Why Century School Book Is Better for Your Brief Than Times New Roman

Students, would you like to make it easier for your professors to retain the information presented in your typed assignments, papers, briefs, and tests?

Professors, would like to retain more of the information that your students are presenting to you in their typed assignments, papers, briefs, and tests?

Then please read what the Seventh Circuit has to say about its “Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers.”

For starters, “[t]ypographic decisions should be made for a purpose. The Times of London chose the typeface Times New Roman to serve an audience looking for a quick read. Lawyers don’t want their audience to read fast and throw the document away; they want to maximize retention.”

Students don’t want their audience (professors) to read fast and throw the document away either. Maybe the fallback format requirements of “15 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman, one inch margins” shouldn’t be the fallback? What else does the Seventh Circuit have to say about our old friend Times New Roman?

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The Obama “Hope” Poster Case — What’s a “Visual Reference”?

(This is the sixth in a series of posts on Fairey v. Associated Press. See below for other posts in the series.)

This is a (second) unplanned additional post in my series on the copyright and litigation issues raised by the Obama “Hope” poster case. One of the key fights in the case is going to be over what, exactly, the relationship between the two images above is. Is it the use of a photograph for a transformative purpose, or is it merely plagiarism for commercial benefit?

One hint at how Fairey’s lawyers are going to argue this question is in the complaint‘s use of the phrase “used as a visual reference.” (Compl. ¶¶ 18, 34.) In a previous post, I expressed puzzlement at that phrase, which appeared to me to be just a way of obfuscating the creation process behind the poster. The AP’s lawyers may have been puzzled too, because they did not refer to the term at all in their lengthy counterclaims; instead, they simply referred to Fairey’s “copying.” (Answer ¶ 129.) But I’ve since come across an indication that “reference” may be a technical term in the art world, one that appears to mean the target of an intended visual allusion.

Assuming that’s what it means, I’ve got three quick comments on the use of the term “reference” in the complaint.

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The Obama “Hope” Poster Case — AP Strikes Back

(This is the fifth in a series of posts on Fairey v. Associated Press. See below for other posts in the series.)

Today, the AP filed its response to the Fairey complaint—and as I predicted, the AP is asserting counterclaims for copyright infringement. Like Fairey’s complaint, the AP’s counterclaims go well beyond merely stating a cause of action, and attempt to win the battle for positive publicity as well. (Note to my Civ Pro students: Take a look at these pleadings if you want to see skillful examples of what I was talking about when I mentioned complaints that go beyond a “short and plain statement.”) Both sides in this case have their eye not just on the law, but on the ordinary, nonlegal intuitions of the press, the judge, the jury, scholars, and bloggers such as myself. (Indeed, I got a copy of AP’s press release by email. To Fairey’s attorneys: Feel free to reciprocate!)

I have a few quick observations.

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