| Volume 115 Number 8 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Law enforcement agencies don't collect consumer debt, so if you get a call from someone claiming to be from the government and trying to get you to pay a debt, chances are it's a scam. Here are some tips to protect you from scam debt collectors. Click here for more.
Judge Rules "Happy Birthday Song" is Public Domain
Ever wonder why the "Happy Birthday" song everyone sings in real life seems to appear so little on TV and in movies? That was because a company claimed a copyright on the song, and demanded fees for its performance. A judge in California has ruled that the company that has been asserting the copyright does not have the right to collect those fees, and that the song is in the public domain. Click here for more.
Your Money
Because of record low inflation, social security recipients should know that the chances of a cost of living adjustment to their benefits checks in 2016 is not looking good. Based upon the numbers, 2016 looks to join 2010 and 2011 as a year with no benefit increase for inflation. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Offer for the full amount requested in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit does not moot the case. The Seventh Circuit reversed itself, and held that an offer for the full amount requested does not moot the case. The court stated: “If an offer to satisfy all of the plaintiff’s demands really moots a case, then it self-destructs,” the court wrote. “Rule 68 is captioned ‘Offer of Judgment.’ But a district court cannot enter judgment in a moot case. All it can do is dismiss for lack of a case or controversy. So if the $3,002 offer made this case moot, then even if Chapman had accepted it the district court could not have ordered First Index to pay. It could have done nothing but dismiss the suit.” Chapman v. First Index, Inc. (7th Cor. 2015) Click here for more.