Reading my RSS feeds, I came across an interesting topic, which is timely: lawyers and marketing at the Olympics. This one blog post, led me on a quick adventure (seriously like 5 minutes), and I ended up pondering- could someone use this topic for their AWR paper? Anyone? Bueller? Here's what happened:

First I saw this blog post and thought what an interesting job for a lawyer: Olympic Lawyers Shadow Torch's Every Move to Prevent 'Ambush Marketing' (Legal Blog Watch).

Later I saw another blog post on a related note, marketing at the Olympics... and breaking the rules? See, Headphone Maker Beats Marketing Rules at Olympics (CNET.com) followed by a friendly reminder: U.K. Olympic Athletes Banned From Wearing Beats (CNET.com).

Curious about this topic, I Googled "lawyers marketing olympics" and found a law journal article from 1996! See, 3 Vill. Sports & Ent. L.J. 423 (1996) Ambushing the Olympic Games; Davis, Robert N., This article is in the HeinOnline database, and from there I wondered if anyone has written on the subject of ambush marketing since 1996... so I used their ScholarCheck feature. This showed me that there were several articles written since then (2003, 2005), but perhaps an update to these articles is in order?

Image from HeinOnline

In summary, I used an RSS feed of legal blogs to give me current news, which sparked an interest in a topic, which got me to use the HeinOnline database to search law journal articles, which showed me that this topic is in need of another updated article! A great process to find a topic and begin your research for your AWR paper.

What are you writing for your AWR? Do you need help with your research? Check out our AWR Liaison Librarian Program! Or just visit us at the Legal Research Help Desk in the Law Library on the 14th floor! Email us or call us at (602) 682-6898!

From the American Library Association (ALA)...

"Three copyright-related bills are currently in play at the start of 2012 – all of which take aim at any website beyond U.S. borders that distribute counterfeit or copyright infringing products. All three bills operate under the assumption that there is a problem that needs to be solved – and the best, or only, way to combat online infringement overseas is with more law targeted at foreign websites. These bills have the potential to negatively impact fundamental library principles. The following chart [link] is for quick reference (not meant to be comprehensive), and outlines the primary issues and concerns of interest to the library community and those who use the Internet."

~Corey Williams, American Library Association.

Hat tip to the Law Librarian Blog, and beSpacific

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/571907

Have you ever flashed your headlights to warn other drivers about a speed trap?  Is it legal to flash your headlights?  If it is illegal does this law violate your constitutional right to freedom of speech? One man in Florida believes that the ticket he received for flashing his headlights is a violation of his right to free speech.  Read all about the suit he has filed here.

If you are interested in viewing your first amendment rights take the following steps.

1)      Log onto LexisNexis

2)      Make sure the Legal tab is selected

3)      Select view more next to Federal Legal – U.S.

4)      Select USCS – United States Code Service: Code, Const, Rules, Conventions & Public Laws

5)      You can now expand the sections in the Table of Contents, start with:

a.       Constitution of the United States of America

b.      Amendments

c.       Amendment 1

d.      Religious and political freedom (part 1 of 4)

e.      Start reading

You can also read the first amendment by looking at a book or locating it on Westlaw.

For all you Star Wars fans... and those interested in copyright law and/or British law...

The prop designer who created the Storm Trooper helmets has won the battle against Lucasfilm in a copyright case in the UK. He can continue to sell the helmets in the UK, just not the US.

Read all about it here from the BBC.

Hat tip to Slashdot and TechCrunch for alerting me to this story.

An article today from the legal blog Justia called, On PACER and FDSys, points to a recent press release from the US Courts website that describes a pilot project of 12 courts that will provide free public access to court opinions through FDSys (the search engine for government documents). The article also has an excellent explanation of what you can search for on PACER, and discusses how PACER is not exactly free.

The pilot project does not include any courts in Arizona, but hey, at least they're trying!

Those who have taken my SRU workshop on FireFox Legal Add-ons will be especially interested in this development, and how it could effect RECAP!

Picture from MorgueFile