Arborlaw

News, book and blog reviews, and full-length articles on legal issues affecting entrepreneurs and small companies. Topics include startups, copyright and trademark issues, Internet law, commercializing technology, contracts, venture capital, outsourcing, closely held corporations, real estate, information technology transactions, and issues involving the management of employees and contractors hired to create intellectual property assets.

Author: Carol Shepherd is a commercial transactions and business attorney in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Blawg Related Categories: Consumer Law • Contracts • Intellectual Property Law • Copyright Law • Trademark Law • Internet Law • Law Practice Management • Outsourcing • Media & Communications Law • Tax Law • States • Michigan • Solo / Small Firm • Business Law

Recent Posts from Arborlaw

EMU Copy Shop Held Liable for Students Copying Course Packs
The federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found on Wednesday that an Ypsilanti, MI copy shop was directly liable (as opposed to contributorily liable) for copyright infringement, by allowing students to copy…
ReadTheBill.org: House Resolution 554 Would Require Bills To Be Posted 72 Hours Prior To Debate
H. Res. 554 is a bill sponsored by one Republican and one Democrat and would require that all non-emergency proposed federal legislation be posted 72 hours on the Internet, prior to any Congressional debate. As…
Happy National Punctuation Day!
It’s National Punctuation Day — make sure you properly use as many commas, quotation marks, semicolons and exclamation marks as you can. (There is some controversy as to whether that double-dash counts. It’s the “black…
Copyright Office Considers Mandatory Deposit Rules, “Best Edition” Changes For Online-Only Works
The Copyright Office has proposed changes to the mandatory deposit requirements for copyright registration for online-only works — a huge category which encompasses websites, blogs, online journals and publications, and online photo archives. While they…
Leave Your Job And Keep Your Contact List? Not So Fast
A recent survey showed that 60% of workers leaving a job take information with them. According to an article on employee data theft in the Washington Post, almost 80% of terminated employees who admitted to…
US PTO Changes Federal Registration Certificate Design
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that Certificates of Registration for federally-registered trademarks and service marks will change to a new format beginning this month. The new certificate will be printed on stock…
New Michigan Foreclosure Law Signed on May 21, 2009
Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a new Michigan law modifying foreclosure and loan modification rights (2009-PA-0029, 2009-PA-0030, 2009-PA-0031) to help financially distressed homeowners on May 21, 2009. The new foreclosure law takes effect on July 5,…
MusicBizCamp Hits Detroit Independent Music Scene During Movement ‘09
I’ll be speaking at the Detroit MusicBizCamp ‘Unconference’ next week about mistakes not to make: http://bit.ly/uCI8I Link to MusicBizCamp here. The mission of MusicBizCamp is to jump-start education for “new jobs for a new music…
Can An Employment Contract Be Rewritten?
With massive layoffs, Wall Street bonuses, and employment contracts in the news, many people are taking a close look at their own employment contracts for the first time and focusing on new concerns and questions…
Copyright Office Fees To Increase On August 1, 2009
The Copyright Office released a report on March 15, 2009 that provides for increases in several fees, citing rising labor costs and current budget constraints. While the cost of basic online copyright registration (eCO) for…