UHLC Nota Bene

Wolters Kluwer has recently published, Practical Guide to U.S. Taxation of International Transactions , 10th ed. ( KF6445.M45 2015 ), by Robert J. Misey, Jr. and Michael S. Schadewald . This book begins with a discussion of the basic principles such as tax jurisdiction and source of income rules. The authors review the taxation of foreign income by U.S. citizens and the taxation of foreign persons conducting business in the United States. Other issues such as international tax practice and procedure, and tax treaties are also covered. This book, which is now available on the law library's new titles shelf, contains several relevant IRS forms and a subject index.

This week, the Texas House Committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism considered several resolutions regarding new official state symbols and capitals.  For instance, resolutions have been introduced to designate the cowboy hat as the official state hat of Texas, Hico as the official steak capital of Texas, “the Lone Star State” as the official nickname of Texas, and #Texas as the official hashtag of Texas.  For over one hundred years, the legislature has been designating certain things as state symbols.  In 1901, the legislature designated the bluebonnet as the official state flower and the practice has gained momentum over time.  Now Texas has an official amphibian (Texas toad), footwear (cowboy boot), musical instrument (guitar), pie (pecan), vehicle (chuck wagon), and more.   Since the 1980s, the legislature has also been designating certain cities and counties as official capitals.  Anahuac is the Alligator Capital of Texas, Lockhart i...

Superman, the Man of Steel, was born in 1938, and has been involved in copyright litigation almost as long.   Mr. Mxyzptlk himself could not have created as convoluted a history of a copyright dispute as the one that involved the rights to the Superman property.  The Superman character was the brain-child of Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster. Their idea, an alien comes to Earth and has super-powers was a new one at the time.   These two Brainiacs sold the exclusive world-wide rights to Superman to Detective Comics (“DC”) for $130.00 and took employment with DC. Superman debuted in the comic-book format in Action Comics #1. He was an instant hit. Siegel and Shuster filed their first lawsuit against DC in 1947 alleging that DC was not paying them their fair share of the profits that DC was reaping from the superhero. After trial the “official referee” found that DC had paid valuable consideration for the rights to Superman and the agreement was valid. Soon after th...

The Justice who once said, I do not think the Supreme Court lives in a vacuum. It reads the newspapers. I suppose it is influenced by the reaction of a society to its decisions; at least I hope it is. I think it should be. Is . . . 5. Antonin Scalia!! ( See Nomination of Judge Antonin Scalia: Hearings Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary , 99th Cong., S. Hrg. 99-1064, at 34 (1986).) [Make of it what you will.]

In this week's episode, a look back at a comment on the desirability of the Supreme Court's responsiveness to public reaction to its decisions. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this week's exciting installment of "Which Justice Said That?". And, without further ado, let's get right to this week's quote: During the hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States of America, this nominee declared, I do not think the Supreme Court lives in a vacuum. It reads the newspapers. I suppose it is influenced by the reaction of a society to its decisions; at least I hope it is. I think it should be. Now: Which . . . Justice . . . Said That?! Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. Stephen G. Breyer Anthony M. Kennedy John G. Roberts, Jr. Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas Feel free to put your guess in the Comments section below. Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion to this episode of "Which Justice Said That?" !!

Happy New Year to our readers.  The list below is dedicated to UH Law students.  May you have success and enough sleep in the year to come.  Let us begin 2013 with a smiles or two.  You Know You Are a Law Student When…    1.       You know you are a law student when your reading speed is reduced to ten pages an hour. 2.       You know you are a law student when you start spotting issues in everything you read. 3.       You know you are a law student when you consider a great idea to have 24/7 access to your law school library. 4.       You know you are a law student when you meet your friends and make plan for the rest of the week at the library. 5.       You know you are a law student when your student association offers free ear plugs in the library. 6.       You know you...

Today is Election Day!   After months and months of campaigning, it is almost over.   Candidates and political commentators are making their predictions and running scenarios based on the latest polling data , but there are some other more unique ways to predict who will win the presidential election tonight.   The Houston Chronicle has compiled a list of 10 (less scientific) methods such as the Redskins Rule, the 7-Eleven cup election, and the Baskin-Robbins ice cream race that may be able to give you a little more insight into what might happen tonight.    Check out the list to see which candidate is going to win, and if you need last minute information about voting, see the VoteTexas.gov website.

Here's how I imagine the first meeting of LexisNexis developers went after the initial release of Lexis Advance: Dilbert Comic Strip for May 7, 2012 .

Since April is National Humor Month, I wanted to celebrate by offering up a few websites and blogs where you can go to enjoy the lighter side of the law: Lawhaha.com – Play “Spot the Tort,” browse strange and amusing judicial opinions, or read tales about law school on categories such as “Interview Faux Pas” and “Socratic Mishaps.” Say What?! – Provides “real life Texas courtroom humor” from U.S. District Court Judge Jerry Buchmeyer’s Texas Bar Journal columns from 1990 to 2008. Big Legal Brain – Satirical blog offering practical law office management tips such as “Keys to Building a Lebowski-Driven Practice” and how to “Boost Your Web Site with Cheesy Stock Images.” Legally Drawn – Website featuring cartoons about life in the law. That’s What She Said – Blog that dissects each episode of the television show “The Office” to estimate what the company would have to pay to defend itself in a real lawsuit. This is just a sampling of the legal humor sites out there. For more example...

This week's Legal Oxymoron of the Week is: Intellectual Property See, e.g ., John Lienhard, Reflections on Information, Biology, and Community , 32 HOUS. L. REV. 303, 314(1995).

Throughout the millenia, philosophers and jurists have pondered the question: From whence cometh Law? I'm not talking about "where did this statute/case/regulation come from?"; I'm talking about the metaphysical concept of "law". Does it emanate from a Supreme Diety (or a pantheon of dieties)? Does it flow from Nature? Does it derive from the caprice of the sovereign or the consent of the governed or the will of the majority? Does it issue from Man's desire for Order, or from his lust for Control? Does it proceed from Reason or Power or Fear or Mercy? My favorite account comes from the great American wit Ambrose Bierce : Being instated as an archangel, Satan made himself multifariously objectionable and was finally expelled from Heaven. Halfway in his descent he paused, bent his head in thought a moment and at last went back. "There is one favor that I should like to ask," said he. "Name it." "Man, I understand, is abo...

In my recent article, "A Jester's Promenade: Citations to Wikipedia in Law Reviews, 2002-2008" (7 I/S - A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society , forthcoming 2011 ( draft available through SSRN )), I applauded the University of Pennsylvania Law Review for being the only Top 30 (at the time) student-edited law review not to have cited to Wikipedia. Considering the edition of the Bluebook current when I finished writing the piece generally frowned upon citing to websites, I had originally planned to point out that Penn was the only one of the compiling editors of the Bluebook not to have cited to Wikipedia. I ultimately decided against it for two reasons: 1) I thought it would be redundant considering that all of the compiling editors are also within the Top 30, and 2) because there are instances where Wikipedia should appropriately be cited (although that pains me to admit). The Bluebook is "[c]ompiled by the editors of the Columbia Law Review, th...

Want to learn how to battle energy drainers with Captain America ? Or brush up on seat belt safety with Supergirl ? If so, you should take a moment to check out the online Government Comics Collection maintained by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln libraries. This collection of comic books produced by federal and state government agencies currently contains scanned PDF copies of almost 200 comics on topics such as health, crime, and the environment. It contains both old and new comics featuring many favorite characters including Charlie Brown, Blondie, and Yogi Bear. Finally, the collection also includes government documents and reports from the 1950s regarding the impact of comics on juveniles.

Being relatively new to the field of law librarianship, one thing I like to do, whenever I get the chance, is read older (i.e., before I entered the field) articles in journals, both law library-related and just law-related. It can be very rewarding to see how certain issues or positions have developed, or even discover that people 10, 20, or even more years ago were struggling with the same issues and had the same complaints we do today. It can also be very amusing to read older discussions about technology in these journals and compare them with where we are now. Personally, I started with Frank Houdek's wonderful piece " The Essential Law Library Journal " (100 Law Libr. J. 137 (2008)), and I've been working through the articles he lists, with some tangents along the way. One of my tangents led me to " The Final Report of the Task Force on Citation Formats ," which was published at 87 Law Libr. J. 577-633 in 1995. Although the Report itself was very enlig...

Enjoy fantasy sports? Consider yourself a Supreme Court aficionado? If so, you should check out FantasySCOTUS. FantasySCOTUS is a fantasy league for the Supreme Court of the United States. Participants earn points by correctly predicting how each of the nine Justices will vote in every case. Anyone is free to join and there are leagues for specific law schools as well as category leagues for legal specialists such as Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. However, users are also allowed to create their own leagues. Participants are awarded badges based on the number of points they earn, with the top prize of the “Chief Justice Badge” going to the user with the highest total score. Visit the FantasySCOTUS website to learn more and sign up today!

Have you ever wondered what might happen to you if you don't return your books when you get that overdue notice? Some of the answers to that question might surprise you. For example: In Colorado, it's considered a class 3 misdemeanor, with a maximum punishment of up to 6 months in jail. (C.R.S.A. section 24-90-117) Georgia classifies it as a misdemeanor, and may send you to jail for up to 30 days. (Ga. Code Ann. section 20-5-53) Idaho considers it to be a petit theft, with jail time of up to 1 year. (I.C. section 33-2620) Missouri considers it to be a misdemeanor or sometimes a felony, depending on the value of the materials. (V.A.M.S. 570-210) Nevada fines you up to 500 dollars, and holds parents liable for any materials their children don't return. (N.R.S. 379-160) New York can send you to jail for up to 6 months. (Education Law section 265) Pennsylvania issues a fine, but will put you in jail for up to 10 days if you default in paying that fine. (24 P.S. section 4426...

In honor of Justice Stevens, this week's Legal Oxymoron of the Week is: Obscene Antigovernment Speech See R.A.V. v. St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377, 418-19 (1992) (Stevens, J., dissenting).

This week's Legal Oxymoron of the Week is: Religious Freedom See, e.g ., Newdow v. Rio Linda Union Sch. Dist., Nos. 05-17257, 05-17344, 06-15093, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 5201, at *73, 2010 WL 816986, at *21 (9th Cir. Mar. 11, 2010), available at http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/03/11/05-17257.pdf .

This week's Legal Oxymoron of the Week is: Judicial Activism .

Now for something a bit different... California's state Assembly passed Concurrent Resolution 112 yesterday, which, if approved by the Senate, will declare the first week of March as "Cuss Free Week" in that state. The resolution grew from the efforts of a teenager in South Pasadena who started the No Cussing Club three years ago (which now has members in every state and worldwide). It encourages the people of California, including its lawmakers, to take the No Cussing Challenge - placing money in a "swear jar" for each use of foul language, and then donating the money to charity. The resolution, if passed, is not designed as something to be enforced, but rather "to set a tone of harmony and connectedness in our communities, and to inspire ourselves to higher endeavors". More information about the proposed "Cuss Free Week" can be found here .