JOMC To: 340 students From: Dr. Packer Re: Preparation for your first exam 12:30-2:30 388 Carroll Hall night before exam before 9 p.m. Below I have pasted two legal hypothetical from exams I have given in the past. An excellent way to prepare for next weeks exam is to work through these two questions before class on Tuesday. Well discuss them in class, at least briefly. (Well see how much time we have.) Also, be aware that I have told you three topics we did not discuss in class but to which you should pay special attention in your textbooks. Those topics are 1) the varying levels of First Amendment protection for different categories of individuals, 2) the federal Freedom of Information Act, and 3) trademark law. EXAM 25 multiple choice, 2 short answer (sentence or two), 2 legal hypothetical These are the sample questions: Show how you reach conclusion 1. Identify the area of law state or federal records 2. What are the relevant legal rules? Specifics 3. Where rules come from? Precedent? 4. Apply the rules to facts of the case talk about facts of case, make sure you think clearly 5. Conclusion reach after 4 ways 24. (20 points) A UNC-CH student magazine is preparing a long article about slavery in Chapel Hill. The magazine wants to show, in words and in photographs, what life was like for those people who helped build this University. The reporter working on the story gathers photos from the early 1800s that she finds in a University library; several recent articles published in The North Carolina Historical Review; and various statistics posted on the Internet about the numbers of slaves who worked on University buildings, years they worked, who owned them. Magazine Editor Martin Kuhn tells the reporter she can use any or all of the materials she located because the magazine receives all of its financial support from alumni donations. He said she most assuredly can use anything she finds on the Internet because people who post their work on the Internet are placing it in the public domain. He said the case is even clearer when theres no copyright symbol on the work, as is the with case the Web site on which statistics were posted. First, is the editor correct is his legal analysis? Explain fully. If not, what is the correct way to decide whether the material described above can be used by DTH? What is your conclusion? Cite all applicable legal rules, and explain how they apply to the facts of this case. (There is no need to include purely philosophical arguments.) Publication of student magazine news reporting, no educational use Does not matter about alumni donations in terms of purpose Right to use statistics cannot copyright facts How much did they take from articles, too much would be entire article, 2 paragraphs no In public domain no longer copyrighted 23. (20 points) For six months the Orange County Board of Commissioners has been discussing a proposal to build a new animal shelter. One of the issues before the Board has been whether
the county can afford to build a large enough shelter to house all the pets that would need shelter if the county adopted the no-kill policy being advocated by the local chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Last week the Board members and a small contingent from the ASPCA visited the existing animal shelter so the commissioners could see for themselves the crowded conditions at the local shelter and hear from the ASPCA more about its no-kill proposal. At last nights Board of Commissioners meeting, one of the commissioners mentioned the tour of the animal shelter. Immediately News & Observer reporter Josh Godwin protested that the tour was illegal under North Carolinas Open Meetings law. What, if any, violations of the law probably occurred. List them and explain fully. No announcement of the meeting when and where Meeting was not dealing with 9 exceptions to be closed, about how to spend public money Did not keep any minutes No vote in the record and no reason why Open meetings must be held if a public body wants to hold a public hearing, just deliberate or take action. Members of a public body can gather socially as long as they dont conduct public business.