Basic legal things everyone should know

[slickpoppa]

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Anything you make with some minimum level of creativity and fix in some sort of medium has a certain level of copyright protection. for example, your blog is copyrighted. I'm rusty on this, but I think you may have to register a copy with the Copyright Office to sue someone for infringement. currently it looks like copyright protection may last forever, but it's up to Congress.

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The send yourself a letter thing is a myth. You must register with the CO to take any legal actions against infringement.

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First of all, where did he say anything about sending yourself a letter?

It appears that his point is that your work is still protected by copyright law even if you haven't registered it. There are certain advantages to registering with the copyright office immediately, but the main point is that a work is "copyrighted" from the moment it is fixed in a tangible medium, and people can't just rip it off without consequences because it hasn't been registered yet.

"In the United States, copyright has been made automatic (in the style of the Berne Convention) since March 1, 1989, which has had the effect of making it appear to be more like a property right. Thus, as with some forms of personal property, a copyright need not be granted or obtained through official registration with any government office. Once an idea has been reduced to tangible form, for example by securing it in a fixed medium (such as a drawing, sheet music, photograph, a videotape or a letter), the copyright holder is entitled to enforce his or her exclusive rights. However, while a copyright need not be officially registered for the copyright owner to begin exercising his exclusive rights, registration of works (where the laws of that jurisdiction provide for registration) does have benefits; it serves as prima facie evidence of a valid copyright and enables the copyright holder to seek statutory damages and attorney's fees (whereas in the USA, for instance, registering after an infringement only enables one to receive actual damages and lost profits)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

[daveT]

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For those who like to run into the police:

It is not illegal to do drugs or buy drugs. It is only illegal to sell or possess drugs with the intent to sell.

It does not matter if the police read you your Miranda Rights.

In some states, assault on a police officer is automatic prison time.

If you tell the police officer what you did wrong, you are less likely to get a ticket.

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Wrong, wrong, possible, doubtful.

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First one is wrong most of the time. One exception: its not illegal in California to buy, carry, or take marijuana if you have your card.

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It's still illegal under federal law, which, last time I checked, still applies in California. But unless you have enough weight to get the FBI or DEA on your case, that's probably not something you need to worry about too much.

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I knew this would get fire.

It doesn't matter if you are read your Miranda Rights, because, to be honest, it is multiple police officers and only me.

I was arrested two times in my life (for unpaid tickets), and was never read my Miranda Rights. PM me for massive lawsuit (LOL).

No one does jail time for exclusively doing drugs. The people sitting in jail are there for possession, which of coarse, you need to be in possession of the substance to actually do it, etc. Let's be honest, our system isn't that cruel. You will do rehab for drug use long before you do jail time.

The third law is (was) true in Illinois.

The fourth caveat is true, as I have talked my way out of several tickets.

[SackUp]

daveT: There is a difference between something being illegal and being able to get away with something that is illegal.

The Miranda warning typically only matters for evidentiary issues such as using incriminating statements that you make. There is no need to give a Miranda warning if your statements are not needed, which is likely the case for unpaid tickets.

Otherwise, if the police start questioning you without the Miranda warning none of that stuff should get in - obviously this might not always work in practice, but it is the general rule.

[miajag]

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I was arrested two times in my life (for unpaid tickets), and was never read my Miranda Rights. PM me for massive lawsuit (LOL).

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Whether your Miranda rights were read to you only affects whether a confession you make while in custody is admissible in court; it has nothing at all to do with the validity of the arrest itself.

[DrewDevil]

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For those who like to run into the police:

It is not illegal to do drugs or buy drugs. It is only illegal to sell or possess drugs with the intent to sell.

It does not matter if the police read you your Miranda Rights.

In some states, assault on a police officer is automatic prison time.

If you tell the police officer what you did wrong, you are less likely to get a ticket.

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Wrong, wrong, possible, doubtful.

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First one is wrong most of the time. One exception: its not illegal in California to buy, carry, or take marijuana if you have your card.

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It's still illegal under federal law, which, last time I checked, still applies in California. But unless you have enough weight to get the FBI or DEA on your case, that's probably not something you need to worry about too much.

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I knew this would get fire.

It doesn't matter if you are read your Miranda Rights, because, to be honest, it is multiple police officers and only me.

I was arrested two times in my life (for unpaid tickets), and was never read my Miranda Rights. PM me for massive lawsuit (LOL).

No one does jail time for exclusively doing drugs. The people sitting in jail are there for possession, which of coarse, you need to be in possession of the substance to actually do it, etc. Let's be honest, our system isn't that cruel. You will do rehab for drug use long before you do jail time.

The third law is (was) true in Illinois.

The fourth caveat is true, as I have talked my way out of several tickets.

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No offense, but please stop posting in this thread.

[Rococo]

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Oh, and you cannot really bury things in the fine print. I am a bit fuzzy on what is considered incorrigible, but if a judge finds something in the contract incorrigible I believe that is grounds for the wronged (duped) party to void the contract.

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You are referring to the doctrine of unconscionability. Incorrigible is the wrong word.

[Rococo]

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No, you can't just "get out" of your lease because you want to move somewhere else.

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No, but your landlord does have a duty to mitigate in most states, which means that he can't let your apartment lie empty, without trying to rent it, and then come after you for the balance of the lease. In practice, people break housing leases all the time. Just ask any NYer.

[slickpoppa]

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Lawyers,

Here's a question. Perhaps a silly one, but one I've wondered about a lot.

I sign LOTS of signature pages. In these cases I'm generally sent a bunch of docs w/ "Sign Here" stickies on them and then I send back the signature page only. I usually actually read what I'm sent, so I know what I'm signing. But what's to keep someone from substituting the middle pages after I send it back? And at that point it just becomes my word against theirs in terms of what I actually read and signed.

I guess this can be addressed to a degree by having to initial every page. And in most of these cases, there are lots of parties involved. Anyhow, I guess what I'm asking is, in the case of less formal contracts when you have a few pages that you're doing with another individual, are there things you should be making sure to do in case there's a dispute - like at least initialing every page? Or more?

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I'm not sure if this is what you were saying, but the most important thing is to get the OTHER party to initial each page. You initialing every page doesn't prevent the other party from producing their own version of the middle pages and simply claiming that you didn't initial every page and that your copy of the contract is the forgery.

An even more secure way to protect yourself from forgery would be to get the signature page notarized and bind all the pages of the contract together so someone can't just insert a phony middle page or claim that a fake page was inserted. Thats probably not necessary though with most people you deal with.

[DrewDevil]

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No, you can't just "get out" of your lease because you want to move somewhere else.

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No, but your landlord does have a duty to mitigate in most states, which means that he can't let your apartment lie empty, without trying to rent it, and then come after you for the balance of the lease. In practice, people break housing leases all the time. Just ask any NYer.

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Agreed, but I get asked over and over again how to get out of a lease with no consequences (zero extra rent, no breakage fees, possible loss of deposit, etc.), and are then mystified when I tell them it doesn't quite work that way.

[bobman0330]

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Lawyers,

Here's a question. Perhaps a silly one, but one I've wondered about a lot.

I sign LOTS of signature pages. In these cases I'm generally sent a bunch of docs w/ "Sign Here" stickies on them and then I send back the signature page only. I usually actually read what I'm sent, so I know what I'm signing. But what's to keep someone from substituting the middle pages after I send it back? And at that point it just becomes my word against theirs in terms of what I actually read and signed.

I guess this can be addressed to a degree by having to initial every page. And in most of these cases, there are lots of parties involved. Anyhow, I guess what I'm asking is, in the case of less formal contracts when you have a few pages that you're doing with another individual, are there things you should be making sure to do in case there's a dispute - like at least initialing every page? Or more?

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I'm not sure if this is what you were saying, but the most important thing is to get the OTHER party to initial each page. You initialing every page doesn't prevent the other party from producing their own version of the middle pages and simply claiming that you didn't initial every page and that your copy of the contract is the forgery.

An even more secure way to protect yourself from forgery would be to get the signature page notarized and bind all the pages of the contract together so someone can't just insert a phony middle page or claim that a fake page was inserted. Thats probably not necessary though with most people you deal with.

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Having the other party initial all the pages won't work!