legalAfter a bit of running around, we're back with a vengence. Any delay in getting this show out is all John Wall's from the fantastic M Show! But at least my butt is gonna look a whole lot better.

Featured on this show include:

1. John Anno
2. PJ73
3. Orange is In
4. Junior
5. Cinder Road
6. Todd Carey

We talked about Nike and the Nano, and the Podcast Peer Awards. For more information regarding your online rights, support the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Check out the show here

         On the last show, I told you a story. I kind of slipped it in there, and tried to get a cheap laugh out of it. But, now in thinking about it, I think it deserves really talking about. Yes, I was hung on a hook. It happened my sophomore year of high school and well, I'm really not proud of it. As I told you, I mouthed off to one of the football players, and he hung me on a hook by my belt. Yeah, I know, what did I expect.

            As I hung there for a little bit, I had a chance to think. I had a chance to think about life, and my future, and that hot girl in my Algebra I class, and about how my mouth kept getting me into trouble. To the extent that that I had a great zen moment hanging there by my Levi's, and really had the opportunity to explore my own personal karma, I guess that I have to thank that football player for my time of personal growth and enlightenment. You see, that's the thing about bullies – they want you to think that they're really helping you.

           Trust me, I've heard it all: "if you only saw my foot, you wouldn't have tripped over it" or "you've got to learn how to hold on to your books tighter so other people won't be able to knock them out of your hands" or "we need to protect your fledging democracy from the from the terrorists that are attacking your oil reserves. I mean your homes."

         As we grew up, we thought that everything would be easier. However, adult bullies are no better. They're no smarter, and they certainly are even less justified. But they certainly want you to believe that its still all your fault.

         Take for example my close personal friends at the Universal Music Publishing Group. These are the good people that do the royalties for such good folks as 3 Doors Down all the way to Van Morrison. With offices in 41-countries, they have the publishing and licensing rights to so many artists that you know and love. I mean you used to love. Because the last time that I bought one of their bands Lewinsky was wondering whether to take that blue dress to the cleaners. Oh, and by the way, today, you and I – we're all Bush's blue dress, think about it.

          But the Universal group helps poor, struggling artists, like Mandy Moore or Ice Cube collect their royalties and protect unauthorized use of their tunes. According to their website, they are even going to provide free dental care to pre-approved, pre screened clients. Of course, we don't know what the criteria is, but I'm sure that one of which will be whether the artist has regular teeth or those funky but scary Flavor Flav teeth, which, of course requires a nice gold polish rather than a fluoride treatment. But I digress.

         Like so many of these seemingly good and wholesome organizations, the Universal Music Publishing Group is just another bully. Take for example the case of Stephanie Lenz. She's a mom. She has an incredibly cute kid, who can't be any older than my son. Ms. Lenz thought it would be a cute idea to upload to You Tube a 29-second video of her son dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy". She didn't do it to make a buck; she did it because she thought her friends and family would think it was cute. She was 100% right. It is an adorable little video, and frankly, no different than the thousands of other videos on You Tube.

       However, last month, YouTube informed Lenz that it had removed the video from its website after Universal claimed that the recording infringed a copyright controlled by the music company. Under federal copyright law, a mere allegation of copyright infringement can have something taken off the incident quicker than Cory Haim scrambling on the floor at piñata night at the methadone clinic. I know what you're saying, "Ooh, a Corey Haim reference. How 80's! But what about Corey Feldman?" Well, stay tuned.

        Let me give you another example; remember that nutjob Uri Geller, the guy that claims he can bend spoons with his mind? He was able to make the video of a guy named Brian Sapient's video disappear from You Tube, because Sapient used 8-seconds of a copyrighted video in an effort to debunk Geller's snake oil tricks. Again, he didn't post the material to make a buck, but he felt he was educating people.

       Now we need to talk about something. You need some ammunition. You see these big media companies, have all these lawyers on their side, and well, you need a little knowledge, too. Let's talk about "Fair Use".

       I never intended for the Jersey Toddshow to become a law show or a legal education show, because that would make me just a typical lawyer – like that stiff Legal Lad. My lord, have you heard that guy's podcast? Legal Lad's Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Lawful Life? Jesus is he stiff. He needs to loosen up. He reminds me of that old 2XL toy. Come on man, the practice of law isn't about dusty old books and boring old topics, you need to enjoy the game of it all my friend, you need to enjoy the chess of it all. I love practicing law. I love saying to another attorney, I'm smarter than you and I can prove it. This is my fun, this is my video games. So come on Legal Lad, loosen the tie up and come on over to the happy side of the street.  

       That being said, we all know that I'm not a typical lawyer, and you my friends are not typical clients. In fact, you are not my client in one way or another, and in the same way you wouldn't be doing colo-rectal surgery based on something that you heard on Diggnation, so to, should you not pretend that this is real on-the-clock legal advice, but we need to talk. We need to talk about fair use. "Fair Use" my fair haired non-law school debt baring friends is your shield. They are your prophylactic device against the transmitted diseases that these jerks are trying to spread. The words "fair use" should be tattooed to everyone's butts so everytime you bend over to tie your shoes, someone else can be reminded.

        What is "Fair Use" –nothing other than one of the greatest and best legal concepts of all time. Check this out – it allows you limited use of something that's copyrighted without the permission of a copyright holder. Ohmygd. Now I could teach a class on this, but lets break it down.

         In order for you to be able to use this as an affirmative defense, you have to show a couple of things: the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. In law, everyone of those words really matters, and there are a billion cases out there cutting those elements into a billion pieces of sushi.

          I know, legal gibberish. Here's JT's take. Not-for-profit or educational – you're good to go. Across the board, at least I think. I've seen some cases recently pop up that says even if there is a smidge of commercialism to it, then it could be a copyright problem, so like in all things in life – follow the money.

          The nature of the copyrighted materials is kind of cool to think about. I know, I get jazzed by this minutia. Here, the Court has been saying that facts and ideas are not copyrightable. Kind of fun to think about, right? Hmm, that's open to a whole mess of debate. One man's facts is another man's failed plan in Iraq. Cheap shot, I know.

         The third factor that the Court looks at is the amount and substantiality of the portion of the work. This is Biz Markie part. I gotta sing it, and if I get in trouble, sue me, "Girl You've Got What I need."  The Biz got in trouble a few years back for sampling Gilbert O'Sullivan's track of "Alone Again Naturally" and ever since that time, the Courts have held that if you can figure out who the sample is from, then its no longer fair game, and needs licensing. Again, the "amount and substantiality" test.   Frankly, it was this one stupid Court case that took all of the fun out of rap music for me, and took it from something that poor kids do without expensive training and instruments to make art. But hey that's a rant from a long time ago.

        The last prong is the kicker, the Court needs to evaluate how the violation affects the market. Yeah, I'm sure that the Universal Music Group was really affected by Ms. Lenz using 29-seconds of Prince as a backdrop for her kids dancing. In fact, I'm pretty confident that had she even found a way to contact him, Prince probably would have not only licensed the song, but sent the kid a purple onesie with his butt hanging out. Overall, I think this element is the most favorable to people claiming a "Fair Use" defense because clearly Universal or other copyright holders are going to be held to a very, very high burden in showing an actual loss.

       So, there you have it. I'm not saying to run around and use every piece of copyrighted material that you can. But there are situations, like Stephanie Lenz, or Brian Sapient where you absolutely should be able to use copyrighted material, and if you are doing it in an appropriate manner, then you have to punch these bullies right in the nose, and tell them to go pick on someone else.

        My bully? He's still out there. He's still on the street, and boy oh boy, is he still taking care of business. Actually, I just ran into him. He's pumping gas at a Sunoco on Rt. 18. Things certainly do have a way of working out.

        But that's ok, because I'm pretty sure that the guy who was scraping the bugs off my windshield was none other than Corey Feldman.

I'm floored. Check out the front page of Podshow today. Totally unexpected.

I've been missing in action for the last few days, but I've been playing around with my Nano and a new pair of Nikes with the sensors in them. I mentioned on Twitter that I was digging them, and John Wall from the M Show challenged me to 100-miles in a month, which frankly seems ridiculous, but I'll give it a shot. I'm not doing horribly so far for having just gotten my legs back under me.

Some other folks have joined in the run, too. If you've got the stuff, why not join us...and you, too, can kick my ass.

 

Friend of the JTS, Phil Ayoub, is finally on You-Tube. This is ironic considering how his name is pronounced...

 

For a special essay, check me out on Episode #3 of Britney Mason's Popcast.

I am so excited to be the first podcaster to play the Jen Chapin Trio. They are a fantastic jazz, funk, urban-soul band from the New York City area. Jen is also the daughter of Harry Chapin, one of my favorite artists, and founder of the incredible World Hunger Year.

Download the show here.

The Return of the Hardest Working Lawyer in Podcasting brings with him:

1. The Surefire Way
2. John Taglieri
3. Joe Colledge
4. John Hoskinson

Thanks to Jimmy Lee with Dead Hot Blonde and Bittersweet.

Download the show here

 

 

I love my State. I really do. From Aberdeen to Zarapeth, New Jersey is my home. I grew up here, fell in love here, had children here, and have even defended my homeland in Court. I cringe everytime I hear a Jersey joke. I've got Jersey on the brain to the point that when I hear people call Adam Curry, "AC", I think that they're talking about Atlantic City.

 

            But that's not my point, my point is that it drives me so nuts, when we Joisey-ites give the world another chance to lick their finger and stick it in our collective ears. This of course never happened to me personally, but I did get hung on a hook for a little bit by my belt – short guy with a big mouth, what should have I expected when I told the captain of the football team that if he spent more time examining his playbook as opposed to his tater-tots, we'd be in a lot better shape for the Homecoming game. What did I know, some guys take it as constructive criticism, and other people hang fans on a hook?  

 

            Take for example our newest claim to shame, the current Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo. I don't know if you caught this story, but it's a good one. Apparently, Miss Polumbo received two packages and letters threatening to reveal racy photos of her if she didn't drop out of the Miss America contest. Bizarre. Here's where it gets even weirder, she revealed the pictures today, and frankly, they aren't that bad. Sure, there is one picture of her boyfriend posing with her provocatively, and sure, there is another one of her in a pose more spread eagled than Mary Lou Retton, and sure, there's a few of her drinking alcohol, and the kicker is that in all of the pictures, she's wearing clothes, she's not doing anything illegal, and just looks like a girl having fun. I mean she looks like a goofy friend of your sister's and hey do you want me to try to get you a date with her, but they aren't even in the same stratosphere as pages 52 through 57 of the September 1984 of Penthouse, featuring former Miss America winner Vanessa Williams. I'm not conceding publicly that I have that issue, but I will say, "boy, the prices on those protective baggies for Penthouse magazines really have gone up since 1984, you know what I mean, wink wink, nudge nudge."

 

            To quote the original gangster himself, Mr. William "Willy Will" Shakespeare, "a pox on all of your houses." I swear on the sideburns of Paulie Walnuts, I have no idea who I dislike more in this story.

 

            Lets start at the one who, in theory, is committing a criminal act, the unidentified blackmailer. This person wants Miss New Jersey to drop out of the Miss America contest. No money. No other benefit, just wants her to drop out of the pageant. Ok, this is bizarre. So, who can we eliminate – well, the mob for one – 'cause heck, they're running the pageant so they don't have any interest. The other 49 competitors? They were afraid of her? Please, unless the talent competition involves a hair scrunchee and a trip to the mall, I think that Ms. California or Ms. Florida or Ms. Arizona, or Miss Anywhere-they-have-decent-weather-for-most-of-the-year, had a horse-racers chance of beating her. So, if I were still working at the Attorney General's office, I'd be very antsy to talk to the person that lost the Miss New Jersey competition, because maybe they're the only one with any real interest here. Oy, the "runner-up in the 2007 Miss New Jersey" pageant – that's less job security than Gary Cherone's stint in Halen. But, frankly, this is an evil genius who is just not striving to reach their full potential. Hmm…lets risk going to jail for a long time that you could just accomplish by saying "Blackmailer says! Blackmailer says!" Oof, that joke fell flatter than the last pancake that got stuck underneath Dom DeLuise’s third chin.

            Now lets talk about the current Miss New Jersey, Ms. Polumbo. What the heck were you thinking? From what I read, the photos that you were being blackmailed with were from your Facebook site. You've got to be kidding me. Now I hate to be stereotypical here, but how could you be so, so, blonde? Don't you know that pretty much that every thing you put on the net, from who is the best lawyer in New Jersey to, to, well wait, let the google search hit that again, who is the best lawyer in New Jersey to   oh I dunno, Paris Hilton is a clown, is going to show up on the net. Now, I have seen the pictures. They are not sexual at all, in fact, they are some what goofy, in a "Legally Blonde" kind of way. But don't try to kid me that you only meant them for friends and were on a private site on Facebook. Please. Both you and I know, that our friends on Facebook and Myspace and all of these social networking type sites are as loyal as guy in a dark van offering to give a ten year old some ice cream . Please. There are more predators on that site than there were in all of the Jurassic Park movies. You knew exactly what you were posting, where you were posting them, and how they would be taken, and you know what, if I ran across them I wouldn't have even thought twice about them. But please don't insult my intelligence by saying these were some sort of super secret website. Frankly, if you were my friend on myspace, I would have really been more supportive - because winter, spring, summer, or fall, Miss New Jersey, all you had to do is call, because you've got a friend on myspace, Miss New Jersey.

 

            Let's go to the last leg of this triad of stupidity, the pageant itself. Isn't it time that we took a look at these things. Now, I'm not suggesting that we need to change anything in these pageants, but aren't they a little dated and just a whole lot sexist? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for consentual sexist behavior, if that's what's agreed upon by the parties, but don't try to tell me that these 50 girls in bikinis are there just to show the beauty of the female form. Of course not, they are in butts in the seats, and not necessarily female butts (give or take a few really butch looking truckers). So, I don't see why that the pageant directors would have any problems with racy pictures, unless they're upset that they didn't get their cut of the proceeds, But, please, the concept that all of these women in this pageant are all little angels and carriers of the moral torch is so darn Betty Crocker 1950's that it makes my head spin. In fact, I want my Miss New Jersey to have a drink every once in awhile and to have fun with her friends. That's who we are in New Jersey. The concept that a Miss America should be a bimbo that can twirl a baton and wish for world peace is as antiquated as my TRS-80 Color Computer. Ok, that was perhaps the geekiest reference I've ever made, but hey, you have to know you're audience, right?

 

This being said, I actually feel sorry for Miss Garden Patch because for a girl who shows her Jersey tomatoes in a bikini in front of millions of people in a pageant, to even give a care the size of the back of a thong is just not fair. But hey, this is what she wanted right? She wanted the adulation, the attention, and oh yeah, to have a crown on her head, and in some respects this alleged blackmail has brought you more attention than you really ever deserved. One could…even…think…that…she…staged…the whole thing…..Ah, forget it, she's a blonde. You know, if you really wanted to impress me Miss Palumbo, rather than really caring about stupid beauty pageants, why not do something that really would change the world – like becoming a teacher.

 

The first episode of JTB brings a great oldie from December 2006 regarding the future of podcasting. It is amazing to me how relevant this essay still is - we still need to keep striving.

Welcome to the Evolution, indeed.

Download the show here

Thanks to Oli from the fantastic My Way Home Podcast for his help. I'm working one more aspect of the show before I "officially" debut it this week, but feel free to come over to the site now.

Not sure if I should keep this, but it is kind of funny.

 

              

Thanks to Liz for this great honor. This is an incredible site, my Google Reader is nearly exploding from all of the good stuff she has found.

The fireworks are over here tonight. We have some amazing music for you including:

1. H-Beam
2. Geoff Smith
3. Mambo Sauce
4. The Mob Stories
5. Lords of Altamont
6. Tim Foley

With special help from Bob Hope, John Wayne, Jack Wyles, and J.C. Hutchins.

Download the show here

        This past week, we packed the wife and kids up and went down to Howell Farm, which is a real life working farm. My kids absolutely loved it. There were cows, and sheep, and pigs. It was an absolutely perfect day. I even had some home made ice cream. Good day. My son, Charlie was almost overwhelmed by the animals, the whole week he's been going "I touched a sheep", but for me, I took something very different out of this day. I looked around, and didn't see any Starbucks, I didn't see a Home Depot, and the Walmart was at least a 5-mile walk, and I said to myself, "Self (because that's what I call myself), this was a frigging hard life." You see, I don't know if I could have done it. Sure, they had a farm house, and I suppose some meager farm tools, but I don't know if I could have woken up at the crack of dawn every day to be a farmer, dealing with the crops and all that stuff. Well, I do shovel crap some mornings in Court, but you get my drift.

             That's why, I've got to take a very unpopular position this week, however, this past week the NFL Players Union testified in Congress that they were entitled to increased disability benefits for injuries arising out of playing football, and in fact, Coach Ditka from the Bears has done an amazing job bringing this issue to the forefront. In fact, this statistic shocked me, that out of the 8000 former players of the league, only 300 people receive benefits from the league. The players claim that they have to step through tires filed with red tape, and go through a bureaucratic mess to receive benefits.   

             But, as my high school coach once said to me, "Hey Ditka - what do you think you're special? Suck it up! Shake it off, and get back in the game!"

             I don't mean to be crass here, but I really have a problem with the NFL players complaining now, for a variety of reasons. I am not going to begrudge them for one second that many of them have suffered horrific, and traumatic injuries during the course of their playing days. I am not going to begrudge that football is a sport of collisions that are like a mack truck hitting a wall. I am not going to be the one to say that the NFL owners made tons of money off the sweat of these hard working individuals.

             But to the players association, I say this "and?" I work every day with injured people, people that are totally and permanently disabled, and you know what there are a lot of guys and girls in this country that sweat, there are lot of people in this country who's hard work made a ton of money for their bosses, and you know what - they're not entitled to a dime more than what they negotiated when they originally took their job.

             More importantly, there are remedies available to the players, but like a lot of workers out there, they just don't take advantage of them. For example, remember George Adams from the Giants? I think he played a couple of years with the Patriots too. He was drafted by the Jints in the first round in 1985, and he played running back from then until 1991. In 1996, he filed in New Jersey Workers Compensation Court trying to get the Giants to pay for a hip replacement surgery, and the Court rightfully dismissed the claim because it was way out of time. It wasn't until 2003 that the Appellate Division finally said enough and closed the case out for good

             Sure, it's a sad story, but Adams is in and should be in no better position than the millions and millions of employees that get hurt on the job, and if they want their employer to pay for stuff, then they have to file a timely claim. I don't think that just because he's a football player should entitle Adams to any extra benefit.

             Some of these athletes have been coddled all their life, and now that their careers have ended, they really miss the warm, wet, hug of their mommies. Maybe that's more prevalent now where than it was years ago, but lets not kid ourselves, when a kid comes out of high school and gets shuffled through college and spends more time on the field than in the classroom, they knew the deal, they knew the opportunities that they had in front of them, and were co-conspirators in their own problems. Maybe it was short sighted, but the rest of us had that cold realization that nobody is going to take care of us, but us, like we were the fat kid on the first day of sleep away camp.

             The NFL players association has a problem with the bureaucracy of their benefits system. Really? Is this the first time that they've dealt with bureaucracy? I can't get six-slices of turkey on my sub at Subway without talking to two levels of management. Please Jashwari, just put some of the spicy mustard on the thing, lather it up, and stick it in a bag, I'm in a rush. My problem is that we all have to deal with bureaucracy on a day to day basis, and is this really something that Congress needs to get involved with? This is a frigging customer service issue. Do we really need to distract ourselves from the war in Iraq, the quasi-criminal behavior in the White House so my local Senator can waste half a day to get a picture with Joe Willie Namath?         

         We are in the midst of a national health care crisis. I don't mean crisis in the traditional "Crisis at the Mall - Film at Eleven", type crisis. I mean "Crisis" in the ohmigd this is a really sobering and horrible problem kind of crisis kind of way. The kind of crisis that is right in front of us, and by the grace of gd you and I haven't had to deal with it. I've seen it. Hopefully, you have insurance. Hopefully, you have a whole boat load of overflow insurance, because I've seen it. If you get hurt in this country, traumatically, and you get hurt, you go right from the hospital right to the bankruptcy line. Seriously. Its that quick, and once you get there you get charity care or Medicare or any other social remedial program that gives you as much choice as a my homies at Guantanamo. You think I'm kidding. Did you know that the average surgery on your back is about a $100,000 plus the time lost from work and all of that? I certainly don't have that kind of money laying around for unexpected problems, hell, NFL players might not have that kind of scratch just laying around. Michael Vick does of course, and he's letting his dogs use it for a training area before fights. Sick bastard, but that's a story for another day.

             If Ditka really wants to do something, then perhaps he should tackle the entire health care problem in this country. If Ditka wants to actually give back to the fans that paid for the tickets that made the NFL a success, then maybe its time to step up and speak for the whole team. Because when, athletes, or celebrities in general, use their power and influence, to try to get benefits that you and I are not entitled to, and for benefits that they didn't negotiate for in the past, it just gives off an awful smell....hmm....what does that remind me of? I know, what it reminds me of.....the pig crap that was sitting in the hot heat back at the farm.

             Oh, and to my friends in Chicago. This takes nothing away from my immense respect from Coach Ditka. In fact, as they said on Saturday Night Live. Ditka versus the Packers? Who would win? Ditka. Ditka versus the Indianapolis 500 driving a school bus? Who would win? Ditka? Ditka versus Paris Hilton in a beauty contest? Ditka. But Ditka versus Jersey Todd in an argument? Who would win?

      JT, of course.

So, I'm considering putting out a new show, as a companion to the Jersey Toddshow, called "Jersey Todd's Briefs". Check out the softest of soft launches, here and email me if you want to help.

Not sure why I hadn't caught this story, but it is absoluting fascinating, and something to think about at this time of year.

Click here