New from our unsexy, unpaid, uncredited staff, a look at the costs and benefits of getting a Twitter account for your law firm.
Read it here: Should Your Law Firm be on the Flugenweb?
Pro-Palestinian Protest at UC-Davis Law
On April 5th, Akiva Tor, the Israeli Consul General for the Pacific Northwest gave a talk at UC-Davis, organized by the Jewish Law Student Association.
Members of Students for Justice in Palestine were seated in the audience with red tape placed over their mouths.
We have video of the incident and a statement from the SJP (will update with a statement from the JLSA when available).
NY Lawyer Wants to Sell His Bathrooms
Kenneth Anand, principle of Anand Law is selling his house in the New Rochelle region of New York. Pelham Manor, if you know the area, and "that part of the mainland that's just past the Bronx, where stuff starts getting kinda nice, which Manhattanites refer to as 'upstate' but isn't realy up state," if you don't.
The 2,745 sq. ft. home is listed at $1.025 million, has three bedrooms, and get this... six (6) bathrooms.
Do you know how many hours you can bill sitting on six different toilets?
This guy must be some amazing constitutional scholar.
MTA Drops the (Inflatable) Hammer on Metrocard Artist
Oil paintings on your New York City metrocard, pretty spiffy, right?
Well, not according to the MTA. Artist VH McKenzie was sent a cease and desist letter from the MTA after they got word that he was doctoring metrocards and selling them.
"While we at the MTA are flattered that you recognize the value of our brand to consumers, please understand the MTA has a well-established product licensing program which markets authorized versions of such products. While we have no record of your firm requesting or being granted such authorization, we are prepared to initiate discussions with you about acquiring a license from us.
"The MTA's intellectual property is protected by applicable copyright law and trademark law. The manner in which your web site markets these items, such as your reference to New York City subway, implies involvement and/or endorsement of your business and products by the MTA.
"The MTA considers its intellectual property to be a valuable asset which we protect from dilution and confusion in the marketplace. The MTA obtained and maintains its registered trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property in the public interest. It is important for the MTA to be able to communicate with the public about its services, as well as operate its established licensed products program, without unauthorized users of its intellectual property creating confusion.
"Please reply to me by email or in writing to acknowledge receipt of this notice, and to indicate your intention to remove this item from Etsy and cease any sales of the item."
At least the MTA didn't come down too hard on him. They did offer to grant the artist a license so he could continue his work.
The Village Voice contacted the artist, who said he would remove "before" images of the cards, and added a disclaimer stating that the artwork was not authorized by the MTA, is not endorsed by the city, yadda yadda yadda. They also reached out to the MTA for comment. Mark Heavy, Chief of Marketing and Advertising responded:
"This artist is selling the artwork on Etsy.com as a MetroCard, which is an MTA trademarked brand. Imagine if an artist decorated copies of the Village Voice and sold these as The Village Voice . . . I suspect the attorneys at Village Voice Media LLC would have an issue with that. If other artists are doing this for profit, it is not with the MTA's tacit agreement; it's just that we don't know about it. Whenever we find someone profiting from use of our trademarks, we must strictly enforce and protect our trademark rights. As a public entity, this is our obligation. And the issue is not the size of the infringer (individual or corporation), but the principle. Note that whenever we find an infringement, we do politely offer the opportunity to discuss a license agreement. The licensing industry standard is 10% of net sales, which is a small price to pay for the ability to market the products as "Officially Licensed by MTA" and the potential to sell the product through the MTA's own stores."
You know you're failing as an artist when the giant, evil government bureaucracy comes across as the reasonable and even-handed one.
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