Jones Waldo

Popular Facebook-owned photo sharing app, Instagram, recently changed its Terms of Service, spurring outrage from users, account cancellations from entities like National Geographic (with its 638,000 followers), and now a class action lawsuit.

It’s no surprise Americans have an extraordinary thirst for music. What is a bit surprising (and also disconcerting) is that we download more songs illegally than any other country in the world according to MusicMetric’s recent report on its investigation on file-sharing activities via BitTorrent. The report, called the Digital Music Index (DMI), showed that Americans pirated nearly 760 million songs via BitTorrent between January and June 2012 alone.  

Sure, your homeowners association can require you to paint your house some shade of beige, tan, or taupe, but it can’t bar you from placing political signs in your window.  The New Jersey Supreme Court said, “Political speech is … fundamental to a democratic society.”  Mazdabrook Commons Homeowners’ Ass’n v. Khan, 46 A.3d 507 (N.J. 2012).

Artist Daniel Moore has prevailed in his long battle with the University of Alabama. The school took issue with Moore’s paintings, which depict so-called great moments in Alabama football.  The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that Moore’s First Amendment freedom of expression trumps the school’s trademark in its uniforms. We at Jones Waldo also have an eclectic art collection, which is sure to include something you won’t like.  Come visit us for a tour.  University of Alabama Bd. of Trustees v. New Life Art, Inc., 683 F.3d 1266 (11th Cir. 2012).

Have you ever buried your treasure only to forget exactly where you buried it? Your search becomes more and more frantic, and pretty soon, your backyard looks like a herd of aggressive gophers have thrown the rodent party of the decade.

Lauryn Hill plead guilty earlier this summer to three counts of tax evasion. The income in question, totaling $1.8 million, was earned by four corporations Hill owned. She faces a maximum one-year sentence for each count, but sentencing has been delayed to the fall to permit Hill time to make a payment. 

Several of the cast members of the popular 70s show told CBS to “sit on it” after they discovered the existence of a “Happy Days”-themed slot machine. It seems that CBS had not been paying royalties for use of the actors’ images. Yahoo! News reported that the case settled in early July with payments to each of the actors for about $60,000. To make your day happier–or not–the Smithsonian has switched the display Fonzie’s jacket for Farrah Fawcett’s red bathing suit.

Our own Marianne Sorensen was published is last week's issue of the Enterprise.

Saturday, May 19, was the 30th annual Law Day Run. It was a big success raising more than $35,000 for "...and Justice for All."