Tag Archives: Lawyer

Copyright Case: Who Owns “Happy Birthday”?

Time to blow out the candles

Thinking of video taping that special someone’s Birthday festivities? Not so fast… You may be documenting an unfolding crime. Unbeknownst to myself and the general public, you could potentially be treading the line of infringing upon United States Copyright Law. As soon as the widely believed “timeless classic”, “Happy Birthday to You” ballad escapes your lips you are leaving yourself susceptible to civil lawsuit by the copyright holder; in this case, Warner/Chappell Music Inc. To prevent one’s self from running afoul of the law one must pay the $1500 licensing fee imposed by Warner/Chappell Music Inc.

Coffee Lawsuit Brews Up Trouble For Airline

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Java’s brewin’

I think it is safe to say that almost everyone has heard of the infamous McDonald’s coffee case, where the plaintiff received a healthy lump sum for suffering third-degree burns (some all the way to the bone) in her pelvic region when she spilled hot coffee. Why is it that companies keep finding themselves in hot water with hot coffee? Lourdes Cervantes, who is a resident of Houston TX, filed suit against Continental Airlines over an incident of hot coffee. Cervantes was on her way to Newark NJ from Madrid on board Continental Airlines Flight 63 where a stewardess placed a cup of coffee on the tray in front of her lap. The complaint states that the passenger in seated ahead of Cervantes reclined his seat, causing the coffee to slide off of the tray table on her lap mid-flight.

Father Sues Track Team After Son is Excluded

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On track for a lawsuit

This lawsuit gives a new meaning to the phrase “Speed kills”. A father in New Jersey has sued his son’s school for kicking him off of the track team. Mawusimensah Mears, who ran track for Sterling Regional High School in Camden County, had reportedly been skipping out on practice after his coaches left him on the bench. The boy’s father, Ervin Mears Jr, goes as far as to claim that his was being ridiculed by his teammates for being faster than them. The younger Mears had also missed practice due to an injury and a death in the family. The father is seeking damages up to $40 million against the school, track coach, and principal, among other parties. Read more

Minnesota Man On Scooter Faces DWI Charges

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Scooter time

Just a few months ago I brought you a story about how one Minnesota man had his drunk driving charges dismissed after the Minnesota Court of Appeals found that a Segway was not considered a motor vehicle under state law. Though a Segway may not qualify, a new case is testing the limits of that definition.

The case involves a man who was arrested in Lakeville, MN earlier this month. The man stands accused of driving drunk on an electric scooter. Police say that they received a call late at night from someone who wanted to report that a man on a scooter had hit a parked car. Police have not released details about the specifications of the scooter, other than that the scooter was powered by gasoline.

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Statistics Reveal Surprisingly Few DUI Arrests In Boston

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DUI

A recent and surprising story from the Boston Globe discussed what appears to be an abnormally low number of drunk driving arrests reported in a major American city. Numbers obtained by the Boston Globe revealed that police in Boston only made 241 drunk driving arrests in all of 2012, shocking numbers given Boston’s rank as the 10th largest metro area in the country.

The number of DUI arrests in Boston is confusing given that it not only pales in comparison to the numbers for similar sized and even smaller cities, but also because it reflects a dramatic drop from numbers seen only a few years ago. The data revealed that since 2009, the number of drunk driving arrests in the city have dropped by an astounding 33 percent.

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