Did you know that Aretha Franklin, whose net worth is estimated at $80 million, died without a will? This is not unusual; she joins such celebrities as John Denver, Prince, Sonny Bono and Tupac Shakur, who have also passed away before taking care of their estate plans. Most people don't like to think about their own mortality, so they put [...]
Last week, two former employees of Nike filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination by Nike. The women are seeking class action status for their lawsuit, which claims that Nike violated the federal Equal Pay Act and related Oregon state laws. The plaintiffs say that Nike hired women at lower salaries than men, discriminated against women during performance reviews and promoted [...]
You're angry. Your employer fired you, or your neighbor plays loud music every day, or you slipped walking into the grocery store. Should you sue? Maybe not. Before filing a lawsuit, there are a number of things you should think carefully about, including these risks. 1. No matter how good your case appears to be, you might lose. 2. Even [...]
Federal trademark law requires trademark owners to police their marks. This means that trademark owners must diligently enforce their rights to prevent their marks from being used by others without permission. Although there's no fixed statute of limitations for a federal trademark infringement lawsuit, an infringer can raise a defense known as "laches." The laches doctrine is based on the [...]
Businesses are understandably upset when they discover that someone is posting negative online reviews or other disparaging comments about their products, services or operations on social media. Some companies have tried to protect themselves against negative reviews by adding clauses to their terms of service and other contracts that prohibit customers from making disparaging comments. Other companies take a different [...]
Under US law, a work is not protected by copyright unless that work shows "at least some minimal degree of creativity." Last month, a judge in the Northern District of Florida held that before-and-after images of dental work do not meet even that low threshold of creativity and, therefore, that the photos at issue had no copyright protection. A Boca [...]
An administrative law judge recently held that an employer's policy against moonlighting without the company's approval violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This decision applies even to businesses with no unionized employees. Section 7 of the NLRA gives employees the right to "engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection." [...]
Last year, Oregon's law forbidding all handheld uses of mobile electronic devices while driving took effect. As of this past Sunday (July 1st), the penalties have increased significantly and can even include jail time for serial offenders. The law applies to use of cell phones, tablets, kindles, laptops, GPS units, mobile music players and all other electronic devices that are [...]
Often when someone copies all or part of somebody else's copyrighted material, they think they have a defense to any copyright infringement claim because of the doctrine of "fair use." Unfortunately, in many situations, it's not that easy to know whether the copying would actually be considered "fair use," and the result may be a lawsuit. Just a few weeks [...]
A recent survey shows that small businesses are much less likely than their larger counterparts to have formal sexual harassment policies, making them much more vulnerable to claims of sexual harassment. Regardless of size, all employers should have appropriate written sexual harassment policies and training procedures (including classes, videos, and the like) in place. While the applicable federal law applies [...]