In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Saturday January 7, 2023

First, from copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com: This article discusses the implications of digitizing cultural heritage, including who holds the copyright of the digital copies and what happens to them when the artefacts are repatriated. The article suggests that 3D scanning may create new challenges, as the copyright of the digital copies will be determined by copyright laws, and whoever holds the copyright may have control over how the heritage is viewed and shared by the public.

Next, from www.theatlantic.com: A federal judge has blocked the enforcement of a law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis which would limit the teaching of critical race theory in higher education. However, the law has already had effects on professors who felt the need to cancel their courses discussing the subject matter out of fear of potential repercussions. The DeSantis administration has filed an appeal and is hoping to stay the injunction pending the appeal.

Finally, from www.cnn.com: A Connecticut judge has suspended the law license of attorney Norm Pattis, who is representing right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, after Pattis allegedly released confidential court documents from the Sandy Hook case. Judge Barbara Bellis rejected Pattis' assertion that the mistake was inadvertent, and said that Pattis displayed a lack of fairness and decency in handling the sensitive information. Despite the suspension, Pattis is still part of a legal team representing Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs.

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Today's paper of the day is "The Case Against Commercial Casebooks" written by W. David Ball and Michelle Oberman. It highlights the benefits of using open-source, online casebooks over for-profit commercial casebooks in the legal academy. It shows how open-source casebooks are surprisingly easy to create and how they enable professors to center their personal pedagogical goals and values. Moreover, this paper outlines practical strategies for easing the transition to open-source casebooks.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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