Reference no: EM133297979

1. Explain what "work for hire" means with respect to an employee who produces copyrightable work product as part of his or her job, and who generally owns the resulting copyrights.

A. Target, Inc. ordered 100,000 artificial Christmas trees from Supplier A in Shanghai and 100,000 artificial Christmas trees from Supplier B in Taipei, for delivery by October 15th, for sale during the holiday season. Both Suppliers charged $30 per tree. Supplier A was able to deliver its 100,000 trees on time, but Supplier B encountered a meltdown and notified Target that it could only deliver 50,000 trees on time. Target then asked Supplier A to operate additional overtime production lines, and Supplier A was able to deliver on time an additional 25,000 trees at $50 each (the $20 per tree increase was mostly due to overtime costs and using air freight instead of ocean vessels to deliver on time). Target sold out the entire 175,000 trees it had available at an average profit of $40 per tree. In light of the reduced supply available, Target cancelled billboard and other marketing promotions it had scheduled for markets where it wouldn't have adequate inventory to sell, and incurred $25,000 in cancellation fees and wasted production costs. Discuss what claims Target can bring against Supplier B and what amount of damages it most likely could recover on each claim. Use specific dollar amounts and explain how you arrived at them.

B. Michelle Garnaut is a celebrity chef who operates "M on Market," a very high end and successful restaurant in San Francisco. Her sister Mandy was always jealous of Michelle when they grew up together, and became even more jealous when Mandy's modest neighborhood restaurant failed and went out of business. In her anger, Mandy posted 3 reviews of M on Market on the Michelin Guide website, under fake names over a 10-day period, falsely claiming that each purported customer had become seriously sick after dining at that restaurant. M on Market's reservations declined by 20% for six months. Assuming that good computer forensics could establish that Mandy posted the fake reviews, discuss what claims Michelle could bring against the Michelin Guide and/or Mandy, and what types of damages, if any, she likely could recover from each of them.

C. United Shipping Company ("USC") operates a package delivery business similar to FedEx and UPS. 95% of USC's driver/delivery employees are male. USC requires applicants for these positions to take a test to demonstrate they can lift a 200-lb box and carry it while walking briskly for 25 yards. Assume that USC can show that there are both male and female applicants who fail this test, that many more of its female job applicants fail this test compared to male applicants, and that all of its male and female hires passed this test. Two female job applicants who did not pass this test and were not hired by USC filed a class action on behalf of female applicants claiming that USC discriminates against women applicants for the driver/delivery jobs. What arguments can the female plaintiffs make and what type of evidence would they need to present to have a successful discrimination claim?

D. Explain what "originalism" or "original intent" means as a doctrine or principle for interpreting the U.S. Constitution and give an illustration of how it has been applied by the Supreme Court. Then explain whether you think this doctrine is sound or unsound, and why.