We can work on Case Study on Clean Flicks Colorado LLC v. Soderbergh

Description

Write a casenote or legislative study analyzing either an important state or federal legal case (reported, with a judicial opinion of some kind and not a jury verdict) or an important federal or state law (statute ). In other words, analyze a case or a statute. The statute may be something pending (not yet passed by Congress, a legislature, a local council, etc.) as long as it is important and meets the other criteria of the assignment. Most students opt for doing a case.

Rules: The subject matter must apply the concepts in Weeks 4-5: Intellectual Property as it relates to communications/media technology or “Political” Speech related to mass media.

Please note: Most people have chosen a copyright or trademark case; there is a nice list to chose from, from the cases/statutes that you looked up in Week 4 Content. It is recommend that you do a Week 4 copyright or trademark case. However, you have the option, as stated, of doing something from Week 5. There are cases in Week 5 Content for you to find; any one of them would be acceptable for this assignment, or you can research a case or statute you’ve found on your own. To avoid a loss in points, the casenote must pertain to the subject matter of weeks 4 or 5, and the format must adhere to the format described below; therefore, you should look at the format carefully.

Since patent law is outside the scope of this course, you should avoid it unless it involves a fight between two media companies, etc. (i.e. Google fighting Facebook, AT&T fighting Verizon, etc. over some new technology). It will be up to you to convey in English the technical jargon, etc. You can do a patent case if you can handle it.

As stated above, if you choose a statute/law, it can be pending legislation; otherwise, the statue/law should be currently “on the books.”

For cases, try to keep them to a maximum of 8 years old – nothing before 2011. If you choose a US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case, it shouldn’t be more than 20 years old – nothing before 2009 – and must be current precedent.

Note: most copyright and trademark cases are federal, so it should be easy to find one. The Media Law Prof blog is be very helpful as a secondary source. Use Findlaw or Lexis Nexis Academic, Google Scholar if you are having issues finding a case or statute.

The overall flavor of the assignment: why is this case or law so significant or important?

Requirements: No less than three (3) pages single spaced and no more than six (6) pages single spaced – anything beyond six pages will receive an automatic 10% reduction per page over the sixth (6th) page, Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins on all sides, subheadings, footnote space (if you’re using a legal writing format) are excluded from the page count. If you include a works cited (as some of you do, that does not count in the page total).

Regardless of the format you use, you must demonstrate proper legal citation form for cases, laws and law review/other legal articles, and proper direct quote and paraphrasing for any other type of source you use.

You must use/cite at least six (6) outside sources other than cases, statutes, articles, etc. the judicial opinion (including any dissent or concurrence) references in the case itself, or in any legislative history of the statute (if your subject is a law). Put those in footnotes. However, any cases or statutes must be cited properly with in-text citations, and if citing to or quoting from a judge’s opinion or dissent from the case or statute you are examining, you must have proper page references. If you do not know what a dissent or concurring opinion is yet, go back to week 1 and look it up in the Modules, etc.

Format: It require some amount of work.

Title (try to be creative!), then your name and date at top of the page

Format:

Introduction
Facts
Legal Background
Holding if case, (Textual Purpose if statute)
Analysis
Conclusion

Here’s a breakdown of the sections…

Title: Include a creative title and the name of the case or statute.

Introduction: Give a summary of the subject case or statute and it’s main idea; then, in a separate paragraph, add the main idea or thesis (expanded in the V. Analysis) about what the case or law means, why it’s good, bad, doesn’t follow older precedents, is a game changer, etc. Always begin the Introduction with the sentence “In [case name with full cite] the [court] [did or established something],” or with a law, start with “The [full name and cite of the of the law, act, ordinance etc.] the [Congress? state legislature? etc.] [did, addressed, provided, what?]

Facts: Include the factual background, how the case arose, the players, and the problems or why someone felt is necessary to pass a law.

Legal Background: List what other cases or laws that addressed (or should have been addressed) this problem or issue. What did other courts decide or other laws (state, federal,etc. if you are doing a statute) do or not do? In other words, what was the legal vibe and context before and while your case or law was decided or enacted?

Holding: What did the judge/judges/justices actually decide and what was their reasoning (or what did the law/the state legislators, the Congress, etc. actually say)? And, if you are doing a law, what was the purpose of the law as stated in a preamble or first lines of the text? Give a summary of any dissenting or concurring opinions of other judges (if a case and there’s a minority opinion)

Analysis: Interpret the law/statute or case decision as good, bad, or helpful in light of the Legal Background and other factors. Again, this is analysis not your personal rant (and since you aren’t legal scholars yet, you don’t have the standing or expertise to rant anyway!) Did the holding address the problem or does it look like it made things worse or unclear? Did it follow older cases (precedent) or distinguish them or even trash (overrule) them? Did their action make sense? Use real analysis—support the thesis statement from the Introduction. If there’s a dissent, how does it measure up to the majority opinion (if a case). If it is a law, why did the legislator, etc. vote against the law (if you can find through research)? Did it break new ground or totally reverse old precedent?

Conclusion: Restate your thesis statement/position in a sentence or two. Add a suggestion on what might happen in the future, or a sentence on any lingering problems.

Start Date
Sep 23, 2019 12:00 AM
Due Date
Oct 5, 2019 11:59 PM
Hide Rubrics
Rubric Name: COMM 400 Assignment Rubric
This table lists criteria and criteria group name in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method.
Demonstration of Knowledge
Exceeds Standards
40 points
Meets Standards
35.6 points
Needs Improvement
27.6 points
Does Not Meet Standards
23.6 points
Qualitative Category is worth 40% of overall grade
Effective demonstration of knowledge of legal concepts and case law or statutes from Course Content and the identification of key and sub- issues raised by problem set, case details, or hypothetical questions

Adequate demonstration of legal concepts and case law or statutes from Course Content and the identification of key and sub- issues raised by problem set, case details, or hypothetical questions

Somewhat effective demonstration of legal concepts and case law or statutes from Course Content and the identification of key and sub- issues raised by problem set, case details, or hypothetical questions

Poor demonstration of knowledge of legal concepts and case law or statutes from Course Content and the identification of key and sub- issues raised by problem set, case details, or hypothetical questions

/ 40
This table lists criteria and criteria group name in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method.
Ability to Apply Research Sources
Exceeds Standards
30 points
Meets Standards
26.7 points
Needs Improvement
20.7 points
Does Not Meet Standards
17.7 points
Qualitative Category is worth 30% of overall grade
The ability to apply research sources as well as concepts, case law and statutes from Course Content to issues raised, or identified from questions or problem sets in a coherent, concise analysis was effectively demonstrated

The ability to apply research sources as well as concepts, case law and statutes from Course Content to issues raised, or identified from questions or problem sets in a coherent, concise analysis was adequately demonstrated

/ 30
This table lists criteria and criteria group name in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method.
Proficiency in Sources and Proper Citation
Exceeds Standards
20 points
Meets Standards
17.8 points
Needs Improvement
13.8 points
Does Not Meet Standards
11.8 points
Quantitative Category is worth or 20% of overall grade
Proficiency in primary and secondary source research, and effective demonstration of proper citation form and reference format rather than applicable law research undertaken and applied

Proficiency in primary and secondary source research, and adequate demonstration of proper citation form and reference format rather than applicable law research undertaken and applied

Proficiency in primary and secondary source research, and somewhat effective demonstration of proper citation form and reference format rather than applicable law research undertaken and applied

Proficiency in primary and secondary source research, and poor demonstration of proper citation form and reference format rather than applicable law research undertaken and applied

/ 20
This table lists criteria and criteria group name in the first column. The first row lists level names and includes scores if the rubric uses a numeric scoring method.
Organization and Writing Mechanics
Exceeds Standards
10 points
Meets Standards
8.9 points
Needs Improvement
6.9 points
Does Not Meet Standards
5.9 points
Category is worth 10% of overall grade
Arranges ideas clearly and logically to support the purpose; ideas flow smoothly and are effectively linked; reader can follow the line of reasoning; Writing demonstrates a sophisticated clarity, conciseness, and correctness with no grammatical/sentence structure errors

Arranges ideas adequately to support the purpose; links between ideas are generally clear; reader can follow the line of reasoning for the most part; Writing is accomplished in terms of clarity and conciseness and contains only a few grammatical/sentence structure errors

Arranges ideas adequately, in general, although ideas sometimes fail to make sense together; reader remains fairly clear about what writer intends; Writing sometimes lacks clarity or conciseness and contains various grammatical/sentence structure errors

Arranges ideas illogically; ideas frequently fail to make sense together; reader cannot identify a line of reasoning and becomes frustrated or loses interest; Writing is unfocused, rambling, or contains serious grammatical/sentence structure errors

/ 10
Rubric Total Score
Total
/ 100
Overall Score
Overall Score
Level 490 points minimum
100 – 90 points = 100% – 90% =

A+ – A –

Level 370 points minimum
89 – 70 points =

89% – 70% =

B+ – C-

Level 260 points minimum
69 – 60 points =

D+ – D-

Level 10 points minimum
59-0 points =

<59% =