Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Judge Alex Kozinski speaks... (UPDATED)

... at UM Law in the Robert B. Cole Lecture Series.  And it was very entertaining.

Using a huge screen powerpoint presentation (see the picture below with the screen shot from Cheers), Kozinski spoke about IP law, persuasive lawyering, and when it's best not to file suit.  Examples included: the old Nintendo system and Mario Bros 3; Johnny Mathis's song When Sunny Gets Blue v. Rick Dees' song When Sunny Sniffs Glue; Barbie v. Bratz; the I'm a Barbie Girl song; Vanna White; Platoon; Cheers; Gay Olympic games; New Kids on the Block; and the Streisand effect... just to name a few.

Here are a few pictures from the extremely engaging talk, including yours truly with the good judge and Professor Ricardo Bascuas. 





And just in case you wanted to see the I'm A Barbie Girl video:




UPDATE -- Judge Kozinski issued this en banc opinion yesterday (while he was in Miami) concerning the computer fraud and abuse act, holding that the act did not criminalize violating a computer use policy:
Computers have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. We use them for work; we use them for play. Some- times we use them for play at work. Many employers have adopted policies prohibiting the use of work computers for nonbusiness purposes. Does an employee who violates such a policy commit a federal crime? How about someone who violates the terms of service of a social networking website? This depends on how broadly we read the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

UM School of Law needs to reduce its tuition by 60% to become a better value school and save on the lecture circuit if need-be.

Anonymous said...

@10:46 - Unfortunately, since the lecture was entirely funded by the Cole Family Foundation your argument is invalid.

Anonymous said...

Not to get all substantive, but the 9th's decision conflicts with an 11th Circuit opinion written by Judge Pryor.

Anonymous said...

@10:46

UM, and all other law schools, need to double their tuition to help deal with the huge glut of attorneys entering the market every year. Fewer lawyers means more money for those lawyers actually entering the market, and means the lawyers will be able to ultimately afford the huge tuition loans they take. But the initial burden to entry to the practice should still be enough to dissuade people from entering the practice to begin with.