Tag: widener law

Widener Law Journal Hosts Groundbreaking Bankruptcy & Beyond Symposium in Harrisburg Apr 14th

Posted on by TME in Widener Law Journal

PROF NOTE: As faculty advisor to the Widener Law Journal, I am honored to moderate the panel on Financing Municipalities with panelists Christine Sgarlata Chung, Associate Professor, Albany Law School, Randle B. Pollard, Assistant Professor, Indiana University Kelley School of Business and David Unkovic, McNees Wallace & Nurick, LLC.

Bankruptcy and Beyond: Solving the Problem of Municipal Financial Distress

Municipal financial distress is a problem of enormous importance both nationally and in Pennsylvania. Detroit recently filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in history, 21 cities in Pennsylvania are in Act 47, the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act program, and Harrisburg is on its way to recovery after operating in receivership for over two years.
This symposium, presented on Monday April 14, 2014 by the Widener Law Journal of Widener University School of Law’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Campus, will explore the causes of municipal distress and approaches to alleviating the problem. Reducing existing debt is not enough; policymakers must think creatively about municipal structure, finance, and expenditures. The invited speakers include experts in state and local government law, municipal finance and tax issues, public pensions, and Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
The symposium (which offers six CLE credits and valuable networking opportunities) will provide a unique opportunity for nationally recognized scholars in a variety of areas related to municipal financial distress to exchange ideas with professionals involved in Harrisburg’s recovery.

Click Here to Register and for More Information

Distinguished speakers and panelists

DISTINGUISHED ADDRESS
General William Lynch Former Receiver for the City of Harrisburg
SPEAKERS:
Michelle Wilde Anderson University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Hon. Thomas Bennett U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Alabama
Christine Sgarlata Chung Albany Law School
Hon. Mary D. France U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
Jarad Handelman First Executive Deputy General Counsel to Governor Tom Corbett
Mark Kaufman McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
Juliet M. Moringiello Widener University School of Law
Guy S. Neal Sidley Austin LLP
Matthew Parlow Marquette University School of Law
Randle Pollard Indiana University Kelley School of Business
Scott Pryor Regent University School of Law
Frank H. Shafroth George Mason University
David A. Skeel University of Pennsylvania School of Law
David Thornburgh University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government
David Unkovic McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

‘Dumb Starbucks’ parody shuts down but debate over trademark law & parody continues

Posted on by TME in Defenses, Infringement, Intellectual Property, Media, Trademark

By Professor Tonya M. Evans

dumbstarbucks-cupsOn February 9th, The Huff Post and other media outlets reported the grand opening of a store in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, “Dumb Starbucks”. The clever prankish parody even caught the attention of Forbes:

‘Although it looks like Starbucks, smells like Starbucks and even acts like Starbucks (the super-friendly baristas asking for your name were hired off Craigslist), the whole thing is an elaborate goof on Starbucks culture. A list of Frequently Asked Questions posted on premises compared the place to Weird Al Yankovic’s homage to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” Dumb Starbucks, you see, is the “Eat It” of $6 coffee drinks.’ Source: Forbes.com

Amazingly, people stood in line for hours for the Dumb Starbucks java, which reportedly was whatever the local grocery store had on hand for the few days Dumb Starbucks remained open. The locals and media alike seemed to get a big kick out of the entire thing. Starbucks execs? Um, not so much. The Dumb Starbucks mastermind, Comedy Central comedian Nathan Fielder from Nathan for You, explained the method to his parodic madness and the Starbucks response to Jimmy Kimmel recently:

The store shutdown for reasons completely unrelated to the trademark vs. parody debate. It seems that Fielder not only caught the attention of the coffee giant, Starbucks, but also the local health department. The Health Department cited code violations for selling coffee without a permit. And there is no word on whether Fielder will attempt to secure the necessary permissions to re-open. But what is sure to re-open and remain so is the debate on whether the First Amendment and parody trumps trademark law. Continue reading “‘Dumb Starbucks’ parody shuts down but debate over trademark law & parody continues” →

“‘Safe Harbor’ for the Innocent Infringer in the Digital Age” makes weekly Top 10 D/L list at SSRN

Posted on by TME in Copyright, Intellectual Property, scholarship

Willamette Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2013
Widener Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 14-04
Abstract: 

WillametteLawRev-CoverThe primary goal of this Article is three-fold:
(1) to explore the role of the innocent infringer archetype historically and in the digital age;
(2) to highlight the tension between customary and generally accepted online uses and copyright law that compromise efficient use of technology and progress of the digital technologies, the Internet, and society at large; and
(3) to offer a legislative fix in the form of safe harbor for direct innocent infringers.
Such an exemption seems not only more efficient but also more just in the online environment where unwitting infringement for the average copyright consumer is far easier than ever to commit, extremely difficult to police, and often causes little, if any, cognizable market harm.