International Law

A presentation on new media and the law

Posted on December 22, 2008
I just published a video version of a presentation I prepared for the Social Media Management Conference in October 2008 at the Indaba Hotel. This is probably the last time I will give this particular presentation. I have given this presentation or minor variations of it for the last year or so and something a [...

Common creativity at work (part 3)

Posted on December 17, 2008
In this third and final part of the three part series I expand on the introduction to Creative Commons licenses in the second part and present you with a few examples of where Creative Commons licenses have been used in successful commercial endeavours and why you may want to consider using these licenses in your [...

Common creativity at work (part 2)

Posted on December 15, 2008
In the first part of this series of articles about copyright and Creative Commons licenses I wrote about copyright and how its original purpose has been distorted to stifle creativity and innovation, certainly customers’ ability to manipulate and consume these creative works...

Common creativity at work (part 1)

Posted on December 12, 2008
I was chatting to a friend who works in the local music industry recently about the possible digital music download models we may see in South Africa in the near future and he passed a comment about the music industry’s reluctance to publish and distribute music under Creative Commons license because it can’t exactly give [...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Press subjected to a different test in defamation cases

Posted on December 10, 2008
Defamation is a hot topic these days with Donn Edwards’ battle with Quality Vacation Club being the most talked about stories in the South African social Web. Defamation cases are strange beasts. They don’t involve large monetary awards and they can be particularly complex cases to prosecute (whether you are in the firing [...

Everything you wanted to know about the Small Claims Court

Posted on November 13, 2008
I just found a website on the SA Department of Justice’s website about the Small Claims Court. If you have a claim under R7 000 then this is something to consider. This pamphlet is a good starting point. All the forms seem to be right here and it seems that some of [...

Profiles and pages: getting the word out

Posted on August 08, 2008
Being a new media lawyer means being exposed to some pretty interesting developments at the intersection of social media and business. Part of my efforts to develop a greater awareness of the importance of managing the risks that arise when people participate in social media include two recent developments...

Legal genius wanted

Posted on June 27, 2008
The time has finally arrived. I am looking for a junior attorney to work with me and assist me with my growing workload. I am looking for someone who is interested in working flexi-time to start. My thinking at the moment is to set a minimum budget for my new genius and [...

A news feed

Posted on March 31, 2008
I’ve realised a totally static website really isn’t very interesting so I have started redeveloping this site on WordPress using the same themes as I was using previously. My blog has found its way to pauljacobson.org so you can find my thoughts about life, law and other stuff there...

A news feed

Posted on March 31, 2008
I’ve realised a totally static website really isn’t very interesting so I have started redeveloping this site on WordPress using the same themes as I was using previously. My blog has found its way to pauljacobson.org so you can find my thoughts about life, law and other stuff there...

A change

Posted on March 02, 2008
I have been running this blog in one form or another for about as long as I have been running my firm and I think it is time for a change. There are a couple reasons. One reason is that I just don’t have much time to update this blog as often as [...

Primer on copyright liability and fair use

Posted on January 27, 2008
This looks like a really handy resource, particularly for people in the USA. This should also be a handy reference for jurisdictions influenced by the US law on fair use. The Citizen Media Law Project has published a Primer on Copyright Liability and Fair Use: While there is no definitive test for determining whether your [...

Copyright Now Extends To Cease-And-Desist Letters?

Posted on January 27, 2008
This is petty and a little funny. Mashable has a post titled “Copyright Now Extends To Cease-And-Desist Letters?“: Apparently even the cease-and-desist letters sent to sites to inform them to stop violating copyrights are now - copyrighted...

Creative Commons expands options with CC+ and CC0

Posted on December 18, 2007
Creative Commons has announced two new protocols to expand the existing licensing regime.  These two protocols, CC+ and CC0 (CC Zero), expand options on both ends of the spectrum, commercial use on the one end and public domain on the other.CC+CC+ facilitates commercial use of content even where there are contradictory license elements like the [...

SA Stats vandal is a naughty, misunderstood boy!

Posted on November 25, 2007
The SA Stats employee who vandalised Wikipedia by removing content relating to AIDS in South Africa has been found guilty at an internal disciplinary enquiry. He had his toys taken away from him for 6 months (that is, no Internet access) and has to work with an employee assistance program...

What support for Metro bullies equates to

Posted on November 20, 2007
Nic Haralambous expressed a view I have heard expressed a couple times about the recent arrests by the Metro police for minor traffic offences which I find problematic. Before I get into the reasons I want to qualify my post by saying that I agree with policies like the “broken windows” and zero tolerance [...

Metro Police bullies

Posted on November 16, 2007
"There’s something happening hereWhat it is ain’t exactly clearThere’s a man with a gun over thereTelling me I got to bewareI think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that soundEverybody look what’s going down" For What it is Worth - Buffalo Springfield This morning I read a couple stories about how the Joburg Metro Police are [...

Is bigger better?

Posted on November 15, 2007
Big news in the legal community this week is the merger between Webber Wentzel Bowens and Mallinicks which will create a law firm with over 300 lawyers. That is a pretty big law firm and will stand alongside another large, merged firm, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs which merged a little while ago...

If you?ve been wondering ?

Posted on November 11, 2007
I have been pretty quiet on this blog for a couple weeks and the main reason is that my wife and I were expecting a baby and he arrived a full two weeks ahead of schedule. I am sure I don’t need to point out to those of you who are parents that having a baby [...

New talent at Jacobson Attorneys

Posted on October 25, 2007
I am pretty excited to announce that David Bilchitz has joined Jacobson Attorneys on a part time basis as a consultant. David is one of the most intelligent people I know and is one of South Africa’s best Constitutional Law minds. Here is a short bio about David: Dr...

SA government adopts Open Document Format as standard

Posted on October 24, 2007
The Department of Public Service and Administration has set out the requirements for what it considers to be an open standard for implementation in government departments. The document it published is called the Mininimum Interoperability Standards for Information Systems in government (MIOS) and it sets out a series of standards which government departments are [...

Presenting more effectively

Posted on October 24, 2007
I have been speaking at conferences and seminars more and more lately and I like to think my presentations are improving each time. It is important to me to prepare a presentation slideshow that is appealing, interesting and doesn’t bore my audience into a mild coma so I am always looking for new ideas [...

The best disclaimer ? ever!

Posted on October 22, 2007
Exclusive Books‘ Fanatics is running a promotion for something called The List which is a list of 51 top books. The following disclaimer was stated in the email sent to Fanatics members: The List cannot be held responsible for wear and tear on the eyesight, spousal neglect or loss of productivity at work...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.