Welcome to "On the 50 Yard Line" The Blog of Stuart L. Pardau, Attorney, Professor and Observer of Political Economy; It’s not just about football.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Idea Expression Dichotomy in Copyright In Apps


As one commentator noted, a court found the following in the recent matter of  Tetris Holding v. Xio Interactive
"...the court held that game concepts, mechanics, methods of operation, rules and other utilitarian features are not protectable. However, the visual expressions, sequence of images, shapes, sizes, colors, sounds, characters and other expressive elements are all protectable unless such elements are somehow inseparable from the relevant game idea or function under the doctrines of merger or scènes à faire.
"... Xio’s Tetris clone was determined to be infringing since it copied almost every discrete element of Tetris including the shapes, colors and movement of the playing pieces, dimensions of the playing field, display of the next piece to fall, etc. The doctrine of merger did not apply because there are almost an infinite number of ways Xio could have otherwise expressed the essential methods of operation, rules and other utilitarian features of Tetris without copying all of the foregoing elements. Similarly, the doctrine of scènes à faire did not apply since Tetris is a unique puzzle game that does not have any elements that are mandated by a genre.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverherzfeld/2012/07/10/thinking-of-creating-an-angry-birds-clone-read-this-first/?goback=%2Egde_69260_member_133043990

Friday, July 13, 2012

What A Concept: Law School Classes with A Practical Application

Kudos to the University of Houston which is offering what appears to be some interesting course work in the area of compliance.

http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/07/13/the-law-school-class-that-may-just-get-you-a-job/

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Starting Salaries Down, Year over Year for New Law Grads


Salaries for new graduates from the class of 2011 fell 5% from those of 2010 and about 17% since 2009, according to a survey by the Association for Legal Career Professionals, formerly known as the National Association for Law Placement, or NALP.
Median private practice starting salaries fell more than 18% from 2010 and 35% from 2009, the survey found.
The national median salary for 2011 graduates was $60,000 for those working full-time for at least one year. That’s down from $63,000 in 2010 and $72,000 in 2009. At law firms, the national median salary was $85,000, down from $104,000 in 2010 and $130,000 in 2009.


http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/07/12/survey-median-starting-salaries-plunge-for-new-law-grads/

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