Civ. 1ère, No. 13-23566.March was all about the 'Blurred Lines' in copyright and a US Jury's decision to award $7.3 million to the Estate of Marvin Gaye on the basis that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s soul-inspired pop song "Blurred Lines" too closely mirrored Gaye’s 1977 single "Got to Give It Up". [read post]

Many state and local officials host social media sites and use them to converse with followers on matters related to their governmental responsibilities, among other things.[1]  Not surprisingly, many choose to block from their sites certain members of the public they find disagreeable.[2] Being disagreeable, or at least in disagreement with such actions, blocked followers sometimes sue alleging that their exclusion violates the First Amendment.[3]  One of the most notable examples was a… [read post]

Smith’s ruling gives American Resource Management Group the go-ahead on its long-awaited plans to build the Marvaco Concrete Batch Plant in Cedar Heights, an unincorporated area of the county. [read post]

Kevin Conrad, executive director of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and a special envoy for Papua New Guinea, said in an interview that while Obama has improved the rhetoric, “when you look at what they’re proposing, it’s absolutely unimpressive. [read post]