One of the many side issues during this campaign season has been the use of contemporary music by the campaigns---in commercials or as background to conventions and rallies. The original artists don't always like the candidates who use their music, and often they have the legal right to stop them. (Not always. Music licensing is complicated and often kind of stupid.) Getting … [Read more...] about Music Rights, Politician’s Rights
Congratulations to Paul Krugman
Economist and New York Times opinion columnist Paul Krugman just won the Nobel Prize for economics. Despite his controversial opinions in the Times, he really does deserve this award. I was going to explain why, but Arnold Kling does a much better job of it. His theories on international trade tend to recommend more government intervention than traditional trade theory did, but … [Read more...] about Congratulations to Paul Krugman
Scumbags and Prurient Interests
In response to my admittedly harsh missive about the conviction of Paul "Max Hardcore" Little, commenter "jt" writes: I couldn't help but notice you mentioned you've never seen a Max Hardcore video. Perhaps you should. Once you have, you may understand how a jury could find his work obscene, based on the old Miller three prong test, and therefor not constitutionally protected … [Read more...] about Scumbags and Prurient Interests
The Truth About Hiring a Criminal Defense Lawyer
The latest buzz in the legal blogosphere is Brian Tannebaum's e-book The Truth About Hiring a Criminal Defense Lawyer. Both Mark Bennett and Scott Greenfield like it, which tells me it's pretty good advice. I'm not a lawyer, nor an expert at hiring one, but I took a quick look at this 28-page pamphlet myself, and it seems like a straightforward explanation of the types of … [Read more...] about The Truth About Hiring a Criminal Defense Lawyer
F**k the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force
A Florida court recently convicted Paul "Max Hardcore" Little for distributing pornography---adult pornography, I should point out. No children were involved. I expect this sort of thing from the kind of backwards Islamic countries that punish men for shaving their beards and women for for driving cars, but I hoped our country had more of a live-and-let-live attitude by … [Read more...] about F**k the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force