Thursday

19

September 2013

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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Thursday

19

September 2013

Question: Is it legal to marry your first cousin?

Written by , Posted in Family Law

Answer 1:

It is legal to marry your first cousin in North Carolina. However, you cannot marry a double first cousin in North Carolina.

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Answer 2:
Yes, in the State of Florida you can marry your first cousin. Florida Statute §741.21 prohibits marriages between people related by lineal consanguinity (relation in a direct line such as between parent, child and grandparent). It also prohibits a man from marrying his sister, aunt or niece and it prohibits a woman from marrying her brother, uncle or nephew. There is no prohibition against marrying a cousin. Several famous people have married their cousins including Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Albert Einstein and Rudy Giuliani.

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Friday

6

September 2013

Question: Is it illegal to burn money?

Written by , Posted in Statutory Law

Answer:

Money is government property, and in the United States it is illegal to deface or destroy government property. Specifically, this is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code, which says that “whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”  The law is enforced by the Secret Service.

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Tuesday

27

August 2013

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

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