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What if I wrote a book claiming that I invented Elvish? Could whoever holds the copyright for Tolkien's work sue me?

For defamation and/or passing-off, probably. But claiming that Tolkien invented Sindarin and then writing and publishing your own Sindarin dictionary probably won't get you in trouble. As I understand it, a language is a "system" of communication, and "systems" are ineligible for copyright under United States law and the laws of other countries that have more-or-less harmonized their copyright laws with those of the United States. The copyright in a work (such as LOTR or the official Sindarin or Klingon dictionary) does not imply copyright in the work's language.

If I start using an accent on a show, and it begins to be associated with me. Then, someone else uses it. Can I sue them?

Possibly. Bette Midler v. Ford Motor Co.

it's probably bad that i can't even determine wether you were being serious or sarcastic [about subconscious copying]

Serious. In the past, I have tried writing music, but I have ended up catching myself in the act of inadvertent copying before exposing what I thought was my work, but turned out not to be, to the public.

oh, oh, i know ! let's protect the voices, if a singer has a voice similar to another that was there first - ban.

This is not entirely sarcasm either. See Midler v. Ford , which was based on right of publicity rather than copyright.

where laws are like this [prohibiting minors from seeing independent bands]? and why ?

In at least Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA (population 200,000), most of the venues that have live music and affordable cover charges are bars (similar to "pubs" in the UK). Laws in all 50 states prohibit children under 21 from entering bars in order to prevent alcohol sales to minors.

Wrong. You can't put "whatever you want" into a contract. See Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors. (The summary in that link is not so great, but it should give you the basic idea.) Many issues come into play here: notice, unconscionability, duress, etc.

> Second, Orbitz should not be allowed to legally enforce anything that doesn't have a signed contract behind it. Wrong again. The general rule is that contracts do *not* need to be signed. For that matter, most contracts need not even be in writing. While I think the clause is ridiculous and possibly unenforceable, you're not going to get anywhere by making bogus legal arguments. /ephraim

State v. Gladstone would be a similar case, except Gladstone was acquitted. (You are right, I am not a lawyer, but from what I can glean, the acquittal was based on the fact that he didn't actually know the person selling the drugs, and didn't know for sure if that person had the drugs. Neither of those reasons could be applied in the case above.)

I don't think the reasoning for Gladsone's acquittal would apply to LokiTorrent, so I think the grandparent is still applicable, and no, I did not "make it up".

Again, a lawyer could clear a lot up here, and I welcome such.

Basically, you're wrong. Just deal. A CD is supposed to be played in a CD player, whether that is a CD player, a CD-ROM, a Mac, a car stereo, a whatever. I don't mean it is supposed to be rippable. I mean playing as a normal CD does, in a CD player, which is what some of these DRM'ed CD do not. If it does not play in the above devices, then it is subject to a warranty of merchantability. If the customer did not have sufficient notice as the non-compliance, then they absolutely have the right to damages (i.e., their money back). See Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors for an explanation. Even if the store policy says they don't give refunds, I bet the courts would enforce it if something was advertised as a CD and did not work as such.

-truth