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Judge May Take "Fair Use" Away From Jury
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In what I can only describe as a shocker, the Judge in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum has, on her own, issued an order questioning whether the jury will be allowed to decide the 'fair use' issue at all, or whether the Judge herself should decide it. Judge Nancy Gertner's decision (PDF) notes that the courts have traditionally submitted the fair use defense to the jury, but questions whether that was appropriate, since the courts have referred to it as an 'equitable' — as opposed to a 'legal' — defense. This decision came from out of the blue, as neither party had raised this issue. IMHO the Judge is barking up the wrong tree. For one, all across the legal spectrum in the US, 'equitable' defenses to 'legal' claims are triable to a jury. Secondly, as the Judge herself notes, the courts have traditionally submitted the issue to the jury. It also seems a bit unfair to bring up a totally new issue like that and give the parties only 6 days to do their research and writing on the subject, at a time when they are feverishly preparing for a July 27th trial."
There are dull incandescent bulbs hung down by wire over a set of towering oak podiums. Behind you are endless rows of rusty metal folding chairs, all occupied by elephants and donkeys, except for a few rats toward the front. The bailiff is an Argrue, standing in the shady area against the wall. You don't know what an Argrue is, but you can guess it's like what Arkansas is to Kansas and it looks vicious.
The judge uses a battle axe in place of a gavel, which would be fine if it didn't leave so many marks on the wood when it's banged, and wears an ancient Norse viking helmet. The smaller podium has a guillotine attached to it near the front, with the microphone being placed in front of the slot where you would place your head.
You have in your inventory a rope, which is binding your hands together, and a bright orange jumpsuit of -255 AGI, which you are currently wearing. The only exit is DOWN, through a trap door.
what I can only describe as a shocker...
THL phish sticks
Around here I think soap should be first in that list... I mean, sheesh, people.
Bathe first dammit! Stinking while in line to vote is just wrong.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
Yea, the full list should read:
Ballot, Soap, Jury, Ammo, Soap on a Rope
Rules of Conduct:
#1 - The DM is always right.
#2 - If the DM is wrong, see rule #1
OK, boxes of ballots, bars of soap... they all become lethal projectiles at sufficient speed, but I don't understand the jury. Why not just launch jurors one at a time? It would require greater targeting precision but you would need a lot less energy, and it should make your reload time a lot shorter.
...because that's the only female US Judge I'm familiar with.
You might want to pick up a newspaper more than once a year. A female US judge is the #1 news story in just about all of them for the last week.
I never knew Michael Jackson was a female US judge.
Annually IS a regular interval.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Ah, you obviously haven't considered the Bergholt Stuttley (Bloody Stupid) Johnson's Patented 12-Gang Jury Launcher, with Optional Side Mounted Judge and Stenotypist Trebuchets.
Once a year is way too often to use soap. Heck, I don't even use corba once a year!
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
Now that's a production of Hamlet that I'd pay to see.