Friday Afternoon Link Roundup

I’d like to apologize to our faithful readers for the relative dearth of content lately. I’ve been busy studying for yet another bar exam as part of my quest to become licensed in every state in the lower 48* and Joe is currently off in some Caribbean fantasyland sipping rum from a coconut. We’ll be back with guns blazing over the weekend. In the interim, here are some highlights of the past week in our corner of the legal world.

*To be fair, I have also thought about sitting for the Alaska bar exam, despite the fact that it’s three days long.

“Strategic lawsuits against public participation” (SLAPPs) are lawsuits filed to restrain the speech of an opponent or punish an opponent for past speech. Often involving questionable defamation claims, SLAPPs can cause significant expense and anxiety. Public policy on SLAPPs varies; some states like California have strong anti-SLAPP laws, but others don’t. Now a federal anti-SLAPP statute, called the Citizen Participation Act, is on the table. The Legal Satyricon has the details. If you’re the victim of a SLAPP, the First Amendment Project offers tools for fighting back.

Jalopnik calls this opinion from the Delaware Court of Chancery ”The Greatest Legal Document of All Time,” which may be accurate if you really like auto racing and/or Will Ferrell movies. Thanks to William Bray for the link.

Is the Copyright Royalty Board, which determines webcasting copyright royalty rates, constitutional? Live365 has been arguing that it isn’t. Although Live365 failed to obtain injunctive relief on that ground, the issue remains undecided. Story courtesy CommLawBlog.

Cornell Law’s decision to promote itself by way of reference to fictional Cornellian Andy Bernard from “The Office” comes under fire for a number of reasons. Story courtesy Above the Law.

Cat-SLAPP photo courtesy australianshepherds (http://www.flickr.com/photos/australianshepherds/ / CC BY 2.0).