Archive for the ‘Legal’ Category
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Back in July we posted about The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress asking for comments from the public about amending its regulations. Today, the deadline to submit comments was extended to October 16, 2009.
From the Post:
The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress is proposing to amend its regulations governing mandatory deposit of electronic works published in the United States and available only online.
The amendments would establish that such works are exempt from mandatory deposit until a demand for deposit of copies or phonorecords of such works is issued by the Copyright Office. They would also set forth the process for issuing and responding to a demand for deposit, amend the definition of a ‘‘complete copy’’ of a work for purposes of mandatory deposit of online–only works, and establish new best edition criteria for electronic serials available only online. The Copyright Office seeks public comment on these proposed revisions.
Reply comments must be received in the Office of the General Counsel of the Copyright Office no later than October 16, 2009.
So far, seven comments have been received. You can read the full text of them here.
You’ll find comments (PDF) from:
+ Association of American Publishers, Inc.
+ American Library Association and Association of Research Libraries
+ Software & Information Industry Association
+ Newspaper Association of America
and others.
Source: Copyright Office, Library of Congress
Posted in Intellectual Property, Legal | No Comments »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
From the Article:
An agreement between the Oregon State Bar Association and a Washington, D.C., legal publisher will allow state-licensed attorneys free online access to a large national law library.
Fastcase Inc. agreed to provide more than 16,000 Oregon attorneys access to its law library. The database collects judicial opinions and statutes from all 50 states, federal district courts, federal bankruptcy courts, nationwide federal court of appeals cases and the U.S. Supreme Court.
More in the Full Article
Source: Portland Business Journal
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Legal, Resources | No Comments »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
From the globalEDGE Description:
Produced by the member law firms of Lexwork International, this Compendium provides trade law summaries for over 30 jurisdictions prepared by law firms located there. Includes most significant US trading partners. An excellent resource for companies intending to do business in foreign countries and some US states. Summaries are listed below with the marking “a Lexwork International exclusive.”
Access Compendium of Trade Laws
Source: (via globalEDGE, Michigan St. University)
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Legal | No Comments »
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Florida Public Notices
FloridaPublicNotices.com is a database of public and legal notices published in newspapers throughout the state of Florida. You can search through this database to find notices important to you, your family, or your business, and also sign up to have these notices e-mailed directly to you.
This is a combined effort by the newspapers of Florida and the Florida Press Service to make it as convenient and easy as possible to access public notices and legal ads published in various communities throughout the state.
Source: Florida Press Association
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Source File | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
From an Announcement:
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Law Library of Congress presents this guide providing commentary and recommended resources.
Sections Include:
+ Overview
+ Legislative Branch Documents
+ Executive Branch Documents
Direct to Resource Guide
More Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month via the Library of Congress
Sources: Law Library of Congress / LC
See Also: Looking for Stats and Facts About the Hispanic Population in the U.S.?
This “fast fact” guide is loaded down with all sorts of interesting and useful numbers.
Posted in Calendars and Special Events, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Resources for Educators, Source File, Statistics | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Access to Government Information In the United States (PDF; 146 KB)
The U.S. Constitution makes no specific allowance for any one of the three branches of the federal government to have access to information held by the others. No provision in the U.S. Constitution expressly establishes a procedure for public access to government information.
Congress has legislated various public access laws. Among these laws are two records access statutes,
- the Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act or FOIA; 5 U.S.C. S 552), and
- the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. S 552a),
and two meetings access statutes:
- the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA; 5 U.S.C. App.), and
- the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. S 552b).
The American separation of powers model of government may inherently prompt interbranch conflicts over the accessibility of information. These conflicts are neither unexpected nor necessarily destructive. Although there is considerable interbranch cooperation in the sharing of information and records, such conflicts over access may continue on occasion.
This report offers an overview of the four information access laws noted above, and provides citations to additional resources related to these tools.
Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Papers and Presentations, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Facebook fights Virginia’s demand for user data, photos
The state of Virginia has backed away from its attempts to force Facebook to divulge the complete contents of a user’s account to settle a dispute over workers’ compensation, narrowly avoiding what promised to be a high-profile privacy battle in federal court.
On Monday, the Virginia’s Workers Compensation Commission said it was no longer going to levy a $200-a-day fine on the social-networking site for refusing to comply with a subpoena from an airline that previously employed a flight attendant named Shana Hensley.
Facebook had objected to the June 4 subpoena from Colgan Air–the Manassas, Va.-based company that operates under the names United Express, US Airways Express, and Continental Connection–on privacy grounds. It said federal law prohibits divulging user data in response to a subpoena, and promised to “further litigate this issue by seeking, among other things, an injunction from the federal courts.”
In principle, this isn’t a novel concept: employers and insurance companies have long used private investigators to ferret out fraud and show that someone who claims to be a virtual cripple actually participates in waterskiing competitions.
Because social-networking sites offer such information-rich glimpses into a person’s private life, insurers and employers have begun eyeing them. A personal injury lawyer in Elmira, N.Y., noted in July that an accident victim claiming to be severely injured was, thanks to Facebook, revealed to be playing in soccer games. An article last week in Business Insurance said that social-networking sites revealed exaggerated claims of injuries from a judo instructor, a bowler, and a rodeo bronco rider.
In the Colgan Air case, Facebook says it’s happy that privacy rights prevailed. “We’re pleased with the outcome and that our users’ information will be protected,” said Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt.
Source: CNET News
Posted in Access to Information, Legal, Privacy, Search News, Social Media, Source File, Technology and Internet, Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Sunday, September 6th, 2009
Reaping the Digital Dividend: Is it Time to Take the Great Leap?
It might be said that little of great moment has changed in academic law libraries in the past five years. Although there has been no major upheaval there have still been important developments. The trend towards online access over print which was still developing in 2001 is now unquestionable and the amount of law-related material on the Web has expanded exponentially. In itself this is a major development even though it has happened incrementally and is now taken for granted. Because of the continued growth of law material on the Web and its widespread general acceptance, we are arguably now in a position to take some radical steps which would allow us to reap the ‘digital dividend’.
The ability to find, assess and retrieve relevant information is only one aspect that augurs well for the continued need for libraries and librarians. Another is the continued need which humans have to come together in a pleasant environment, to work, study and socialize. Law students are social creatures and use the law library not just because it has books. They use law libraries because they like to encounter each other, observe each other (yes, check out the talent), and work in a space that is comfortable and convenient for their other activities. Many of them live in situations which make it difficult to study. They may be parents, or live in shared accommodation. The library is a haven and refuge, and often the only place available; it must be a place to linger in, not rush through on the way to somewhere more comfortable.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 177 KB)
Source: International Journal of Legal Information (Winter 2006)
Posted in Legal, Libraries and Librarianship, Papers and Presentations, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Secretary Napolitano Announces New Directives on Border Searches of Electronic Media
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced new directives to enhance and clarify oversight for searches of computers and other electronic media at U.S. ports of entry—a critical step designed to bolster the Department’s efforts to combat transnational crime and terrorism while protecting privacy and civil liberties.
…
The new directives address the circumstances under which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can conduct border searches of electronic media—consistent with the Department’s Constitutional authority to search other sensitive non-electronic materials, such as briefcases, backpacks and notebooks, at U.S. borders.
The directives, available at DHS.gov, will enhance transparency, accountability and oversight of electronic media searches at U.S. ports of entry and includes new administrative procedures designed to reflect broad considerations of civil liberties and privacy protections—measures designed to ensure that officers and agents understand their responsibilities to protect individual private information and that individuals understand their rights.
Searches of electronic media, permitted by law and carried out at borders and ports of entry, are vital to detecting information that poses serious harm to the United States, including terrorist plans, or constitutes criminal activity—such as possession of child pornography and trademark or copyright infringement.
+ CBP Border Search of Electronic Devices Containing Information
(PDF, 10 pages – 4.87 MB)
+ ICE Border Searches of Electronic Media (PDF, 10 pages – 453 KB)
+ Privacy Impact Assessment: Border Searches of Electronic Information
(PDF, 51 pages – 6 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Intellectual Property, Legal, Privacy, Search News | No Comments »
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Firefox Plug-In Frees Court Records, Threatens Judiciary Profits
Access to the nation’s federal law proceedings just got a public interest hack, thanks to programmers from Princeton, Harvard and the Internet Archive, who released a Firefox plug-in designed to make millions of pages of legal documents free.
Free as in beer and free as in speech.
The Problem: Federal courts use an archaic, document-tracking system known as PACER as their official repository for complaints, court motions, case scheduling and decisions. The system design resembles a DMV computer system, circa 1988 — and lacks even the most basic functionality, such as notifications when a case gets a new filing. But what’s worse is that PACER charges 8 cents per page (capped at $2.40 per doc) and even charges for searches — an embarrassing limitation on public access to information, especially when the documents are copyright-free.
The Solution: RECAP, a Firefox-only plugin, that rides along as one usually uses PACER — but it automatically checks if the document you want is already in its own database. The plug-in’s tagline, ‘Turning PACER around,’ alludes to the fact that its name comes from spelling PACER backwards. RECAP’s database is being seeded with millions of bankruptcy and Federal District Court documents, which have been donated, bought or gotten for free by open-government advocate Carl Malamud and fellow travelers such as Justia.
And if the document you request isn’t already in the public archive, then RECAP adds the ones you purchase to the public repository.
Source: Wired
Hat tip: JM
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Search News, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Friday, August 28th, 2009
An Evaluation of Private Foundation Copyright Licensing Policies, Practices and Opportunities
This project, a joint effort of the Berkman Center, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute, with funding from Hewlett and Ford, undertook to examine the copyright licensing policies and practices of a group of twelve private foundations. In particular, it looked at the extent to which charitable foundations are aware of and have begun to use open licenses such as Creative Commons or the GPL. We surveyed foundation staff and leaders and examined a number of examples where foundations have begun to take advantage of new licensing models for materials and resources produced by their own staff, their consultants and their grantees. The complete results of our study and our comprehensive analysis and recommendations are contained in the full Report of this project.
+ Executive Summary (PDF; 125 KB)
+ Full Report (PDF; 520 KB)
+ Survey Report (FDR Group) (PDF; 213 KB)
+ Appendices (PDF; 727 KB)
Source: Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
Posted in Intellectual Property, Legal, Source File | No Comments »
Friday, August 21st, 2009
From the Announcement:
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has appointed Roberta I. Shaffer to the position of Law Librarian of Congress.
In announcing his selection, Billington said, “Roberta Shaffer brings to this critical management position both extraordinary vision and demonstrated leadership skills that will continue the Law Library’s historically exemplary service to Congress and to the public while addressing the challenges of providing legal research and reference services in our rapidly changing and technologically driven world.”
Shaffer graduated cum laude from Vassar College with an A.B. degree in political science/demography, with highest honors from Emory University with a master’s degree in law librarianship and cum laude with a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. She is admitted to the Texas, District of Columbia and U.S. Supreme Court bars.
The news release continues with many more of Shaffer’s accomplishments.
Access the Law Library of Congress
Source: Law Library of Congress
Posted in Legal, Libraries and Librarianship | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
This paper by Barbara Jones (Wesleyan University, Connecticut) will be presented at the upcoming World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in Milan, Italy.
From the Abstract:
Upholding user privacy is one of the highest ethical principles in librarianship and is included in most national library associations’ ethical codes. This paper is an account of how the Library Connection, a Connecticut USA consortium, displayed extraordinary courage to protect their users’ privacy on the Internet. To date, the Library Connection’s successful challenge to the USA PATRIOT Act is the first for the US library community. Based on the Library Connection’s testimony to the United States Senate, this paper will 1) give a step-by-step account of the librarians’ ordeal; 2) will underscore the ethical principles the Library Connection upheld; and 3) discuss what can be learned from their experience.
Access the Full Text (7 pages; PDF)
Source: International Federation of Library Associations
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Libraries and Librarianship, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Download Your State’s Advance Directives
Caring Connections provides free advance directives and instructions for each state that can be opened as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
These materials are copyrighted by Caring Connections. Permission is granted to download a single copy of any portion of these texts. Use by individuals for personal and family benefit is specifically authorized and encouraged. Further copies or publication are prohibited without express written permission.
Source: National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
See: Preparing for the Final Hours (Wall Street Journal)
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Legal, Source File | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
From the Announcement:
Courtport, LLC, a legal research and technology company, today announced the launch of its free federal court docket retrieval site, FreeCourtDockets.com, which enables anyone to retrieve full court dockets from any U.S. district civil, criminal, or bankruptcy court, as well as from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Claims, and the U.S. Court of International Trade.
“The public has been voicing their displeasure with the federal government’s unwillingness to provide free access to court dockets for quite some time, and with the support of sponsors, advertisers, and donations, we are happy to provide a solution to this problem.” said Paul Bush, CEO and founder of Courtport.
To manage its data costs the site may at times limit how many dockets a user can retrieve in a single day, but no paid subscription or credit card information is required. As advertising revenue continues to increase this limitation will be increased or eliminated. At this time access is granted by invitation only, and anyone can quickly apply for an invitation on the site.
Source: News Release
Hat Tip: Library Stuff
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Legal, Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
From the Column:
The biggest book deal ever is about to come under attack. Google reached a $125 million legal settlement last year with book publishers and authors so that it could digitize some 18 million books. A federal judge will soon review its terms, with the Justice Department likely urging adjustments to avoid antitrust issues. Authors are complaining about their paltry share from the settlement. Librarians warn about the implications of one company having the only clear rights to old, out-of-print books.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Posted in Digitization Projects, Legal | No Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Today, ars technica alerts us to a new service, free, from Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy.
From the Article:
Federal court documents are currently made available to the public through a crufty system called PACER. For eight cents per page, users can download filings and other relevant documents associated with individual cases.
[Snip]
A team led by CITP director Ed Felten has devised a novel means of boosting the availability of PACER documents outside of the paywall. They have created a new Firefox extension called RECAP that seamlessly replicates PACER content and uploads it to a mirror hosted by the Internet Archive. When RECAP users browse the PACER site, the content that they pay to view will be uploaded to the mirror by the Firefox extension. Users will get free access to the documents that are already hosted by the mirror.
Over time, free PACER content will accumulate at the Internet Archive’s mirror, making it unnecessary for additional users to pay PACER for access to those files. The unrestricted availability of the mirrored legal documents will empower legal researchers and members of the public who can’t simply pass the access costs along to clients as most lawyers do.
This blog post provides an idea of how much material is available at this time.
The ars Technica article also mentions OpenRegs.com.
A website established in June by Mercatus Center researcher Jerry Brito and programmer Peter Snyder to help people navigate federal regulations.
See Also: Michael Arrington at TechCrunch takes on the legality of the service.
In late May, 2009, ResourceShelf posted about the “just released” Open Jurist project who’s aim it is to compile, organize, and make searchable opinions (for free) At that time the database contained about 647,000 opinions.
Hat Tip: LS
Posted in Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Legal, Source File | No Comments »
