Week 11 EOC: Final Evaluation, Forced Choice

My evaluations for my fellow classmates and I are as follows:

1. Smith, Kiri Shannon, http://kiriphotography.blogspot.com, would be my number one choice. She did all the work that was asked of her.

2. Hall, Christopher, http://christopherrayniiboutique.blogspot.com, is my second choice. He did all of the Final Project but only had approximately 13 quotes.

3. Cunningham, Lana M., http://cunningstyles.blogspot.com, is my third choice. She did 4 out of 5 of the assigned parts of the Final Project and approximately 12 quotes.

4. Renda, Nina, http://ninascrazyblog.blogspot.com, is my fourth choice. She did 5 out of 5 of the parts of the Final Project but did no quotes.

5. Lares, Joaquin Frank, http://aperturesolutionsphotography.blogspot.com, next in fifth place would be me. I did 2 out of the 5 parts of the Final Project.

6. Donohew, Angel R., http://ardphotography14.blogspot.com, is in sixth place. She did 2 out of the 5 parts of the Final Project but my Legal Authority was longer than hers, giving me a slight edge.

7. Ward, Kellie Jeynea, http://ariesphotography-kellieward.blogspot.com, would be last in the line up. She didn't do any of her Final Project at all.

These are the only people that showed up on the last day of class and are possibly the only people still left in the class. This is why there are only 7 evaluations in total.

The Questions

Name: Joaquin Lares
Class BUS250H Contracts, Negotiations and Copyrights
Lawyer's Name: Michael Rounds
Firm's Name: WATSONROUNDS


I chose the following questions since they have the greatest interest to me on a professional and personal level. Most of these questions I will have to worry about in one form or another while working as a Photographer in the field or a studio setting. Knowing the answers to these questions could help me save money in the form legal fees.

I chose the following questions since they have the greatest interest to me on a professional and personal level. Most of these questions I will have to worry about in one form or another while working as a Photographer in the field or a studio setting. Knowing the answers to these questions could help me save money in the form legal fees.

1. How do I know what form of intellectual property protection is available for my work?   

     A.) If you have produced an original work of authorship in a tangible medium of expression, such as a book, computer program, visual artwork or motion picture, copyright is the appropriate protection.

2. How "original" does my work have to be to merit copyright protection?
     A.) The level of originality required for a copyright is met if the expression is new to author, regardless of whether someone else had a similar idea before.

3. How much of my work is protected under a copyright?

     A.) A copyright protects only your expression — not the idea that underlies the expression. By providing only protection for expression and not for ideas, copyright law encourages authors to freely exchange and express information and ideas.

4. Can I protect multiple but related works under the same registration?
     A.) Collective works, such as magazines and encyclopedias, whose copyrighted parts make up a whole, are also copyrightable.

5. How can I prove that there has been an infringement on my copyright?
     A.) If the allegedly infringing work is substantially similar to yours and your work was accessible to others (through publication, for example), you may be able to show that the defendant copied your work. This is a fact-dependent issue. If the defendant independently produced the allegedly infringing work, however, without knowledge of either the existence or the content of your prior work, then the defendant may be able to show that it did not copy your work.

6. Are there specialized courts in the United States that hear intellectual property claims?
     A.) The US does not have courts that are exclusively dedicated to hearing intellectual property matters. Rather, intellectual property claims are usually brought in federal district court to be presided over by that court's judge.
7. Do you need permission to take a picture of someone if you will not be able to recognize him or her?
     A.) Many countries recognize that individuals have a right of publicity. The right of publicity is the direct opposite of the right of privacy. It recognizes that a person’s image has economic value that is presumed to be the result of the person’s own effort and it gives to each person the right to exploit their own image. Under this right, you could be liable if you use a photograph of someone without their consent to gain some commercial benefit.

8. Is it illegal to Photoshop someone's picture and put it up on the Internet?

9. Is it illegal to post pictures taken of a live sporting event on the Internet?

10. If you take a photograph of a structure such as Willis Tower from an abutting private lot can you sell the photograph?

A.) Yes, you can take a picture of just about anything in public and sell it, as long as it does not violate someone's right to privacy (even in public!), and you do not use a commercial trademark to misrepresent your affiliation.

Legal Authority

Name: Joaquin Lares
Class BUS250H Contracts, Negotiations and Copyrights
Lawyer’s Name: Michael Rounds
Firm’s Name: WATSONROUNDS

After trying to make contact with several attorneys via phone calls and the yellow pages, I was finally able to make contact Michael Rounds after stumbling across his firm’s website while doing a search on the internet for Intellectual Property Attorneys. He was the first person to give me any time of day but was only able to conduct an interview right there on the spot over the phone and if we kept the conversation under 15 minutes or so. Needless to say, the pressure was on but I was able persevere.

Rounds is a founding partner of the firm ‘WATSONROUNDS’ and a respected trial attorney whose practice is limited to intellectual property litigation and counseling. He is licensed to practice in the States of California and Nevada, all federal courts in those jurisdictions, and the Ninth and Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Rounds worked for five years for the renowned San Francisco law firm of Townsend and Townsend and Crew. Rounds has a penchant for meticulous preparation and believes the best way to build a reputation is down at the courthouse.  He has achieved numerous favorable verdicts for clients in patent infringement and other cases, including an $11.4 million patent infringement verdict in Las Vegas, Nevada, affirmed by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010.

Week 10 EOC: The Law and Justice 2 Movies

The movies Erin Brockovich (2000) and Flash of Genius (2008) can both be easily compared to as modern day story of “David and Goliath.” In Erin Brockovich, a legal assistant almost single-handedly brings down a California Power Company accused of polluting a city's water supply and in Flash of Genius; Robert Kearns takes on the Detroit automakers who he claims stole his idea for the intermittent windshield wiper.  Both characters represent the little people taking on the mighty corporations in a fight for the little people of epic proportions. 

Erin Brockovich, who ends up working for a law firm to make money for her family, discovers that a big time California Power Company is secretly trying to hide the fact from citizens are getting sick from polluted ground water from the Power Plant. Together Brockovich and the firm seek legit compensation from the Power Company to pay medical expenses and help people to move away from the affected area.

The Character, Robert Kearns, is a one man army attacking the Detroit Car Companies for supposedly stealing his intermitted windshield wiper design. He seeks to be recognized as the original creator at the cost of friends, family and his mental health. Where the Brockovich story was about the good of the many, the Kearns story is more about the good of the one.

Week 10 BOC: Lawyer Jokes

Joey Heric: I'm ready now, Your Honor. I just wish to represent myself.

Judge: Are you a lawyer?

Joey Heric: No, but if I keep killing people, I figure they'll let me in hell anyway.

The Practice

A housewife, an accountant and a lawyer were asked "How much is 2+2?"
The housewife replies: "Four!".
The accountant says: "I think it's either 3 or 4.  Let me run
those figures through my spreadsheet one more time."
The lawyer pulls the drapes, dims the lights and asks in a hushed voice,
"How much do you want it to be?"

Q: Why won't sharks attack lawyers?
A: Professional courtesy.

Q: How many lawyer jokes are going around the Web?
A: Three!  (All the rest are true!)

The lawyer is standing at the gate to Heaven and St. Peter is listing his 
sins: 
    1) Defending a large corporation in a pollution suit where he knew they
       were guilty.
    2) Defending an obviously guilty murderer because the fee was high.
    3) Overcharging fees to many clients.
    4) Prosecuting an innocent woman because a scapegoat was needed in a
       controversial case. 

And the list goes on for quite a while.

The lawyer objects and begins to argue his case.  He admits all these 
things, but argues, "Wait, I've done some charity in my life also."  
St. Peter looks in his book and says,"Yes, I see. Once you gave a dime to 
a panhandler and once you gave an extra nickel to the shoeshine boy, 
correct?" The lawyer gets a smug look on his face and replies, "Yes." 

St. Peter turns to the angel next to him and says, "Give this guy 15 cents

and tell him to go to hell."

 

Week 09 EOC: Letters of Permisson

Being a photography major, I chose these 4 types of 'Letters of Permission' because I can see myself having to use these in the future. I'll explain why after each letter/release.

1. Photo Release- I will need to use photo release if I ever collaborate with another photographer in the field and want to use some of his images along side mine. Possibly if I ever wanted to duplicate a photograph, I could use the release to get a copy of the original to help me in my endeavors to reproduce said picture.

2.  Interview Release- Someday I may wont to sit down and write a book about my life and times or maybe some adventures I have had the privilege to experience. If I wont to include first hand accounts from people I met on these travels, I would need to get one of these releases to do so.

3. Model Release- Every single photographer in the world has to deal with one of these on a constant basis every single day. You would be a fool not to and could cause you to loose large sums of money.

4. Reference Letter- Everyone seeking money for a project or a job should utilize one of these letters to help represent themselves to others. Just good solid thinking on your part here.

Week 08 EOC: Bratz Brawl

“Mattel’s allegations that MGA instructed Mattel employees to steal documents is nonsense,” Isaac Larian, MGA’s founder and chief executive officer, said in an e-mailed statement. “To the contrary, we told them, in writing, don’t bring anything from Mattel, please. Not even a paper clip. We look forward to the judicial system to correct the wrongs Mattel has done to MGA over the years.”

Mattel Inc., the Barbie-doll maker whose $100 million verdict against MGA Entertainment Inc. was thrown out on appeal last year, 2010, is taking its fight over the origins of its rival’s Bratz dolls back before a jury.

Mattel may seek as much as $1.1 billion in damages for trade-secret theft, according to a court filing by closely held MGA. The judge, citing decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, ruled that Mattel could pursue copyright-infringement claims for only the first four Bratz dolls sold by MGA in 2001 and two later ones.

“Not only do the vast majority of the subsequent generations of Bratz dolls differ in their hair styles and fashions, the two elements identified by the Ninth Circuit, but they lack any meaningful similarities outside of ideas,” Carter said in his Dec. 27 ruling.

In his ruling, Carter rejected Mattel’s request to throw out MGA’s unfair-competition claims against it. MGA alleges that Mattel threatened licensees, distributors and retailers that did business with MGA and that Mattel attempted to deplete the supply of doll hair by buying excess quantities in an effort to crowd MGA out of the market.

“MGA has easily raised a triable issue about whether Mattel unfairly competed,” Carter said. “For example, Mattel may have routinely conditioned its contracts with retailers on the retailers not carrying MGA’s products, classic anti- competitive behavior that potentially deprived consumers of valuable products.”

Zeller said MGA’s unfair-competition claims are confused and wrong and that MGA admitted it suffered no damages.

Week 08 BOC: Progress Contacting Lawyer

In regards to contacting a Lawyer or Law Firm for our final in class project, I haven't had much success in my endeavors to do so at this time. Between other school projects and personal problems at home, I have not had a chance to start making calls at this time. I will be starting the process tomorrow as to not fall to behind on this project before it even leaves ground. I suspect to met plenty of opposition at first in my attempts to make contact but I believe persistence will eventually win out and I will get the information I desire by next class. Hopefully after todays class I will have a better understanding of what I am supposed to be asking when I do finally start getting answers.

WK 07 EOC: 10 Intellectual Property Questions

1. How do I know what form of intellectual property protection is available for my work?

2. How "original" does my work have to be to merit copyright protection?

3. How much of my work is protected under a copyright?

4. Can I protect multiple but related works under the same registration?

5. How can I prove that there has been an infringement on my copyright?

6. Are there specialized courts in the United States that hear intellectual property claims?

7. Do you need permission to take a picture of someone if you will not be able to recognize them?

8. Is it illegal to Photoshop someone's picture and put it up on the Internet?

9. Is it illegal to post pictures taken of a live sporting event on the internet?

10. If you take a photograph of a structure such as Willis Tower from an abutting private lot can you sell the photograph?

WK 06 EOC: Illicit

“Each year, online piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods cost American businesses billions of dollars and result in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs,” said Senator Patrick Leahy

Counterfeit DVDs, Rolex watches, and Gucci handbags being sold on the corner of any given New York City Street or other major metropolitan street corner reach much farther than the local level but farther abroad for their illicit activity. These items can be traced back to China and even terrorist groups looking to make money for unknown agendas. Counterfeiting is a worldwide epidemic and is not just confined to the city street anymore but also the internet.

Rick Cotton, chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Privacy, noted to The Washington Post, “There is an epidemic of digital theft on broadband Internet. This bill is actually quite a narrow, focused effort to address a portion of that epidemic.”  

Some efforts are being made to combat the tide of counterfeiting going on. On Nov. 19, 2010, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which allows the government to use court orders to shut down websites thought to infringe on copyright. Under the bill, a blacklist of domain names is formed, and the Attorney General may blacklist domain names with the consent of the judicial district in which the domain name registrar is located. The legislation allows the government to lock domain names and remove websites from view.

Even with some groups trying to combat the tide of counterfeiting going on, there are still some Americans that would rather turn a blind eye to what is going on and continue purchasing said goods to get a deal and remain trendy, regardless the cost to jobs and revenue. These same people believe it that companies should be responsible for their own security.

Rex Lam, MIT ’14, said. “The entertainment industries themselves should be responsible for preventing their produced material from being illegally copied.”

WK 05 EOC: Lawyers Looking for Fame

“People just come to me. I never go looking for clients,” Olivier Metzner, describing his fondness for difficult and unpopular causes.

It seems now a days that trying to find an honest lawyer who is here to actually help you with your problems is like trying to find a mythical unicorn in the park. Every time you turn the TV on, you will see dozens of adds for lawyers claiming to want to help you get what you deserve but when you call them and agree to be their client, you never see the lawyer again and have to deal with their flunkies who are under paid and can care less about your predicament. I recently had a friend who was a passenger in a car that was involved in a motor vehicle accident. He and the other occupants of the car that was hit, called Glen Lerner to represent them. They have never once met Mr. Lerner and have had to fight with his staff to represent them accordingly. His staff has a tendency to try and accept any offer that comes in for a settlement instead of fighting to get more money for their clients. It just seems that all they want to do is take their share of the settlement for as little work as possible, even if it means getting more out of the settlement than the actual victims. How fair is that? As long as they live in a big house on the hill, drive a fancy new car, have 3.5 children, a trophy wife/or husband, and a saving account to make a middle class person weep. They don't care about you; it's all about them.

"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns."
Mario Puzo

WK 04 EOC: Death Race Jeopardy

Today in class we participated in "Death Race Jeopardy" to get ready for our midterms next week. The game was based on a power point design and used terms and definitions from our books. I thought the game was helpful and it made studying for the test in class a lot more exciting, instead of just another dull lecture on what we should know. Breaking up into teams and scrambling through the text book looking for answer made it exciting and competitive.

Wk 03 EOC: Sample Jeopardy Questions

Q. Part of the one-year rule, the _____________holds that any invention that is placed on sale more than one year before a patent application is filed on it is not eligible for a patent.
A.  On-Sale Statutory Bar

Q. ____________ is a principle that a government is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution. For the purposes of patent law, it refers to the fact that the state governments cannot be liable for patent infringement.  
A. Sovereign Immunity  

Q. ____________ is a patent search may be conducted after a patent has issued for the purpose of discovering any fact that might be used to invalidate, and thus break, the patent. Generally conducted by the defendant in a patent infringement action.

A.  Validity Search

 

Wk 01 EOC: About Me

My name is Joaquin Lares and I am an aspiring travel and portrait photographer. I have had a love affair with photography for as long as I can remember. I bought my first camera when I was in the 8^th grade and have been taking photographs in one form or another since. Photography is an example of how I view the world, not just another point and click vacation photo. To be able to travel the world, photograph to places and people you visit, and share with the world your interpretation of your experience. There is nothing like it. Portrait photography is my second interest and is one of the more challenging forms of photography to learn but rewarding all the same. There is an inner satisfaction in capture the true spirit of your model and being able to display it for all to see through your creativity. Self-expression is one of the few joys anyone can experience in life that is purely their own and can not be influenced by outside source without your permission. I approach all aspects of photography, as a starving person desires food. I consume as much information as I can possibly learn from any given subject until I feel there is nothing else for me to possibly learn.

Wk 02 EOC : What I Think About Lawyers

Lawyers now a day appear to be more interested in money then in actually helping the people that are paying them. I have seen that often times that you, as a client will pay a lawyer large sums of money to represent you in court but then you find out that the lawyer delegates your case to a subordinate with way less experience while still charging you as if he is representing you.  So while you are counting on his/her expertise in your case, they are in fact off on vacation or anywhere else but the courtroom.