Category Archives: Legal

Legal Disclaimers

I’ve always suspected this about the legal disclaimers that are becoming ubiquitous at the bottom (and sometimes top) of email messages from companies that employ attorneys …

… they are mostly, legally speaking, pointless. Lawyers and experts on internet policy say no court case has ever turned on the presence or absence of such an automatic e-mail footer in America, the most litigious of rich countries.

http://www.economist.com/node/18529895

I kind of find it amusing when there is a disclaimer that reads …

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named.

… and it’s sent to a public mailing list.

Copyright

The other day I was discussing the nature of Copyright with my sister-in-law Gloria (who is an attorney) … I stated that “Copyright is automatic upon creation of a work”.

Gloria said I was incorrect … that you had to register for a copyright … and that you had no basis in court unless you do register the copyright.

This was quite a shock to me … so I decided to do some research.

Turns out that Gloria was partially right in a technical sense … and completely correct in a practical sense.

According to the Copyright Office

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