Free state statutory law - ready for prime time?

I read Paul Hellyer's article "Research at Your Own Risk: Free online statutory codes are widely available, but are they good enough to meet users' needs?" (AALL Spectrum, February 2011, pp. 18-19) and was dismayed to find that most states still do not have current statutes and codes online, and some do not even indicate when the last update was. Hellyer conducted his research during 2010, three years after the AALL report, State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources, in which the same conclusion was reached.

Research at Your Own Risk: Free online statutory codes are widely available, but are they good enough to meet users' needs?

State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources

Moon mining

Moon Mining Idea Digs Up Lunar Legal Issues

by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer
Date: 13 January 2011 Time: 05:52 PM ET
Can companies legally mine the Moon for water? The answer -- possibly.

West mobile apps and web sites

West has a collection of iPhone/iPad apps for sale at http://west.thomson.com/products/services/mobileapps/default.aspx. This page also lists mobile (smartphone) websites.

Superheros, supervillains, and the law

The New York Times has an article about about a new blog devoted to legal questions regarding superheros and their arch enemies.

A note from Melanie Harshman of the Legislative Reference Library

A note from Melanie Harshman of the Legislative Reference Library:

Just wanted to let you all know, the Legislative Reference Library recently launched a redesigned website: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/

New search and navigation options include:

• More informative menu categories
• Drop down menus to show the major sections in each category
• Menus on the left side of each second-level page which contain links to other pages within each category
• The ability to search Legislative Archive System and the Library catalog from the home page

 We've also added some new content. New features include:

• A revised and improved guide to researching legislative history and intent http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/legIntent/legIntent.cfm
• Expanded information about Lieutenant Governors http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/ltgovernors/ltgovbrowse.cfm
• Session snapshot pages which provide easy access to information about each legislative session http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/sessions/sessionYears.cfm
• More options for searching for legislative committees http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/committees/index.cfm
• A timeline of significant Texas water legislation http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legis/waterTimeLine.cfm
• Easier access to online collections, including historical House and Senate Journals, House and Senate Rules, and Session Laws http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/collections/index.cfm
• Answers to frequently asked questions http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/genInfo/FAQ.cfm
• State agency hotlines and citizen assistance information http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/genInfo/stateAgencies.cfm

We also have a new collection of scanned session laws from Hein Online covering 1824 – 2007. We can provide individual session laws on request.

We also have a blog now - so check us out! Here is the site announcement on the blog: http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/whatsNew/client/index.cfm/2010/11/29/Welcome-to-our-new-site

More updates to THOMAS

In this post, Andrew Weber at the Law Library of Congress summarizes the most recent changes and updates to the THOMAS service.

Interview with Carl Malamud

Library Journal posted an interview with Carl Malamud of Law.gov. Here's a brief snippet:
Public Information for All: An Interview with Carl Malamud

LJ talks to the public information advocate and founder of PublicResources.Org about barriers to access, trends in copyright, potential legal fixes, and where libraries fit into the puzzle
By Debbie Rabina
Library Journal
Nov 1, 2010

Since the early 1990s, Carl Malamud has made it his business to return to the public what is rightfully theirs: free access to public information. Despite legislation that mandates such access to government information, some categories of information have been excluded, notable among them court opinions (with the exception of the U.S. Supreme Court) and state laws. (cont)

Follow up on the new THOMAS Share Tools

In my previous post, I linked to an announcement of the new sharing tools from the THOMAS legislative web site. Here's an example of using one of the features.

Suppose you need to send a link to a house or senate bill status page to one of your patrons. The new Share/Save toolbar makes this easy.

• Find the house or senate bill
• Click on the Share/Save link
• Click on the Save tab
• Copy the URL and paste it to your email, web site, blog, etc.

Example: H.R.3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law No: 111-148).

Click on the Share/Save link, Save tab, and copy the resulting URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.111hr3590

You may also share via your favorite social networking tools, or even use their email tool to send to a patron.

THOMAS Share Tools

The Library of Congress has announced a new tool for the THOMAS legislative service. Here's the introduction to the announcement:

About the THOMAS Share Tool


The THOMAS Share Tool allows you to print THOMAS pages and search results, subscribe to regular updates from THOMAS, and share THOMAS content in a number of ways. You can post THOMAS links on social networking Web sites such as Facebook or Twitter, send links by e-mail, and post links to or embed THOMAS content in your own Web site or blog pages.

Read more at http://thomas.loc.gov/help/share.html

Copyright & photos

OREGON LEGAL RESEARCH

by Laura Orr
August 19, 2010
"Can Someone Use My Picture Without My Permission?"

Good post on the issues of copyright and photography.

Municipal codes

When my copy of Law Library Journal arrives, the first thing I do is turn to Mary Whisner's "Practicing Reference" column. This issue is no different. Whisner writes about the importance of local or municipal codes in answering questions covering legalities on a local level. This column starts with a question about laws covering the scooping of, well, dog leavings. See the whole article at http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v102n03/2010-27.pdf or in print format at 102 Law Lib. J. 497.

New UK legislative web site

I rarely have to research United Kingdom law, but this post from the new In Custodia Legis blog from the Law Library of Congress regarding the new UK legislative web site had me in stitches. Go read it for yourself!

Copyright for court filings?

I almost missed this one - the Law Librarian Blog discusses a current case in which court filings are being discussed in the light of whether or not the filings are subject to copyright. Wade in here.

Proposed copyright overhaul

Jessica Litman from the University of Michigan is quoted in this Ars Technica column on streamlining copyright law.

Cleaning the barnacles from the S.S. Copyright


By Nate Anderson

Ars Technica

Bashing current copyright law is easy—just ask Jessica Litman, a professor of law at the University of Michigan. She calls current US copyright a "swollen, barnacle-encrusted collection of incomprehensible prose." Or, to change the metaphor to aging, copyright law is "old, outmoded, inflexible, and beginning to display the symptoms of multiple systems failure." (cont)

Libel laws in Britain under review

This caught my attention this morning.

Britain, Long a Libel Mecca, Reviews Laws

By SARAH LYALL
Published: December 10, 2009
New York Times

LONDON — England has long been a mecca for aggrieved people from around the world who want to sue for libel. Russian oligarchs, Saudi businessmen, multinational corporations, American celebrities — all have made their way to London’s courts, where jurisdiction is easy to obtain and libel laws are heavily weighted in favor of complainants.

Embarrassed by London’s reputation as “a town called sue” and by unusually stinging criticisms in American courts and legislatures, British lawmakers are seriously considering rewriting England’s 19th-century libel laws. (cont)

Legal issues with dinosaur hunting

Did you know there are legal implications of digging up dinosaur bones? There could be if the bones happen to be on public land. See more details in Smithsonian.

Donovan Webster. "The Dino Wars", Smithsonian Magazine. April 2009, pp. 49-57

It's Back...Now Houses Delays Bill

The House now passes the Bill to delay the switch to activite digital television. The date has been moved from Feb. 17th to June 12th.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020402584.html?hpid=topnews

Computer Recycling Law

Texas' takeback law for computer equipment goes into effect on Sept. 1, 2008.
For more information:

www.texastakeback.com

It will be interesting to see if this law will be amended to cover the televisions that cannot make the switch from analog to digital television on Feb. 17, 2009.

The Bill is HB 2714:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB2714

Annotated Justinian Code

If you read the article about the Justinian code in the recent Law Library Journal, you might find this web site interesting.

Annotated Justinian Code (http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/blume&justinian/default.asp)
By Fred H. Blume
Edited by Timothy Kearley

Discussed in: Timothy Kearley, Justice Fred Blume and the Translation of Justinian’s Code, 99 LAW LIB. J. 525 (2007).

FOIA Update...New Act

From the NOCALL Listserv:

"Last week, President Bush signed the OPEN Government Act into law, updating FOIA to bring greater transparency to a government that, in recent years, has increasingly made its decisions out of public view. "

The OPEN Government Act will improve the FOIA process by:

1. Imposing meaningful deadlines on agencies handling information requests;
2. Establishing a FOIA hotline;
3. Bringing government records held by private contractors into full public view;
4. Creating a FOIA Ombudsman to provide an alternative to costly litigation between FOIA
requestors and federal agencies; and
5. Allowing federal agencies to waive FOIA fees for freelance journalists and bloggers.

GOVTRACK
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2488

THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:2:./temp/~c110Oiuq4a::

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:s849: