still other lawyers advise insurance companies about the legality of insurance transactions, writing insurance policies to conform with the law and to protect companies from unwarranted claims.

Most lawyers are found in private practice, where they concentrate on criminal or civil law. In criminal law, lawyers represent individuals who have been charged with crimes and argue their cases in courts of law. Attorneys dealing with civil law assist clients with litigation, wills, trusts, contracts, mortgages, titles, and leases. Other lawyers handle only public-interest cases—civil or criminal—which may have an impact extending well beyond the individual client.

These issues might involve patents, government regulations, and contracts with other companies, property interests, or collective-bargaining agreements with unions.

Other lawyers work for legal-aid societies—private, nonprofit organizations established to serve disadvantaged people. These lawyers generally handle civil, rather than criminal, cases. A relatively small number of trained attorneys work in law schools.

The real life situations have created “specialties” according to business profitability. This is how terms like Vioxx Lawyer, DUI Attorney, Lemon Law Lawyer , Structured Settlements Lawyer and others came about.



By: Mariah

About the Author:

Child Custody Lawyers

ght (c) 2009 Jeffrey Matsen

There is no substitute for creative and well thought out tax strategy followed by the implementation of a very specific and practical plan.

Peter was the President of a small manufacturing company and acted as the General Manager of its operations. His wife, Helen, was the Executive Vice President and was responsible for all of the Company’s financial and administrative matters. Peter had just designed a new mixing machine that was used by the Company to produce low grade urethane foam and had been training plant personnel on the use of the machine. On one occasion, Peter was operating the machine and his sweater sleeve caught on a protruding bolt and his arm was pulled into the machine. As a result, Peter suffered serious injury including a fractured arm, soft tissue lacerations and second and third degree burns. The injury required surgery and the installation of a metal plate in his forearm and it was a likely that Peter would suffer some permanent loss of some use of his arm.

Peter and his corporate counsel then consulted me about the possibility of Peter putting in a claim against the Corporation for damages. The corporate counsel and I recommended that Peter retain a personal injury lawyer to handle his grievance. The personal injury lawyer and the corporate counsel negotiated a six figure settlement, which at the time (1977), was a very substantial amount. I recommended that the Company deduct the settlement payment to Peter as a legitimate income tax expense under Section 162(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and that Peter exclude the receipt of the payment on his income tax return under Section 104(a)(2) as compensation received on account of personal injuries.

The IRS subsequently audited both the Company and Peter and Helen’s personal Tax Returns. They argued that the payment from the Company to Peter was a disguised dividend and, therefore, not deductible by the Company and not excludable from Peter’s income. Peter and the Company vigorously objected to the IRS position and they hired me to fight the battle for them in the US Tax Court.

Of course, the whole position of the IRS was based on the fact that the transaction in question was between a closely held corporation and its President who along with his wife, Helen, were the controlling shareholders. Accordingly, under these facts, Peter and the Company were, obviously, not dealing at arm’s length. This engendered a greater burden on Peter and the Company to show the legitimacy of the transaction. I argued that the Court should compare the actions of Peter and the Company with what would have occurred if the transaction had been between parties who were dealing at arm’s length. Corporations, by definition are independent entities, separate from the owners yet the IRS was treating them as one in the same. If Peter had been an employee of the Company who was not a controlling shareholder and had suffered this injury, he more than likely would have hired an independent attorney to pursue his claim, just as we had recommended that Peter do. The Company’s attorney and Peter’s personal injury attorney negotiated a reasonable settlement just as probably would have happened had Peter been a typical employee with the Company without any ownership interest.

In closing arguments to the Court, I stated that the decision should be based on whether there was a reasonable basis independent of tax considerations for the Company to deduct the settlement payment and for Peter to exclude it as compensation for personal injuries. The fact that Peter was a controlling shareholder of the Corporation should not disqualify him from the reasonableness of receiving a tax free settlement under the law which allows for the Corporation to deduct such settlement payment.

During the final arguments of the case, the IRS attorney finished his closing remarks by stating that the whole transaction was just a manipulated tax saving scheme. My retort was that the obvious inference of the IRS argument was that Peter intentionally stuck his arm in the machine and suffered the grievous injury on purpose. I told the Judge that this would truly be “tax planning with a vengeance”. The Judge acknowledged the absurdity of this notion with a smile.

In any event, the Judge ruled in our favor and Peter and his Company were able to receive a huge income tax benefit. Of course, the moral of the story is that Peter and his Company had the proper tax and legal advice which included a very practical and well thought out plan: 1) the hiring of an independent personal injury lawyer for Peter; 2) the representation of the client by Peter’s personal injury lawyer which was backed up by medical reports; 3) the negotiation by the corporate attorney, reviewing the claim and the medical reports and 4) the action by the Board of Directors of the Company to give effect to the settlement proposal.

Of course, the preparation of a compelling brief to the Tax Court along with a winning trial presentation and closing argument were critical. There is, obviously, no substitute for creative and well thought out tax strategy followed by the implementation of a very specific and practical plan.

If you would like to read more, the citation for the case is Maxwell v Commissioner, United States Tax Court, 9T.C.107 (1990). As an aside, a few weeks after the issuance of the written of opinion by the Tax Court, Time Magazine ran a short article on the case with the implication that the taxpayer had really gotten away with an unbelievable tax dodge and huge tax benefits. I wrote a letter to Editor in reply to the article, more or less, summarizing my closing arguments to the Judge and pointing out that if this really was a tax dodge, it carried a very high price of injury and disability to Peter (my letter was never published). As another aside, the IRS counsel on the case, who is currently in private practice, refers me clients.

By: Jeffrey Matsen

About the Author:

Get Magicjack

TYPES OF LICENSES OF PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS

There are several different types of licenses involving Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights, although I will cover only a few.

One of the most common types of licenses involving Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights is the exclusive license. An exclusive license is the granting of permission to a licensor the ability to use that intellectual property. The exclusivity typically operates on the licensor, preventing the licensor (the owner of the Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights) from licensing those Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights to another third party. That license can also hold a provision preventing the licensee from sub-licensing that product to another third party.

Non-exclusive licenses of Patents, Trademarks or Copyrights will allow a licensor the ability to license to more than one person or corporation. As such, non-exclusive licenses are less valuable than exclusive licenses because there may be greater competition between rivaling licensees.

Another type of license is a geographically defined license. These licenses will allow licensees to market, distribute, and sell those products within a specific geographic region. For instance, some licenses will restrict the geographic scope within a country, a state, or a city. Licenses also work for Trademarks and Copyrights as well.

You should note that many licenses carry various provisions for verifying sales. To verify sales, some licenses enable the licensor to periodically check the books of a licensee to verify the sales of the underlying subject matter so as to determine the amount of royalties due.

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By: andrew schroeder

About the Author:

Baby Showers

Creating a work of art, writing a book, or releasing a publication is not an easy task. By all means, everyone involved in such endeavors will do anything to protect them. The Copyright Law serves as a written shield to secure ownership of a publication or any other intellectual property. From another perspective, if you are the end user of books, websites, music, or any thing that you know that might have been produced after a serious effort, you must also know the copyright law. In Germany, the copyright law is continually evolving. It follows the EU Copyright Directive which grants 70 years of copyright protection after the death of the author. A few years back, the German Copyright law encompassed digital works. Issues have also been raised to expand it to the use of hard disks for making copies of copyrighted works. Whether you are the creator of a copyrighted work or the end use of a commodity, the law must be respected. They are beginning to be imposed strictly in all corners of the globe. Everyone is starting to exert a conscious effort to protect works from piracy or illegal use. Lawyers in Munich will be able to give you advice if you are not quite sure if you are violating any provision of the copyright law. Tips on How to Avoid Violating the Copyright Law Knowing the law is the best way to avoid any legal complaint being filed against you or your company. Here are some practical tips which you can use from day to day to make sure that you adhere to the Copy Right Law: • Never assume that acknowledging the author or owner of work spares you from infringement. Remember that using a copyrighted material requires an explicit consent from the author or owner of the work. • Never copy a material even if it doesn’t clearly state that its protected by copyright. It will be best to play safe if you are not certain. Most laws also grants protection to published or digital works without the need for a written notice. • Check any licensing agreement that a work might have. This will save you from all the trouble and legal problems. • When you have inappropriately used a copyrighted material be prepared for the consequences. Removing the material from your publication or website doesn’t automatically clear your record. The owner of the material has all the right to go after any violators of the copyright law. • If you cannot find the copyright holder, search. If you still cannot find the copyright holder, search again. Never assume that a material is a free for all source since the author or owner cannot be easily identified. Lawyers in Munich will be able to discuss with you any implications of the copyright law which may impact your output or product.



By: jamiehanson

About the Author:

Puppies for Sale

The World Wide Web has always been considered as vast, unfathomable, and even an ultimately diverse virtual arena where people from all over the world are able share all kinds of information with one another despite the distance, the difference in culture, language, and even age and gender.  But this power has its disadvantages and we see that in the copyright violations that plague the academic community.  Because of the easy access to shared information, many internet users think that these works are free for the public domain and can be taken, copied, and distributed for others without prior notice to the owners of such works.  This is a violation not only of the person’s rights to copyright his or her works but also his respect as the creator or owner of such work.

What most do not know is that anything posted online on the Internet is still considered “published” work and are therefore still qualified for copyright protection.  So if you think that your works can be made public to the online community, it is important that you know copy laws internet before considering putting up your works online. There are thousands of internet users who want anything that is free and downloadable for their own personal agenda, so it’s best that you know what to do to be able to exercise your rights with regards to copyrighting on the internet.  Remember that no matter what, a site owner, author, director, or even an artist deserves to give permission to people who wish to use their works for other reasons such as redistribution or personal use for school or work. 

So exactly does one enforce their authority over their ownership on the internet?  An actual copyright law that enforces copyright laws internet is known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.  This act is designed to primarily limit the liability of ISPs or Internet Service Providers due to copyright infringements that their subscribers experience while using the company’s systems and networks.  It was also enacted in order to both preserve the rights of those who rightfully have ownership of works posted on the internet and to immune ISPs from possible accusations and liabilities on their part for such violations.  So if ever you encounter an instance or situation where any of your works were taken, reposted, or redistributed without your sole permission, you can write a DMCA letter to the internet user’s ISP server who made the offense as well as to search engines like Google or Yahoo.

There are websites all over the World Wide Web that provide good advice as well for people who need to know about copyright laws and the internet, so if you think you need more information about this all you have to do is search through Google and Yahoo.  You’ll stumble upon thousands of websites such as this one that will provide you with tips and step-by-step instructions on what to do when faced with a situation involving copyright infringement. 



By: Bob Silber

About the Author:

Relaxing Music

Once fully trained in matters of the law and legal system, a person is called a lawyer; in America other names are also used for instance: advocate, legal advisor or the more popular, attorney. When a lawyer enters the courtroom to represent a client they are called an advocate; whilst they are able to appear in court to represent their clients some prefer this work more than others. Often they will just be required to give advice on law and then act as a legal advisor; clients use them for suggestions on available courses of action relating to legal issues which affect them.

One who primarily practices law in a courtroom is a trial lawyer; of particular importance in trial work is the ability to think quickly and speak with ease and authority.Trial lawyers spend the majority of their time outside the courtroom; much of the work involved is looking into the case with interviews, statements and evidence plus legal procedures to check and follow.

It is difficult to get away from the law in any of its aspects; it affects everyone’s life from negotiating a house purchase to organizing a will and the reason why lawyers are governed by a very strict code of practice. Some areas of law are so highly specialized that legal representatives may never have to appear in a courtroom; although they are all licensed too represent in court when required.

Many areas of law now exist to meet the needs of a complex society; just a few examples are listed here: Bankruptcy,Insurance,International law, Personal Injury, Construction Law.

Considering the number of legal representatives there are, it is surprising just how many will never be required to attend a court of law!

The environment also as a branch of law where they might act on behalf of the government, private citizens or companies; some are shown below:

Construction Firms,State agencies,Oil Companies

These help clients prepare and file for licenses and applications for approval before certain activities may occur; they also represent clients’ interests in administrative adjudications.

Some attorneys concentrate in the growing field of intellectual property rights; protecting clients’ claims to copyrights, artwork under contract, product designs, and computer programs. Some lawyers who specialize in insurance law are employed in permanent positions within insurance companies; they investigate the legality of insurance transactions, writing insurance policies to conform with the law and protect companies from false claims.

The vast majority of attorneys work within the private sector where they can devote their energies to either criminal or civil law; criminal lawyers try cases or defend the accused party; whereas civil law deals with civil disputes, usually between two parties.

Another high profile legal position is in cases where the public interest is served; these cases may have an impact affecting communities in general, not just an individual, and can involve anything from government regulations to property interests. Lawyers who are endowed with a little more social conscience are the ones who work for charities and legal aid schemes; they help to look after the legal rights of disadvantaged and less fortunate people around the world.



By: James Hunaban

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Potty Training