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Discharging Government Debt
Full text linkThe bankruptcy system tries to strike a balance between a fresh economic start through debt forgiveness, or discharge, and the need to repay creditors. When the debt is owed to the government, however, the scale seemingly tips toward repayment because of the government’s role in providing essential services to society. But there are certain debts owed to the government that can be forgiven in bankruptcy and some that cannot. The consumer bankruptcy system does not forgive government-owed child support debt, penal debt, and student loan debt, which are disproportionally carried by poor women and racial minorities, but the system does forgive government-owed tax debts and loans. Since one of the primary purposes of the consumer bankruptcy system is debt relief for economically vulnerable individuals, this Article advocates for targeted reforms to the bankruptcy system and discharge guidelines to promote a more generalized standard of discharge for government-owed debt and further advances the debate about whether there should be nondischargeable debt in the consumer bankruptcy syste
Reimagining the Music Industry: In Search of a More Perfect Union
Full text linkThis Article challenges the long-standing accepted business model of the music industry, including recording contract terms, ownership of masters, artist recoupment, and copyright terminations. It explores the negative implications of failing to revise these methods and neglecting to create a more equitable relationship between artists and recording companies. Indeed, the music industry is an outlier from almost every commercial industry in its financing structure. As such, this Article suggests that the future industry model should include equity ownership of master recordings. It then reviews the need to revise contract terms and eliminate the unilateral options and the unduly burdensome clauses such as the controlled composition clause. The industry’s heavy-handed practice of calculating recoupment on the artists’ fraction of the income that is reflected in their royalty rate, as opposed to a more equitable method of using net receipts requires creative adjustments to contracts that provide for artists to gain an ownership interest in their master recordings. Finally, this Article concludes that the current statutory language of the Copyright Act of 1976, as it relates to copyright terminations, is poorly conceived and falls far short of the stated Congressional intent of providing creators with a fair opportunity to recapture their copyrights after a specified period of time. The past two decades have brought technological and informational advances that have allowed artists to thrive without the assistance of deep pocketed recording companies. Major labels must adapt to these changes by making their relationships with artists more equitable. If they do not evolve, they will become a relic of the past
The Sports-Betting Market: A Road to Sports Betting as Viable Investing
Full text linkSince its legalization, sports betting has experienced rapid growth, both in terms of economic output and expansion into more states. The current system of sports betting in the United States requires individuals to place bets using a sportsbook. The sportsbook sets the lines on every bet. If an individual wins their bet, the sportsbook pays them money according to the listed odds. If an individual loses their bet, the sportsbook keeps the amount staked. Sportsbooks set lines in a way to ensure that on average, they make money on every bet. This system has been widely accepted, often based on the common understanding that “the house always wins.” When the house wins, the individual loses. Sports betting in its current state is riddled with pricing inefficiencies that can be best remedied by treating sports betting as a market in which individuals can buy and sell bets. By reimagining the way sports betting is regulated, a system can be created where individuals can place bets at fair prices and be rewarded with gains based on superior ability. By thinking of sports betting like a capital market, it becomes clear how flawed the current system is, and we can draw inspiration from other capital markets to create a vision of an efficient sports-betting marketplace that protects investors instead of exploiting them
Governing Global Gig Platforms in the Age of AI: When the Manager is an Algorithm
Full text linkGig workers are vulnerable to discrimination from the sharing economy platforms on which they work. This challenge is worsened by these platforms’ dependence on algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are used to control and direct gig workers. These platforms also often operate globally, and discrimination embedded within their algorithms can be magnified when exported into new cultural contexts.These platforms exercise significant influence over gig workers, but their for-profit nature means that their boards and directors often prioritize shareholder value over gig worker protection. This tension has led to intense debates, as platforms attempt to minimize the rights and benefits they provide to gig workers. Yet, recent legal developments from the European Union—specifically, the European Union’s Platform Workers’ Directive, AI Act, and Framework Convention on AI—signal the beginning of a global legal and policy shift towards protecting gig workers and regulating AI use.This Article examines the intricate interplay among algorithmic discrimination, corporate governance, and growing global legal scrutiny to protect gig workers and govern AI. This emerging legal and regulatory framework from the European Union has the potential to align platforms’ incentives with gig workers’ rights. Finally, this Article offers policy recommendations and actionable organizational changes for platforms to navigate this evolving legal landscape
Silent Trusts and the Conflicts of Laws
Full text linkThere are good reasons why the settlor of a trust may not wish the beneficiaries of the trust to know of its existence at the time that the trust is created and funded or even for years thereafter. The settlor may not want beneficiaries to learn of the trust\u27s existence until they have matured, accomplished a specific task, become self-supporting, or abandoned prob- lematic or destructive behaviors. In other instances, the settlor may not, in principle, be opposed to the beneficiaries learning about the existence of the trust but does not want to grant direct access to the trust instrument in full or is opposed to any sort of accounting, even if only informal. If the trust favors certain children or grandchildren over others, it could gener- ate internecine conflict if the difference in treatment became known, and thus the settlor prefers keeping the trust silent. Another reason for silence is a concern that financial information will become known by persons who could use the information to impact negatively the assets held in trust or single out family members as targets. The multifold reasons that may propel a settlor of a trust to with- hold trust information from beneficiaries in whole or part has given birth to and fueled the increasing popularity of the silent trust, also known as the quiet trust. The terms of the silent trust instrument specify the extent, if any, that the existence of the trust, its provisions, its assets, and the value and performance of those assets will be revealed to beneficiaries and the timing of such revea
Central Clearing the U.S. Treasury Market
Full text linkIn October 1956, the famed U.S. architect Frank Lloyd Wright revealed a radical and ambitious new project. The Illinois would be a mile high, four times the height of the Empire State Building (at that point still the tallest building in the world). Key to this vision was a type of foundation known as the taproot, which offered a means by which to secure such a towering edifice while still enabling architectural creativity-or, as Wright put it, to make rigidity possible at [ ] extreme heights. A similar design had previously protected another Wright design, the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, when virtually every other major building in the vicinity was leveled. It was, as Baron Kishichiro Okura declared at the time, a monument of [his] genius. Even though Wright never ended up building the Illinois, his vision nevertheless has parallels in U.S. financial history. The market for Treasury securities represents its own kind of taproot -a deep and liquid market for risk-free debt that has anchored an ambitious and creative U.S. dollar economy, while also ensuring the safety and soundness of its financial and monetary system
Defense Wins Championships (and Labor Disputes): How the Minor Leagues Can Field Their Position Against MLB’s ‘Inside Baseball\u27
Full text linkFor years, minor league baseball players received salaries far below the federal minimum wage, despite working sixty hours per week. It was not uncommon for these professional athletes to share cramped hotel rooms, sleep on floors, or live out of their cars. Most had to secure loans and pursue odd jobs to make ends meet during the offseason. Such sacrifices were necessary for minor leaguers to achieve their dreams of reaching the major league level, particularly as those abysmal working and living conditions became entrenched by adverse legislation and judicial rulings.
Only within the last five years have minor leaguers experienced material improvements in pay and working conditions, thanks primarily to the first-ever unionization and ensuing collective bargaining agreement in minor league baseball history. But they have yet to reach home plate. Recent actions from Major League Baseball, most pertinently, its revamp of the minor leagues in 2020, evince its intent to remove Major League Baseball affiliation from up to half of minor league teams upon expiration of that collective bargaining agreement. The resulting circumstances for players and teams stripped of their major league affiliation—that is, those who have been “contracted”—largely mirror the circumstances of minor league baseball’s pre-union “dark days.”
This Note defends against Major League Baseball’s unilateral, capital-driven action by arguing that the number of affiliated minor league teams constitutes a mandatory subject of bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act. Beyond offering the Major League Baseball Players Association a new pitch in its arsenal to advocate for overturning baseball’s historic antitrust exemption, a ruling that contraction is a mandatory bargaining subject is necessary to ensure the continued viability of minor league baseball
The Not-So-Silent Side Effects of Upzoning: Noise Pollution
No full textA broad coalition has formed to oppose restrictive zoning laws. According to this coalition, zoning is largely to blame for the current housing crisis facing the United States, and to increase the housing supply, cities across the country should embrace upzoning—that is, loosen zoning laws to allow for greater density. Like many other well-intentioned policy changes, upzoning has the possibility for negative unintended consequences. Among those consequences is noise pollution. In recent decades, noise pollution has gone largely undiscussed in the United States. Notwithstanding this neglect, existing research demonstrates that noise pollution can have serious adverse effects on people’s health and performance. If upzoning is inevitable in a country intent on addressing the housing crisis, it is critical to ensure that one of its attendant consequences—noise pollution—is mitigated to the greatest extent possible. To this end, this Note explores the current legal landscape controlling noise at the federal, state, and local levels. Since the 1970s, noise control has mostly been within the purview of local governments, resulting in a wide variance in noise control across the country. This Note recommends standard language that states should adopt for residential noise control. This standard language prioritizes the protection of noise receivers, based on the ancient maxim of sic utere, while allowing for certain variation between localities, recognizing that idiosyncratic needs vary among communities. Adopting this standard language is a first step in minimizing the noisy effects of densification
The Public Health Cost of Online Behavioral Targeting
No full textBehavioral targeting is an increasingly popular marketing technique that utilizes users’ online activity to personalize advertisements aimed at consumers. However, since personalized advertisements aim to influence individual consumers, behavioral targeting can negatively impact vulnerable users. For instance, it may reinforce harmful behaviors—like showing alcohol advertisements to individuals with alcohol dependency—or worsen mental health struggles, such as prolonging grief by continuing to serve parenting advertisements to those mourning the loss of a child. These practices can perpetuate harmful behaviors, such as relapse or heightened psychological distress, and contribute to long-term health problems, such as addiction or other mental health problems, creating a significant public health burden. While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) already protects health data classified as protected health information within covered entities, it does not apply to most consumer health applications. Although other federal and state regulators—such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—are starting to act on behavioral targeting, users of popular health applications may still be unaware of how voluntarily shared health data can be used to influence their health decisions and outcomes. This Note proposes the establishment of state regulatory agencies to enforce stricter informed consent rules, similar to those used in human subjects research, in order to protect vulnerable health app users while also preserving the marketing efficiency created by online behavior targeting techniques. These rules would require clear and accessible disclosures about how data is used, modeled after the stringent consent requirements in human subjects research, and ensure that consumers understand the potential risks to their health
