Happy Birthday, copyright 2007

Unhappy Birthday is a grassroots project run by citizens who are outraged by rampant copyright infringement in today's society — particularly in relation to the song Happy Birthday. It's a funny read!

Did you know Happy Birthday is copyrighted and the copyright is currently owned and actively enforced by Time Warner?

Did you know that if you sing any copyrighted song:
...at a place open to the public
...or among a substantial number of people who are not family or friends
You are involved in a public performance of that work?

Did you know an unauthorized public performance is a form of copyright infringement?

With four children now, I am going to break the law more and more each year!

Gilligan's Island and the Law

Today, I was daydreaming while drafting a Statement of Claim for Divorce, and remembered sitting in a law class (can't remember which one) in my first year of law school, surfing the web. I had come across this article called "Legal Tales from Gilligan's Island". It is a fascinating essay by Robert M. Jarvis (Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University. B.A., Northwestern University; J.D., University of Pennsylvania; LL.M., New York University) which seeks to shed some light on the jurisprudence of Gilligan's Island.

I used to absolutely love to watch this show, and still enjoy seeing a re-run if one ever comes on (although I haven't seen one in two years, as we unplugged our TV two years ago).

In any case, if you are in the midst of a boring law class, or looking for some relief from your law job, shoot over to the essay and have a read. You won't be dissapointed.

Please post your comments about the essay here, as I would be delighted to hear your response to the essay.

Race for the Top

There is a promising new article at The Gazzette about law student / law firm recruiting.

"A thousand or so ambitious law graduates. Two dozen big law firms. A couple of hundred high-paying jobs.

These are the vital statistics for an annual event now under way - the race for a place at one of Montreal's top law offices."

Apparently it is a multi-part article, with subsequent columns coming out looking at the recruiting madness that occurs in Quebec each year, with students trying to find jobs, and then law firms trying to attract the cream of the crop.

"In stories this week and next, we look at the dance from both sides. This week it's from the students' perspective: what it takes to make the right impression on a law firm, and the risks and rewards - to the ego, report card and wallet - that participating in the recruitment process presents.

Next week, the tables turn as the firms compete for the best and brightest students to make their recruitment spending pay off. At whose office will they choose to spend their 70-hour weeks?"

I'll provide updates when the new articles appear. I am really interested to see what they say.

Help Josh go to Law School

Here's a neat idea - sponsor a kid to go to law school for a 10 day trial run. That's the deal for a 14 year old British student who says "It's the chance of a lifetime and I've wanted to be a lawyer for as long a I can remember, maybe because I like arguing!"

I think it would be a really great thing if law schools themselves would sponsor law school demos. I have heard of programs where law students will go to high schools or junior highs and put on mock trials. But, I think it would be pretty cool if I had gotten the chance to sit in on some real law school classes. It would have really helped to guide my path towards the law. I probably would have become a lawyer a lot sooner than I did. Then again, I might have been really put off by the intensity of the experience. Worse, I may have experienced that awful property professor that I had in my first year of law school. That would have turned me off of post-secondary school altogether!

Show me the Money!

Check this out! One family puts up $25,000,000.00 for Harvard Law School. I know a few Canadian Law School deans who would love to have similar headlines:

University of Alberta Faculty of Law receives $15 million from famous author alumni.

or

University of Victoria Faculty of Law receives juicy $6 million from former kayak champion, LLB alumni 1986!

That would be pretty cool.

Actually, I read in my alumni magazine recently that some big hotshot cut a cheque for mega bucks for the U of A Faculty of Law. I hope they buy something more exciting and useful than the plasma screen T.V. in the entryway, which they bought with the differential tuition cash grab from a few years ago.

Delay in Publication

The 2nd Edition of So, You Want to be a Lawyer, Eh? has been delayed somewhat by the publisher. We expect it to be available by May, 2007. It has taken some extra time to gather the new information and corroborate its accuracy. As well, there is lots of new information, so that has taken longer to sort through with editing, etc. It will be really good though, and is worth the wait. In the meantime, you will still find the First Edition very useful and well worth the $15.

For those of you who have purchased the book - thank you. I really appreciate your support. I also really appreciate the positive feedback that some of you have left at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Chapters.ca. Thank you.

Hooray for Mooters across Canada!

I came across this article recently. It made me happy to see some media recognition for the winners of the Gale Cup moot. I had a good friend who competed in a bilingual moot (Gale Cup is also bilingual) and they said that it was really hard. I competed in the National Aboriginal Moot, which was a lot different than most of the moot formats, in that it was non-confrontational, but rather more collective or collaborative. It was definitely a highlight of my law school experience.