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Monday

23

September 2013

0

COMMENTS

Question: Is it legal to sleep in your car?

Written by , Posted in Common Law

Answer:
Many cities have ordinances that prevent sleeping in a car in a public place, including parking lots and streets. This is usually done as a response to a perceived need to regulate activities of homeless people.

For example, Austin, Texas has a “camping ban” that prohibits camping in a public area. The definition of camping in the ordinance includes “using … a vehicle for a living accommodation.” Austin City Code §9-4-11.

This has been interpreted to include sleeping in a car on a public street. As a practical matter, there are not a lot of prosecutions for violations of these types of ordinances, and most people are given a warning and asked to move. In addition, the ordinances generally do not prevent sleeping in a car on your own private property.

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Thursday

19

September 2013

6

COMMENTS

Question: Is it illegal to quote someone without permission?

Written by , Posted in Copyright Law

Answer:
The answer is that it depends on the situation. It is always legal to quote an oral statement uttered by the speaker in public. Anything published in the United States prior to January 1, 1923 is in the public domain and no permission is needed. Additionally, anything published in the United States before January 1, 1964 for which the copyright has not been renewed is in the public domain.
For written works still protected by copyright an author may quote or paraphrase brief passages provided they are making “fair use” of the quoted material. What is fair use is based on a balancing test involving four separate factors. The factors to be considered are:

    1)The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes and whether such use is “transformative” as opposed to merely “derivative”;
    2) The nature of the copyrighted work;
    3) The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
    4) The effect of the use on the existing or potential market value of the copyrighted work.

If one is using the quote for purposes other than scholarship or criticism permission may be necessary no matter how short the quoted portion of the work is.

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Tuesday

27

August 2013

4

COMMENTS

Is it Legal to File Bankruptcy Before Filing for Divorce?

Written by , Posted in Bankruptcy Law

Answer:

It is absolutely legal and many times cleaner to file a bankruptcy prior to engaging in divorce proceedings, especially in California. Since California is a community property state, all property belonging to either spouse which is not very clearly “separate property” becomes property of the bankruptcy estate upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition regardless of whether only one spouse files or a joint petition is filed. Often times, couples who are on the verge of a divorce or in the midst of divorce/dissolution proceedings believe that a solo bankruptcy filing has no impact on the non-filing spouse. Therefore, they do not advise the non-filing spouse of the decision to file bankruptcy and this can cause havoc with respect to community assets as well as the dissolution proceedings.

If you or your estranged spouse are considering filing bankruptcy, you need to keep the other spouse in the loop. You also need a competent bankruptcy attorney to guide your bankruptcy case. Do not rely on your family law attorney to advise you as to the impact of a bankruptcy filing. While many family law attorneys have a simple understanding of bankruptcy law, there are a small few who have the depth of understanding necessary to successfully navigate the bankruptcy code to insure you achieve a successful result in both forums.

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Tuesday

30

July 2013

2

COMMENTS

Monday

29

July 2013

1

COMMENTS

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