February, 2007

Published on: February 14, 2007

It’s a Beautiful Plagiarism

By Laura Orr

If this isn’t wonderful, “Ecstasy of Influence,” by Jonathan Lethem, I’ll bite my blog. (Linked to via Library Link of the Day, 2/14/07). An excerpt is below, but read the whole thing. You’ll smile at the logic, the flaws, and the humor, but will also be provoked beyond measure. And it is only by chance that I posted a couple of days ago to Posner’s book on plagiarism. Enjoy:

“The idea that culture can be property—intellectual property—is used to justify everything from attempts to force the Girl Scouts to pay royalties for singing songs around campfires to the infringement suit brought by the estate of Margaret Mitchell against the publishers of Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone. Corporations like Celera Genomics have filed for patents for human genes, while the Recording Industry Association of America has sued music downloaders for copyright infringement, reaching out-of-court settlements for thousands of dollars with defendants as young as twelve. ASCAP bleeds fees from shop owners who play background music in their stores; students and scholars are shamed from placing texts facedown on photocopy machines. At the same time, copyright is revered by most established writers and artists as a birthright and bulwark, the source of nurture for their infinitely fragile practices in a rapacious world. Plagiarism and piracy, after all, are the monsters we working artists are taught to dread, as they roam the woods surrounding our tiny preserves of regard and remuneration.” [from Harper’s Magazine, Lethem, “Ecstasy of Influence”]

Published on: February 13, 2007

Babysitting and the Law

By Laura Orr

** Please see the June 2009 update (or click on the Babysitting label). **

This is the time of year when the babysitting questions appear with increasing frequency. I’ve compiled a few sources of information to help answer some of the questions, but don’t expect the answers to be black and white. Little in life is.

The question we get most often is about what age a child must be before he or she can be left home alone. I refer people with that question to this Clackamas County web site because it explains it well. You may very well want to contact your own county’s Information or Sheriff’s office.

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Published on: February 13, 2007

Quotations Mutate Toward Greater Pith

By Laura Orr

The exact quote, “Keyes finds that quotations tend to mutate in the direction of greater pith,” is from Louis Menand’s New Yorker book review of the “Oxford Book of Quotations,” by Fred Shapiro (author of the “Oxford Book of American Legal Quotations,” among others – and, by way of disclaimer, a boss of mine in a former life)

Doesn’t everyone enjoy a Good Quote now and again? And it’s even better if you can trust the source.

Also from Menand’s review:

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Published on: February 12, 2007

10 Minute Email Address

By Laura Orr

From Inter-Alia (always fun, always quick), a link to the 10 Minute Mail email service.
This is not for those with short attention spans but for those who like to retain a modicum of privacy in some situations (and please do use it for good, not for evil 🙂

Published on: February 12, 2007

Book: “Uscrewed: the consumer’s guide to getting what you paid for”

By Laura Orr

In my law library we field consumer law questions, as do most librarians in public libraries, law or otherwise. Open up the phone lines to a call-in show on consumer law and lines will light up – for hours if you let them. Everyone has a consumer law question on a full range of topics from odometer fraud, to credit card company tricks, to retail store policies, to bad service, etc. Take a look at this hot list of consumer complaints at the Oregon AG Office of Consumer Affairs to see just the tip of the iceberg. I could write a weekly column on consumer law Q&A and so could most reference librarians. Heck, we could write a daily column as could anyone in the consumer protection business.

There are lots of ways to deal with consumer issues, and they don’t all involve lawyers, and there is a lot of useful advice out there from Consumer Reports to Nolo Press to Shlep to the National Consumer Law Center to HALT, etc. (the list is endless). Consumer advocates and lawyers do not lack a sense of humor but sometimes it can get a little dark and earnest in the Quest for Consumer Justice. Enter Ron Burley. The current AARP Magazine (Mar/Apr 2007) has an article by Ron Burley (author of “Unscrewed: the consumer’s guide to getting what you paid for” – likely at your local public libraries and bookstores) and it will make you laugh and get the wheels turning. Ron’s system may not work for you, but you may still get some good ideas on the best way to solve your own consumer problems. (And, he lives in Oregon!)

Published on: February 9, 2007

How to Dispose of Used Law Books: A Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Guide

By Laura Orr

I finally got around to asking our webmaster to post my How to Dispose of Used Law Books guide. You can use that direct link or go to the bottom of our homepage, here, and link to it from there. Let me know if you like it or if I’ve left off a useful tip.

Published on: February 9, 2007

Lawyer and librarian gifts

By Laura Orr

I have written here about gifts to give the new lawyer (e.g. one leaving transactional work and heading into private practice, say family law, etc.) and here is a gift idea for that radical militant librarian (law, public, medical, or any!) in your life. Thanks to Librarian dot Net for both links.

Published on: February 9, 2007

Posner’s “Little Book of Plagiarism”

By Laura Orr

Richard Posner has written the “Little Book of Plagiarism.” Isn’t that a great title?! The Law Librarian Blog has a post about it and links to other book reviews.

Published on: February 8, 2007

Cell Phone Termination Fees and Contracts

By Laura Orr

Ernie the Attorney blogs, and links to a story, on a cell phone contract holder who wanted to terminate his service without penalty (the text message rate went up 50%). This is why it is useful to read contracts. Law librarians can give you lots of other reasons why you should read contracts – before you sign them of course 🙂

Published on: February 8, 2007

Oregon Supplemental Local Rules

By Laura Orr

I love great questions from pro se litigants, paralegals, and law students. (Lawyers have great questions too, but usually they are of the, “that would be a terrific law exam question” type of question.) Here was today’s great non-attorney question:

What do the “Supplemental Local Rules” (SLR) supplement?

This question is usually preceded by a, “may I ask a stupid question?” It is NOT a stupid question, partly because it means the “student of legal research” is noticing patterns and paying attention. Here’s the answer:

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