The Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously approved S. 978, a bill that would raise from a misdemeanor to a felony the unauthorized performance or streaming of a copyrighted work when the infringement takes place at least ten times and either reaps $2,500 or more in revenue, or avoids the payment of license fees whose fair market value would exceed $5,000. Mike Masnick at TechDirt thinks the bill could wind up authorizing the jailing of some persons who embed YouTube videos or post videos of themselves lip-synching hit tunes; CopyHype defends the bill and dismisses the concerns as overblown.
When regulation bites
The EPA may face escalating pressure to un-ban some pesticides effective against bedbugs [Michelle Minton, CEI]
“Suit demands CNN offer online captions for deaf”
Disabled-rights lawyers said the suit against the news network “is the first in the nation to seek equal treatment for the deaf from a commercial content provider on the Internet.” Expect many others to follow. [Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle]
Employers liable for not providing work-family balance?
Evil HR Lady and Ted Frank (more here) note some ambitious contentions in a lawsuit against Bayer Healthcare.
Tavern’s terrifying Taurus, cont’d
Yet another lawsuit against a Manhattan bar filed by a patron who fell off its mechanical bull [New York Post]
“Birthers Sue Esquire for $120 Million Over Satirical Article”
Leading birthers Joseph Farah and Jerome Corsi are suing Esquire for $120 million because the magazine published a satirical article headlined, ‘BREAKING! Jerome Corsi’s Birther Book Pulled From Shelves!,’ Forbes’ Jeff Bercovici reports.” [Atlantic Wire, Daily Caller]
“Cop who shot Danroy Henry sues store where he allegedly got alcohol”
Follow the bouncing blame: “Pleasantville police officer Aaron Hess, who shot and killed Pace University football player Danroy Henry, Jr., is suing a local liquor store for allegedly providing Henry with alcohol. … Hess has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a grand jury but the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing the case and Henry’s family has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Hess and the police department.” [News12, NY]
WSJ op-ed on same-sex marriage and religious exemptions
I’ve got an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal on New York’s vote last Friday to legally recognize same-sex marriage. I also applaud the inclusion of protections for religious institutions (and would have favored strengthening the protections beyond the current level). The WSJ frames the discussion as “Two Views from the Right,” and they’ve got Maggie Gallagher giving the opposite side.
June 30 roundup
- First Amendment wins as SCOTUS strikes down violent-videogame ban [Ilya Shapiro, Hans Bader] Justice Scalia cites “Snow White” and “Hansel and Gretel” [Ann Althouse]
- More Wal-Mart v. Dukes analysis [Schwartz, Althouse, Trask, Fisher, Beck, Sergio Campos/Prawfs] And aftermath for the litigants and others: ABA Journal (Pelosi wants legislative fix), CLP (plaintiffs), Reuters (law firm that’s won hundreds of millions in class actions complains it’s sunk $7 million into the case), Ted Frank (responding to that), Bay Citizen (“Foundations Could Pull Plug on Wal-Mart Suit”).
- “Would the REINS Act Rein In Federal Regulation?” [Jonathan Adler, Regulation magazine (PDF)]
- “Hypotheses Are Verified By Testing, Not By Submitting Them To Lay Juries For A Vote” [David Oliver; Drug and Device Law on denture cream product liability suit]
- Clash between federalism and some med mal reform proposals could have implications for ObamaCare battle [John Baker, Daily Caller; earlier]
- Dan Snyder Gets a Taste of D.C.’s New Anti-SLAPP Law [Citizen Media Law, earlier]
- Court skeptical of testimony of lap dance expert [Legal Blog Watch]
Australia: employers liable for home injuries of work-at-home staff
“In the first fall at 6pm on August 21, 2006, Ms Hargreaves was going to get cough medicine from the fridge in her sock-clad feet…. The tribunal found both falls ‘arose out of Ms Hargreaves’ employment with Telstra’ which made them workplace injuries. Legal experts said the ruling could force employers to conduct workplace health and safety audits in the homes of the one-in-four Queenslanders who regularly work from their private residence for lifestyle reasons.” A law professor said employers “should not enter lightly into home work arrangements” because homes are “inherently dangerous places,” while a labor union spokeswomen said employers should not be able to “contract out” of safety and health obligations. [Courier-Mail; my related take a while back]