Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Obama Merchandising

Post author:Irene Calboli
Post published:December 15, 2008
Post category:Intellectual Property Law

My very good friend and former colleague Eric Goldman has recently posted a link to trademark filings and merchandising related to President-Elect Barak Obama. As you will see, the various logos (as the one in the picture) are certainly cute and/or funny, as often it happens in trademark cases. Yet, these trademarks can open several questions as to the legitimacy of using the President-Elect’s name and image without his (explicit or implicit) consent. What are the limits of these uses? Should these uses be allowed? Are they in any way offensive? Can a third party prevent others from using the President-Elect’s name and image on competing goods or services? Where is the line here between free speech and commercial use? These issues (much simplified here), and similar ones based on many similar cases, will be, in part, the subject matter of my Trademark Seminar next semester. It will be, as is always the case with this course, a lot of fun!

Things Law School Doesn’t Teach

Post author:Jessica E. Slavin
Post published:December 15, 2008
Post category:Legal Education Legal Practice

A humorous top-ten list, including, at the end, the hairy-hand scene from The Paper Chase.

The post is obviously a joke, but it is funny because the items on the list ring a little too true, so it is worth thinking about them. I think. Thanks to Feminist Law Profs, where I found the link.

Court Tourism

Post author:David R. Papke
Post published:December 15, 2008
Post category:Popular Culture & Law

A phenomenon called “court tourism” has emerged. Growing numbers of individuals are going to their local courthouses for several hours at a time to prowl the halls, watch the proceedings, and contemplate the human stories being played out. Many of the “court tourists” are unemployed or retired, and almost all have no legal backgrounds. A few were recently interviewed on the Canadian public radio program “Definitely Not the Opera,” and the interviews can be downloaded from the December 13 broadcast at http://www.cbc.ca/dnto.

The phenomenon intrigues me. I don’t think it compares to the practice dating back to the earliest decades of the Republic of gathering to watch major trials. After all, the great majority of proceedings in today’s courthouses are not trials, and the court tourists watch whatever they can find, regardless of how trivial it might be. Perhaps court tourism was prompted by the extensive media coverage of the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson trials. Alternatively, court tourism might be inspired by the ubiquitous pseudo-court shows such as “Judge Judy” and “Judge Joe Brown,” to name only two. Whatever the inspiration, today’s court tourists want to be entertained. A trip to the courthouse is cheap recreational activity.

We must surely have become a postmodern society when legal proceedings no longer seem the path to justice, but rather serve as a source of escapist titillation.