The Goodson Blogson

Earlier this week, Los Angeles-based artist Tuesday Bassen accused international clothing retailer Zara of stealing several of her designs for its clothing and jewelry. Her Instagram post featured side-by-side comparisons of Bassen's art next to Zara's designs, which incorporated suspiciously similar elements. Bassen was incensed by the company's response, which denied any legal wrongdoing and insinuated that Bassen is not well-known enough for the public to confuse Zara's designs for hers. In a follow-up social media post , Bassen noted that she had retained "an aggressive lawyer" and is pursuing litigation. In fashion, runway "knockoffs" are nothing new – many clothing companies produce low-cost variations on high-end designer duds, usually taking sufficient steps to change the design enough to avoid legal problems. But lesser-known clothing designers and independent artists sometimes find their work emblazoned on an international retailer...

Are you one of the millions of users who downloaded the Pokémon GO app in its first week of release? Or have you spent the last few days confused by your friends' sudden stream of social media references to "PokéStops," "Poké Balls," and "Pidgeys"? For the uninitiated, Pokémon GO is an augmented-reality game, available in the US on iPhone or Android mobile devices, which encourages players to head outdoors in search of computer-generated creatures which pop up on your screen. Users catch the Pokémon by throwing a virtual ball, then engage in competitive battles with other users' Pokémon. The game was an instant cultural phenomenon, capitalizing on nostalgia for the Pokémon cartoons of the early 2000s and the prevalence of smartphones. Almost immediately, users began to flood public spaces which have been designated as Pokémon "Gyms" (including many churches, parks, and even the White House ). Despite safety warnings from municipal pol...

During library tours for new law students, there is usually a brief stop in the Microforms Room on level 1 . It's not the most attractive space in the library, with its rows of metal cabinets, but it's a good place to pause the tour for some quick commentary before moving into the more-populated quiet study areas of level 1. Tour leaders sometimes ask if any students have ever used microfilm (reels) or its flat cousin, microfiche (cards) in the past. Usually, only one or two hands are raised in response. Could you get through three years of law school without ever using microforms? Probably, since so many collections which are commonly found on microformats have been digitized, or have moved to entirely electronic publication formats. Your risk factor increases, though, with membership on a student-edited journal, work as a faculty research assistant, or in-depth research on a historical topic. Some individual journal titles, record and brief collections from certain time ...