Frequent Questions
3,504 questions
17
votes
1
answer
13k
views
What is a contract and what is required for them to be valid?
What is a contract?
What elements are required for validity?
- 238k
14
votes
1
answer
3k
views
In the US, when is fair use a defense to copyright infringement?
What is fair use in the US? When would it be a successful defense to copyright infringement?
user3851
7
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Is this copyright infringement? Is it fair use? What if I don't make any money off it?
If someone were hypothetically working on a project that required them to incorporate copies of a copyrighted work (music, movies, books, etc.), how would they know if it would be considered fair use? ...
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How do you prove a fact at issue in litigation?
Many questions on this site ask some variant of the question: "how does one prove something in court?" Paraphrasing a few:
How can mens rea be proved?
How do you prove that someone forged ...
- 87.7k
47
votes
4
answers
22k
views
What are the legal repercussions of taking a stranger's picture in public?
With Snapchat and Instagram it is all too easy to abuse picture taking and really inexpensive to snap a photo of an unknowing stranger. If you are in public and will only post pictures online without ...
- 655
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Can the Developer of a Program be penalized if it is used illegally?
If a developer writes a program, for example a password cracker or a code decipher, and it is used illegally, will the developer or the user get punished? A password cracker could be used, for example,...
- 163
34
votes
3
answers
133k
views
Is it illegal to throw away the previous tenant's mail?
Say I move into an apartment. And over the next months and years, I keep receiving mail for the previous tenant, whom I do not know.
This is understandably annoying. The easiest and most convenient ...
user43
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are terms of service legal contracts?
Are ToS considered contracts in and of themselves, enforceable under contract/civil law?
Generally I'm talking about the Common Law systems in the major regions (UK, North America and Oceania). ...
27
votes
3
answers
35k
views
In the USA, do parents have the right to control their children's possessions?
Let's say a minor (17 or younger) living with his parents gets a job or does chores, and with the money thereby earned, buys a video game console.
The parents decide that the console is not ...
- 519
16
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Can you be accused of hotlinking/copyright violation if you use an iframe?
Can you be accused of hotlinking or copyright infringement if you use an iframe (web element) of another website?
Can you be sued for this if the website doesn't prevent iframe using and doesn't ...
- 163
6
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Can a store sell merchandise I've left in the store?
If I purchase merchandise in a physical store, and then (accidentally or not) leave the merchandise at the store after I've paid for it, is the store allowed to resell that merchandise to another ...
- 163
87
votes
4
answers
29k
views
How can you tell if you have to follow a police officer's instructions?
If a police officer gives me an order, how can I tell whether or not I'm legally obligated to follow that order? If I ask the officer, is he/she required by law to answer truthfully?
If the police ...
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What are "equity" and "equitable remedies"?
What is equity and/or an equitable remedy? How does it relate to the common law?
- 87.7k
4
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How is a judge to evaluate a witness's credibility?
How is a judge to evaluate a witness's credibility?
- 87.7k
56
votes
4
answers
40k
views
What is the meaning of “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th amendment?
In the fourteenth amendment, what does the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” contribute? What people born in the United States would not have been subject to the jurisdiction of the ...
- 1,315