fandomhigh | Lawyering Up: Week 2, Wed, Period 2 (1/16)

Nathan was there, dressed in a suit and tie as usual. He passed out a packet of handouts. "Today we're going to be discussing Copyright Law. At its core, Copyright Law makes sure people get credit and/or payment for their own work. Sounds good so far, right?

"However," Nathan continued, "changing technology means that law as we knew it doesn't necessarily apply to law as we need it. A novelist who rips entire passages from previously written books and poems - as silly as that idea may seem - has plenty of established law to try to navigate.

"But these days there are all new kinds of problems." Nathan looked around the room. "For example, file sharing. Which I'm sure everyone here has only ever done in a perfectly legal fashion. In your handouts you'll see a summary of MGM vs Grokster. This case provides an example of the can of worms that's been opened on copyrights. How do we protect people's right to be credited and paid while at the same time responding to the consumer's demand to use new technology? Is it possible to prevent theft without preventing legal innovations? What constitutes theft in the first place?

"I don't expect you to answer all of these questions today," Nathan said. "But I want you to gain an appreciation of the issues. Last week we discussed the use of precedent. This week I want you to see what happens when society takes a huge leap and precedent has yet to catch up.

"So what I want you to do is take a look at the handouts, including the last one if you're really into the reading. Then come up with your own ideas of how file sharing should be handled. Any aspect of it. Should we continue to try to adapt precedent? Should we give up on that for a new system? How could file sharing be set up to honor copyright as we know it without allowing illegal activities? Assume anything is possible, for the purpose of the exercise.

"Be prepared to defend your position though," Nathan said. "Because once you tell us what you think your classmates get to question you. Don't worry, you'll get to question them in turn. I might join in myself from time to time. I want to see you using what we've done so far, and getting practice at arguing your case.

"Oh, and - " Nathan checked his paperwork. "Some administrative notes. Sam Winchester is the class TA. My office hours are Thursday mornings. So far Annette is the only one to have provided me with a lawyer joke so she's currently winning that race. And if Ms. Wexler is here, I'd like to chat with you after class." Nathan smiled. "Don't worry. You're not in trouble. We can schedule for another day if today's not good for you.

"That's it. Get started on trying to find solutions to the copyright problem, and feel free to ask questions if you need to."

[ooc: OCD ~~coming~~ up! Going to bed, will pick up pings tomorrow.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...oops. "No, sir. It honestly didn't occur to me." Also, she was having some issues with authority figures right now.

"Well, I'm flattered that you came to me first," Nathan replied, with a dry smirk. "For my part last week we covered using precedent to defend yourself. I had the class use traffic violations. In your case how about we use your missed class?"

Z thought about it for a moment, then said quickly, "Temporary insanity. People can't be held accountable for actions taken while they were out of their right minds, right? I wasn't quite sane for, er, a lot of last week, because if I was, I would've realized running away wasn't going to solve anything and in fact made a lot of things worse."

"Legally insanity refers to your ability to tell the difference between right and wrong," Nathan said. "Rulings can, however, be affected by state of mind. Do you feel comfortable with telling me why you ran away?"

"I didn't know that. The legal system doesn't work quite the same way where I'm from, so I sort of just have old cop shows to go on," Z said apologetically. "I can't tell you everything because it's sort of...classified? And not fair on someone else. But I found out that something I believed about myself and the organization I have to work for isn't true."

"You're in my jurisdiction, so we'll go with my laws for now," Nathan said, not unkindly. He made a mental note to try to find out more about the laws people in Fandom were familiar with. "Okay, so not exactly running off to go see a Britney Spears concert?"

Nathan might not be the slickest when it came to knowing what music teenagers listened to.

Britney Spears? Wasn't she the crazy one? "No, sir. I wound up at a truck stop in Alberta."

"Commit any crimes while you were out there?"

"I stole a guy's wallet while he was trying to rape me," Z said bluntly. "Can we call that social consequence?"

"Christ, are you okay?" Nathan asked.

"I'm fine," Z assured him. "I'm pretty tough."

"Need help pressing charges?" Not that Nathan could practice law in Canada, but Nathan wouldn't be Nathan if he let minor details stand in his way.

"No!" Z said quickly. "No." As appealing as the idea was... "No one can know I was there. And by 'there' I mean 'the western half of the continent in 2008.'"

"See a doctor?" Nathan asked. He figured she'd probably say no, but he had to ask anyway.

"I'm fine," Z insisted. "Really. He's the one who might need to see a doctor."

"Well then good for you," Nathan said. "You know - unofficially and off the record."

"Unofficially, thank you," Z said with a hint of a smile.

"Sounds to me like you've been through enough," Nathan said. "I'd still like you to read through last week's handouts, just so you get a better idea of precedent. I won't hold last week against you, but let's try to avoid doing the vanishing act again. Deal?"

"Yes, sir," Z said. "Thank you, sir. I won't let it happen again." You know. Unless things went pear-shaped again.

"And if you ever need to talk to someone confidentially," Nathan said, "you're welcome to find me."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Z. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Nathan said.

Lawyering Up: Week 2, Wed, Period 2 (1/16)

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