Obscenity and the law

This paper examines whether a random sample of adults can apply local contemporary community standards regarding the acceptability of explicit sexual material. Inasmuch as the legal test employed in the U.S. for determining obscenity requires a jury to apply such standards, the research examines the practicality of such an approach. The analysis indicates that the best predictor of what an individual will perceive the community standards to be is the individual's own standards concerning sexual material. The implications of these findings are examined from both a legal and social science perspective. In addition, the consequences of not providing jurors information concerning local standards are discussed.A previous version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association in Chicago, May 29–June 1, 1986. The authors wish to thank Debbie Edwards, Jane Warne, and the anonymous reviewers fromLaw and Human Behavior for their helpful comments and suggestions concerning the paper.     

Obviousness and IP: time to reconsider

On 6 February, the day this editorial was written, the UnitedKingdom Patent Office surprised members of the local intellectualproperty professions when it launched an unexpected discussionpaper, Consultation on the Inventive Step Requirement in UnitedKingdom Patent Law and Practice and sought informed responseby 31 May. On the assumption that the provisions of patent law are intendedto reflect a balance between the complementary     

The Implementation of the ICC Statute in Argentina

Argentina ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statutein November 2000 and adopted an Implementation Law in December2006. The Law introduces into domestic legislation the crimesfalling under ICC jurisdiction by means of renvoi to the Statute.Such procedure avoids the risk of a unilateral definition ofthe crimes. In addition, the Law provides for a range of penaltiesincluding incarceration. Regrettably penalties envisaging restitution,reparation or rehabilitation of the victim are not providedfor in the Law. In terms of cooperation with the ICC, the Lawestablishes mechanisms for an open and efficient relationshipwith the Court in case of arrests and surrender of persons,as well as requests for assistance and preliminary rulings.     

Chinese Practice in Public International Law: 2006 (III)

Continued from Part II published last year, this part of theSurvey covers materials reflecting Chinese practice in 2006relating to: XI. Outer Space Law (Definition and Delimitationof Outer Space; Draft Protocol on Matters Specific to SpaceAssets to the Convention on International Interests in MobileEquipment; The Status and Application of Five UN Treaties onOuter Space; Practice of States and International Organizationsin Registering Space Objects; The Establishment of the DisasterManagement International Space Coordination Organization; ThePolicy of Peaceful Use of Outer Space; The Cooperative Approachto the Peaceful Use of Outer Space; The Convention of Asia-PacificSpace Cooperation Organization); XII. International Law on Diplomaticand Consular Relation (Preconditions for the Establishment ofDiplomatic Relation; Vienna Convention on the Consular Relations;Diplomatic Protection and Consular Assistance); XIII. InternationalCriminal Law (Universal Jurisdiction in Absentia; Treaty andJudicial Practice on Extradition and Criminal Judicial Assistance;The "East Turkistan" Terrorists in Guantanamo Bay; The LAI CheongSing (LAI Changxing) Case in Canada; The Position Towards TokyoTrial; Illegal Migrants; Trafficking of Persons; Anti-Corruption);XIV. International Law on Environment (Environment and Development;Climate Change; Dam-building on International Rivers; SonghuajiangRiver Pollution Accident; Tropical Rain Forest in SoutheastAsia; Animal Fur Trade; Auction of Dinosaur Egg); XV. InternationalOrganization (United Nations; World Health Organization; ShanghaiCooperation Organization); XVI. International Economic Law (InternationalTrade Law; International Protection of Intellectual PropertyRights; International Financial Law); XVII. International Lawon Energy (Energy and Development; Energy Policy); XVIII. InternationalLaw on Natural Disaster (Tsunami Warning System; InternationalHumanitarian Donation and Assistance); XIX. International Lawon Health (The Issue of SARS; the Issue of Avian and Human PandemicInfluenza).     

Punishing International Crimes Committed by the Persecuted: The Kapo Trials in Israel (1950s-1960s)

This article deals with the legal and moral imperatives arisingout of the Kapo trials, which took place in Israel between 1951and 1964. Section 2 considers substantive aspects of the IsraeliNazi and Nazi Collaborators Law (adopted in 1950), as well asthe moral quagmire embedded within this Law. Section 3 exploresthe dialogue that these trials advanced (and the dialogue thatthey failed to advance) in Israeli society. Section 4 offerssome reflection on the reasons why these trials have been expungedfrom Israel's collective memory. The authors also attempt toshed some light on the impact that this deliberate collectiveforgetting has had on the construction of Israel's nationalidentity and examine the central role that judicial institutionshave played in reconstructing the past and providing meaningfor the Kapo trials as a nation-building mechanism.     

Editors' Note

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Capital Markets Law Journal. Why another journal? The increasing rate of change in the internationalcapital markets—in products, in practice and in regulation—hashighlighted the fact that there is no proper mechanism to informthose interested in such markets of new developments. We verymuch hope that Capital Markets Law     

Navigating the rocky waters of trade mark law

Kerly's Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names, 14th Edition ByDavid Kitchin QC, David Llewelyn, James Mellor, Richard Meade,Tom Moody-Stuart, David Keeling; with Consultant Editor: TheRt. Hon Sir Robin Jacob; Sweet & Maxwell, 2005 Price: £255,Hardback, ISBN: 0421860804, pp. 1,350   Until recently, trade mark practitioners in the United Kingdomhad to make do with the 13th edition of Kerly, the 1st editionof The Modern Law of Trade Marks, or the CIPA/ITMA Handbookwhen navigating the rocky waters of trade mark law and practice.The first two of these texts     

Google Print--Fair use and opt-out issues

A lecture given by Professor Richard A. Epstein, ‘WhatLight If Any Does The Google Print Dispute Shed On IntellectualProperty Law?’, is available in The Columbia Science andTechnology Law Review. It relates to the     

Book Reviews

Carl Stychin Law’s Desire: Sexuality and the Limits of Justice Leslie Moran The Homosexual(ity) of Law Margaret Jane Radin Contested Commodities: The Trouble with Trade in Sex, Children, Body Parts, and other things James Boyle Shamans, Software, and Spleens: Law and the Construction of the Information Society Roberto Mangabeira Unger What Should Legal Analysis Become?     

Ricketson and Ginsburg: Berne baby, Berne...

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review ofideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will includereplies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of newideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directlyand indirectly related to intellectual property law.

International Copyright and Neighbouring Rights: The Berne Conventionand Beyond 2nd Edition By Sam Ricketson and Jane Ginsburg, 2006,Oxford University Press Price: £225, Hardback, ISBN: 0-19-825946-8pp lxxxvii + 1540, 2 Volumes   The praise     

Introduction

We are pleased to present the inaugural issue of the Journalof Competition Law and Economics (JCLE), which the Oxford UniversityPress will henceforth publish quarterly. The aim of the JCLEis to publish cutting-edge academic     

ILO training for industrial court judges

In this article Jane Hodges, Senior Labour Law Specialist, International Labour Office, examines the role of the International Labour Organization in improving the response of the labour court system to the challenges of HIV/AIDS.     

Corrigendum

Journal of Competition Law and Economics, 2 (4), 697–707 In the December issue of     

Trustees beware: submit with care

The Royal Court of Jersey has recently heard an interestingapplication reported in Jersey as In the Matter of CI Law TrusteesLimited and Folio Trust Company Limited as Trustees of the FountainTrust [2005 JRC099]. The case concerned an application for directions by CI Law TrusteesLimited (the ‘Trustee’) seeking directions as tohow to respond to a judgement of the Family Division of theHigh Court of Justice in England and Wales setting aside a Jerseylaw trust (the ‘Trust’) as a sham, and orderingthe Trustee to transfer the Trust assets to the petitioner inthe English matrimonial proceedings (the ‘Wife’).     

REVIEWS

Michael Humphrey and Heather Humphrey (eds), Inter-Country Adoption: Practical Experiences J. Stuart Anderson, Lawyers and the Making of English Land Law, 1832–1940 Jane Morgan and Lucia Zedner, Child Victims: Crime, Impact and Criminal Justice Philip Alston (ed), The United Nations and Human Rights: A Critical Appraisal Peter Fitzpatrick, The Mythology of Modern Law Deryck Beyleveld, The Dialectical Necessity of Morality: An Analysis and Defense of Alan Gewirth's Argument to the Principle of Generic Consistency     

International Patent Law is Obsolete and Copyright is Obsolete

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review ofideas, articles, books, films and other media. It will includereplies (and rejoinders) to articles, the evaluation of newideas or proposals, and reviews of books and articles both directlyand indirectly related to intellectual property law.

International Patent Law is Obsolete By Anna Mancini, 2006,New York: Buenos Books Price: US$35, Paperback, ISBN: 1-932848-17-7E-book Price: US$7, ISBN: 1-932848-16-9 Copyright is ObsoleteBy Anna Mancini, 2006, New York: Buenos Books Price: US$35,Paperback, ISBN: 1-932848-17-7 E-book Price: US$5, ISBN: 1-932848-19-3   In International Patent Law is Obsolete Dr Mancini's openingpremise is     

REVIEWS

Robert Stevens, The Independence of the Judiciary: The View from the Lord Chancellor's Office Cass R. Sunstein, The Partial Constitution Simon Frith (ed), Music and Copyright Alan S. Rosenbaum, Prosecuting Nazi War Criminals Eric Barendt, Broadcasting Law: A Comparative Study Carol A.G. Jones, Expert Witnesses: Science, Medicine and the Practice of Law Rolando Gaete, Human Rights and the Limits of Critical Reason Jane Stapleton, Product Liability     

The Silicon Valley Media Law Blog

http://www.svmedialaw.com/ By Cathy Kirkman, 24 October 2004,California Archive (Thematic)   As the name suggests, the Silicon Valley Media Law Blog providesa commentary on media law developments in the US. In particular,it follows new legal decisions and legislation that might affectthose in the arena of music     

The internal market and the grand exception

The Oxford Encyclopaedia of European Community Law The Lawof the Internal Market By A.G. Toth, 2005, Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress Price: £155.00, Hardback, ISBN: 0-19-825600-0   This second volume of the Oxford Encyclopaedia appears somefifteen years after the first volume, which dealt with InstitutionalLaw. A third volume is projected which will cover CompetitionLaw. Given the excellence of the first two volumes, one hopesthat we will not have to wait as long for the final instalment.An update of the     

Three IP blogs

Lessig Blog By Lawrence Lessig United States of America Archivedback to August 2002 http://www.lessig.org/blog/ Techno Llama ByAndres Guadamuz Scotland Archived back to October 2004 http://technollama.blogspot.com/ Patently-O:Patent Law Blog By Dennis Crouch United States of America Archivedback to April 2005 http://patentlaw.typepad.com/