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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."
IVERYRETENTIVE!
Hey... that's just TERRIBLE. Unless you're under the age of 10 and English is not your first language. In which case, I concede that you're a clever little foreign fellow.
Bra-VO! That is the gold standard of trolls. Very well done.
May I enlist your services? I have a few research papers that I need fluffed up before they hit the studiolo.
Little boxes
on the hillside
liitle boxes full of tickey-tackey
Little boxes on the hillside
little boxes all the same.
It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
liitle boxes full of tickey-tackey
I applaud you in the name of the memory of Malvina Reynolds.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
The law WAS a simple set of rules, and has been mangled over the years by people who keep saying .... "There ought to be a law" for some one-off case and so it becomes "a law".
Complicating matters are laws that conflict with other laws, jurisdictions and so on. And as we gained lawyers in the Judicial, Legislative and Executive branches of government, they tend to pass more and more laws, most of which are NOT NECESSARY or in many cases even wanted, we have the situation as we have now.
Even now, we're about to add a whole new complication onto our burgeoning legal system called "Universal Health Care", only this time, you're going to have LESS rights than you do now!
Tell me, you want Universal Health Care? You want all the rules and regulations coming into play that tell you what you can and can't eat, do or otherwise live? How about having cases of health decided by Bureaucrats rather than you and your doctor?
It all starts out with a neat little idea "Everyone should have health care" which turns into "there ought to be a law" and there you have it. Universal Health Care system we can't afford, at a time of economic crisis caused by over regulation and under regulation (depending on who and what you're looking at). And all those rules and regulations which were supposed to stop the greed and malfeasance didn't stop it at all, but rather made it even harder to detect because the people TRUSTED the system that ended up failing them.
And people think we can trust Government to run health care! My GOD man, are you even paying attention???
IF YOU AREN'T LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF YOU ARE A FOOL!
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
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.
WTF are you talking about? How is this insightful in any way?
Replying to trolls should be modded off topic. Including this post.
Just one question: What the fuck is tickey-tackey? The cousin to the tic-tac?
If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
What does "weaseled it is way" mean?
Please re-learn 2nd grade grammar.
Sincerely,
The informed members of Slashdot.
What does "punished for it is decision" mean?
Please re-learn 2nd grade grammar.
Thanks
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.
Not every non-US citizen wants to read US newspapers. Thanks.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer