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At the beginning of the year, I gave myself a personal challenge of wearing the same dress for 100 days.  Yup, one single dress.  I pared down my closet and found reasons to wear cute tights and leggings even if I was just sitting at my desk at home.  During that time, I explored ideas about decision fatigue, slow money, fast fashion, and more. Much of that has also trickled into my blog posts and social media.  But I also realized how much you can do in a 100 days plus how fast that time can go.  Why…
I remember sitting in my Property Law class as a first year law student and learning about the “bundle of sticks,” a metaphor law school professors use to describe property law. In short, each property right is a “stick” taken together as a “bundle.” For example, the property management company that owns my apartment owns most of the “sticks” in the bundle, but it has agreed to let me have the “stick” of the right to occupy the apartment during my lease. A similar bundle of sticks exists in intellectual property, including copyright. In general, the artist who creates a…
Copyright ownership is often referred to as a “bundle of rights.” In other words, when you own the copyright on a particular artistic work, you not only own the right to copy and sell the work, but also the right to create derivative works (modifications or new expressions, based on the original), perform the work in public, and broadcast it. Hence, the “bundle.” “Derivative Works” are exactly what they sound like – new copyrightable works of art based on some pre-existing material. If you own a copyright and grant someone the right (a license) to create derivative works based on…
We are so pleased to congratulate our Attorney, Sam and his wife, Meredith on welcoming the newest member of the OG + S Family. Welcome to the world Lillian Mae! Lily was born on August 9 at 3:19 AM weighing in at 7 lb 6 oz and measuring at 20 inches long. We couldn’t ask for a cuter member to be added to our work family. Mom, Dad, and baby are all doing well and adjusting to newborn sleeping habits. We are wishing Sam and Meredith the best of luck as they continue on this journey of Parenthood. Congratulations again…
Bias is not limited to major issues such as race and gender. Bias is present in many other areas, such as our educational background, where we live, and how we dress. Did you attend U.W., Marquette, or an out-of-state law school? We are judged on where we practice. Are you based in a rural county or an urban one? We are evaluated on our very own appearance. Do you have a thin and wispy or large and burly build? Are you an expensive, fancy dresser, or a comfort-and-plain-clothes one? It may even come from seeming innocuous areas. Are you a…
On July 1st, the threshold requirements ramped up for Illinois schools and the software vendors that provide them services under the Illinois Student Online Personal Privacy Act (SOPPA). Most of the new requirements fall within the purview of the schools, such as maintaining a publicly available list of all software vendors providing software to the school, providing an explanation of all kinds of personal data the school collects, and publishing a description of how parents can exercise their rights under SOPPA. That last one may be of interest to our readers that are parents of Illinois schoolchildren. The law also…
This article was originally published on the Melnick & Melnick law blog and is used here with the author’s permission. I love a good rom-com. And You’ve Got Mail is one of the best, for sure in my top 10. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, virtual romance (over email and a dial-up modem), and in New York City – need I say more? But there is more. Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) owns a small business, a charming children’s bookstore on the Upper West Side with an established clientele and three employees. Stephanie Melnick, U.W. Law School 1994, is owner of…
Country music festival live concert with acoustic guitar, cowboy hat and boots
Royalties, the Net v. Gross Profit Distinction, and Dolly Parton. Part 1 One of my guiding life principles is as follows: if it can include Dolly Parton, it should include Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton makes things better, and she is relevant in almost any discussion. Creating a children’s library? Reference Dolly Parton. Citing vaccination statistics? Reference Dolly Parton. Opening an amusement park? Reference Dolly Parton. Writing an article about the importance of a solid royalty agreement? Reference Dolly Parton. That is why this three-part blog series on royalties and the critical distinction between net and gross profits features the queen…
Unsurprisingly, I find myself often being asked to describe what “intellectual property” is.  I, all too often, find myself giving a description that is not all that helpful.  If you are asking what “intellectual property” is, then saying “intangible business assets” isn’t going to get us much closer to understanding.  One way that I have heard it described is a company’s “special sauce.” But that can sound kind of creepy. “Hey, baby, what’s your special sauce?” Yeah, no.  Let’s see if we can explain it a different way. I start with the premise that every business is special.  It is…
Currently, Wisconsin law provides stiff (some might even say draconian) penalties for the possession, sale or use of cannabis for either recreational or medicinal purposes. For example, if a Wisconsin farmer grows 201 cannabis plants on a small plot of land or if the farmer were to possess a small “bail” of cannabis weighing just over 22 pounds with a plan to sell it to friends or cancer patients, current Wisconsin law provides that he or she could be prosecuted and sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $50,000. This makes Wisconsin law very…
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It is our pleasure to introduce you to Sam Kavalier, our newest attorney, and Miranda Salazar, our new Law Clerk! Sam is a recent graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, and we are thrilled he decided to begin his law career with OG+S. While interviewing Sam, we were particularly impressed with his pre-law school background in the tech industry, as well as his service to the UW Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic. At the clinic Sam provided legal services to start-ups and non-profits while also attending law school. This background demonstrated a consistent track record of problem solving, as well…
Effective May 3, 2021 DATCP (Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection) published an Emergency Rule making further changes to Wisconsin’s Hemp Pilot Program. Although Wisconsin is still operating under a “Pilot Program” pursuant to the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill, this Emergency Rule (and the others before it) are meant to add flexibility for Wisconsin hemp growers and processors as Wisconsin lurches toward full compliance under the 2018 Farm Bill (we’ll get there). The most substantial change that this Emergency Rule (full text here) introduces is the opportunity for growers to remediate their non-conforming crops after…
We are very excited to announce that Pam Benedon has joined the OG+S team as a Legal Assistant. Yesterday (May 3) was her first day! Pam graduated from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh earning a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in English and Speech Communication. In her free time, Pam enjoys swimming, hiking, reading, and traveling. Some of her travels included spending a little over a year living in Hawaii. During this time, she took the opportunity to do some back packing in New Zealand and Australia, as well as multiple cross country road trips (You should see her photos!). She…
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for our lives to be over! If you’re of a certain age, I hope that the title of this post caused you to belt that one out. Man, the nineties and early 2000’s were a beautiful time (which is exactly what my Dad says about the 70’s). “I Don’t Want to Wait” by Paula Cole peaked at #5 on Billboard in December 1997. In January 1998, Dawson’s Creek premiered, and of course, Paula Cole’s song was the opening theme through the entire run of the show and syndication (Not to mention many a teenaged memory) But, buy a DVD box…
People are weird. It really boils down to that.  And I’m not excluding myself from that categorization at all.  All people are weird.  Need proof? Veblen goods are proof.  A Veblen good is a good where demand rises as price rises. See?! Weird.  But, it turns out that people are weird in a somewhat predictable way on this one.  Often, this increased demand is because people feel its higher price reflects greater quality or greater status.  That means that this concept is usually attached to luxury goods or “prestige” brands.  Let’s remember those pair of Christian Louboutin heels from a…