SC - Copyright from the Copyright Lawyer

[margali]

That is why I like lawyers. Each seems to have their individual
interpretations of the law.

Actually, it is not that all lawyers each have their own interpretation
of the law, per se. The judge interprets the law, as the lawyers [well,
sometimes, usually it is an assistant or paralegal] scours the published
body of cases in the particular area[federal, state or local
geopolitical unit] pertaining to the particular circumstances of the
case. What the lawyers are doing is finding a ruling by a judge that
goes along with what point they are trying to make.
To summarize real quick:
A lawyer gets approached by a person being sued for copyright
infringement
The lawyer or his assistant checks over the caselaw, and finding 37
cases in the town of Nowheresville [the legal venue involved] some the
judgements are for and some are against. The cases get 'shepardized' or
checked to see that they are still valid [not having been overturned
either in an apellate or higher court.]
The assistant writes a 'memorandum' outlining the case, the pertinant
cases 'on point', where hizzhoner Judge Death ruled that A. Nonny Mouse
could in fact print 13 recipes from a book in his newspaper without
getting any type of fair use permission from P. Issed Author. The
assistant will also make note of any case where the jusde or a higher
court ruled differently, summing up whether or not the case has a chance
similar to the proverbial snowball of winning.
Armed with the strength of 10 because his heart is pure and caselaw is
strong, the lawyer and the client go to court. Judge Death rules that
you can in fact print the recipe or recipes in question by weighing the
way the law is actually written, and whether or not the lawyer manages
to convince the court by persuasive argument, talented questioing of
witnesses to determine if things are as represented and the other lawyer
not managing to be as convicing. The Plaintiff, having lost to the
defendant gets to beg the appellate court for mercy and to see if they
can get the original judgement overturned.

So ya see, the lawyers are sort of like the kids asking Mom for cookies
by saying that she said if they got the bedroom clean they get a cookie
but only if they didnt fight while cleaning. They have to convince her
that the funny pounding sounds and screams were simply them having fun
and the snotty older sister saying that she saw them punching each other
out....and the puncher and punchee trying to claim they were just
playing.

Any wonder why court cases take so long and cost so much?
margali
[I knew that being a paralegal would come in useful for something...]

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