BLAW 3330 (Business Law)

Assignment Four

Summer 2022

II.  

(1)  Sally Johnson, who viewed herself as a classical poet, gave a poetry recital at the University of North Texas at Dallas.  At this event, she made up her poems on the spot.  Raven Gonzalez, a student with a remarkable memory, returned home afterwards and wrote down from memory one of Sally’s extemporized poems.  Raven later had it published under the name “Reflections.”  Does Sally have a claim for copyright infringement against Raven?

 

(2)  What three conditions must be satisfied for a work to be deemed a work made for hire (and thus owned by the party who ordered its preparation) when it is prepared by an independent contractor?

(12 points)

 

III.  

(1)  Since the 1960s, Aaron Brothers Corporation has used a special shade of yellow-red color on the battery organizers it manufactures for online retailers. In 1990, Adams Products (an Aaron Brothers rival) began selling its own battery organizers to online retailers, and it colored the organizers a similar yellow-red. In 1991, Aaron Brothers registered the special yellow-red color on battery organizers with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark.  Aaron Brothers sued Adams Products for trademark infringement. Adams Products argues that the Lanham Act does not permit registering “color alone” as a trademark.  Explain the law that applies to this case and argue whether a trademark violation has been committed.

 

(2) The owner of the federally-registered trademark SUGAR ROUGE has sued the owner of the mark SUGAR RED for trademark infringement. There has been no actual confusion between the marks. SUGAR ROUGE is used in connection with candy and SUGAR RED is used in connection with cupcakes. Fully discuss whether SUGAR RED infringes SUGAR ROUGE.

(30 points)

IV.

(1)  Identify the requirements for applicability of the limited exemption to the Employer Polygraph Protection Act for security firms and manufacturers of controlled substances, as well as ongoing investigations by a private enterprise.

 

(2) What are the private employer’s defenses for lawsuits brought by employees or applicants under the following Federal statutes?:

(a)  Equal Pay Act

(b)  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

(c)  Age Discrimination in Employment Act

(d)  Americans with Disabilities Act

(20 points)

 

V.  

(1)  What are some common types of equity financing?  Explain.

(2)  What types of collateral may be used in debt financing?

(3)  What is the downside of not retaining 51% ownership in your company?

(4)  If one uses the WACC formula in financing corporate operations, how is this formula calculated?

(5)  What type of bonds base the interest payment on the level of corporate earnings?

(6)  The issuance of equity securities is regulated by ___________ and the

(7)  If a shareholder has the right to purchase a pro rata share of any additional stock offering in order to prevent her interest from being diluted, this must be documented in the

(8)  The type of stock that gives preferred shareholders not only the right to receive dividends first, but also the right to share in the remaining corporate income with the common shareholders is known as .

 

(9) What two tests must be satisfied to prevent insolvency before the declaration and distribution of dividends to shareholders?

(10)  What must a shareholder do to compel distribution of a dividend?

(20 points)