125 research outputs found
Child and Caregiver Perspectives of a Combined Brain Stimulation and Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy Trial
No full textAbstract
Date Presented 3/31/2017
Novel interventions pairing noninvasive brain stimulation and rehabilitation are emerging for children with stroke. Feedback from pediatric clinical trial participants and caregivers is reviewed to guide future investigations and translation of novel interventions.
Primary Author and Speaker: Tonya Rich
Contributing Authors: Chao-Ying Chen, Timothy Feyma, Gregg Meekins, Marcie Ward, Linda E. Krach, Bernadette Gillick</jats:p
Statutory Heirs Apparent?: Reclaiming Copyright in the Age of Author-Controlled, Author-Benefiting Transfers
Full text linkWhat do musical artists Bob Dylan,1 Loretta Lynn,2 Bruce Springsteen, Kool and the Gang, 4 and original Village People member Victor Willis5 all have in common? During their lifetimes, these songwriters all successfully served notice of termination to transferees of their copyright interests in their musical compositions and reclaimed ownership of their copyrights. 6 In fact, Willis, author7 of the perennial karaoke hit YMCA, is the first living artist to successfully terminate the transfer of a post-1977 copyrighted musical composition under section 203 of the 1976 Copyright Act.8
Willis may have been the first, but since 2013 an increasing number of artists from all entertainment industry sectors have and will successfully serve notices and terminate transfers and licenses that were thought at the time of contract to be irrevocable and perpetual. 9 The list of successful artists includes the late Prince Rogers Nelson (aka Prince),\u27 ° who, after an infamous and legendary 18-year rights battle, reclaimed his music catalog from Warner Brothers beginning with his debut album released in 1978.11 This Article focuses on what has transpired since the 2013 termination window opened as termination controversies move from the boardroom to the courtroom. Owners of copyrighted works created on or after January 1, 1978, were first empowered to begin terminating any transfers of those works on January 1, 2013. Because Willis (and the others) reclaimed control of their respective copyright interests during their lifetimes, they are free to dispose of their copyrights, as intangible personal property, during their lifetime in any way they choose or they can exercise their testamentary freedom to transfer property at death. 12
[. . .]
In this Article, I focus on what has actually transpired since that trigger date. Specifically, I argue that Congress should treat certain lifetime gratuitous author transfers to ACAB business and nonprobate entities in the same way that transfers by will are treated. I assert that parity in the treatment of wills and will substitutes is necessary given the rise in importance and frequency of use by celebrities of those ACAB vehicles. I propose a statutory amendment to prevent Statutory Heirs from terminating the decedent author\u27s lifetime gratuitous transfers to best protect the author\u27s testamentary intent and valuable copyright ACAB transfers in the same way testamentary transfers are protected. Finally, I discuss post-1977 termination cases, which are just starting to make their way through the court system, to highlight the unintended consequences of Statutory Heir termination.
In Part I, I explore the legislative history and purpose of the transfer termination right to highlight why Congress added it in 1976 and why transfers made by will are not subject to termination. Further, I compare and contrast briefly pre-1978 (section 304) and post-1977 (section 203) termination rights.
In Part II, I explore the history and importance of testamentary freedom as an organizing principle of succession law.19 Additionally, I highlight the trend led by the drafters of the Uniform Probate Code to interpret succession laws expansively in order to glean and to honor testamentary intent. In this part, I also discuss the traditional limitations on testamentary freedom in favor of certain favored familial relationships like that of spouse and child, namely the elective share in common law states and pretermitted heir statutes.
In Part III, I examine the historical development and emergence of will substitutes in succession law.20 First, I identify and discuss the common types of will substitutes. Next, I focus more specifically on the types of nonprobate transfer vehicles typically involved in the entertainment industry that an artist might use to hold copyright interests and other intellectual property during their lifetimes and to transfer those same assets at the artist\u27s death. These types include self-settled trusts, private foundations, and asset protection trusts.
In Part IV, I examine the role and prevalence of celebrity loan-out companies and music publishing companies in the entertainment industry. Entertainers across entertainment sectors often set up loan out corporations as a way to protect their assets and secure certain tax benefits.21 Usually, the entertainer acts as an employee of the corporate entity and the entity enters into contracts with other businesses such as a production company. The company loans out the services of the actor to the production company and may also receive transfers of copyright interests and, after the entity is formed, acquire control of copyrights on a work-for-hire basis to insulate them from the termination right altogether. Music publishing companies are used to control and exploit songwriting copyrights. A songwriter\u27s music publishing company may also receive transfers initially and then own future copyrights created by the songwriter on a work-for-hire basis. ACAB transfers to these business entities are vulnerable to Statutory Heir termination.
In Part V, I analyze several ACAB transfer termination cases where heirs, who inherited the unexercised termination right, challenged a decedent\u27s copyright transfer into an author-created vehicle designed to pass copyright ownership (or the benefits that flow therefrom) to someone or some entity other than those heirs. To that end, I examine the facts and outcome of Ray Charles Foundation v. Robinson, the most prominent and recent case involving an analogous fact pattern. 22 Thereafter, I highlight several pre-1978 cases that interpret section 304. I use those cases to serve as a guidepost for how statutory heirs can effect termination in a way that is contrary to an author\u27s testamentary intent and to highlight how common it was under section 304 for an heir to challenge an author\u27s lifetime disposition of copyright assets and create an endrun around the author\u27s estate plans.
Finally, in Part VI, I offer ways to effectively reconcile the copyright succession rules to best balance an author\u27s lifetime and testamentary wishes with the policies underlying the government\u27s interest in protecting the welfare of author\u27s closest heirs if the author dies before having the opportunity to exercise his or her termination right.
For example, Congress could amend the Act to except from any transfer those that would qualify as author-benefiting transfers to author controlled vehicles or closely held corporate entities. This exception could be unlimited or limited to a certain time period from the date the author created the receiving ACAB entity
Tom Belt: Cherokee Language Teacher
No full textWith Cherokee as his first language, Tom Belt’s life work consists of spreading the gift of the Cherokee language. In this video interview, Belt gives background into the development of the Cherokee syllabary created by Sequoyah. The transcript provided is an unedited version of the video
Cytogenetics of Simulium arcticum in Lewis and Clark and Powell Counties, Montana: A Test of the IIL-3 “montane” / IIL-7 “prairie” Hypothesis
Full text linkConventional methods of collection, morphological classification, preparation ofpolytene chromosomes, and analysis were used to study the cytogenetics of the black fly, Simulium arcticum, at Canyon Creek (CC) and at the Little Blackfoot River (LBR). These sites were chosen for convenience and to represent eastern and western flowing streams, respectively, so that the “IIL-3- montane/IIL-7 prairie” hypothesis of Shields could be tested. Additionally, CC was studied for two summers to test the hypothesis that cytogenetic diversity would be similar from year to year and the LBR was studied at two locations to test the hypothesis that individual drainages have the same cytogenetic diversity in a single year. IIL-3 S. arcticum was the predominant sibling in both streams; the IIL-7 sibling of S. arcticum was not found in this study. Cytogenetic diversity at CC was similar for both years, except that Prosimulium onychodactylum appeared to be absent in 2003. Cytogenetic diversity at two sites ofthe LBR was also similar except that S. decorum, a rare species in Montana, was found in very low numbers at the downstream site. A new cytotype ofS. arcticum, IIL-18, was found in low numbers at CC both years, while it was found in relatively high frequency at the LBR in 2003. “Sex-exceptional” types (males having undifferentiated sex chromosomes) of S. arcticum were found in high (46.8%) frequency at the LBR; additional detailed analysis ofthese types is warranted
Recommended from our members
Soul of the court ::the trailblazing life of Judge William Benson Bryant Sr. /
No full text"Legal legend Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer once stated that there were "only two people in the world who really understood the Constitution" and its impact on American lives. One was Hugo Black, deceased Supreme Court justice. The other was William Benson Bryant Sr. (1911-2005), who in the early 1950s became the first Black assistant US attorney to try cases in Washington, DC's federal court, and became that same court's first Black chief judge in 1977. Written by award-winning author Tonya Bolden, this biography presents the story of Bryant's remarkable, pioneering life in the law-one that began in a segregated DC and included many years as an extraordinary criminal defense attorney, most notably as the dogged defender of Andrew Mallory, a young poor Black man sentenced to the electric chair for the 1954 rape of a white woman. Bryant fought for Mallory's life all the way to the US Supreme Court, chiefly on the grounds that Mallory's confession-the most damning evidence against him-was the fruit of an illegal detention. The High Court overturned Mallory's conviction. Mallory v. United States was among the cases that culminated in the landmark 1966 Miranda rule. Appointed to federal judicial service by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, Bryant's forty-year tenure included cases ranging from overturning a corrupted election of the United Mine Workers and unconstitutional conditions at the DC jail. The biography draws upon an array of documents, newspaper articles, interviews with the judge's friends, colleagues, and family members, as well as oral histories, including Judge Bryant's. Bolden beautifully narrates the story of a life of compassion, unparalleled integrity, and unwavering belief in the dignity of every human being"-
Interview with Charles Byrd
No full textCharles Byrd, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses playing football first under Coach Young and then Coach Dan Robinson, the role of sports in the social life of the university, life as a student and an athlete, and briefly mentions changes brought about by racial integration
Interview with Bobby Holcomb
No full textBobby Holcomb, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety a topics: his reasons for attending Western; playing baseball and basketball under Jim Gudger; life as a student and an athlete; social life on campus; and initiation rituals for student-atheletes into the Monogram Club
Interview with Dee Thompson Smith
No full textDee Thompson Smith, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety of topics: her decision to attend Western rather than Blanton's Business College in Asheville; her participation in the marching band, P.E. club, and intramural sports; and social life on campus
Interview with Phillip Smith
No full textPhillip Smith, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses playing basketball and baseball under Jim Gudger, being nicknamed ‘Chief’ by his teammates because he was Cherokee, and race relations at the time
Interview with Dr. Bob Ray
No full textBob Ray was a student at Western Carolina College from 1952 to 1954 before he was drafted to serve in the Korean Conflict and sent to Germany. He returned in 1957 and graduated thereafter. In this interview, Ray tells about his life as a student-athlete at Western; playing basketball under Coach Gudger; the role of sports in the social life of the campus; and playing with the German national basketball team, while in service, as part of a US Army initiative to improve relations between the countries
- …
