Trusts can be an effective estate-planning tool, if they are used properly. There are many specialty trusts designed to meet specific needs: Special Needs Trusts, Education Trusts, Travel Trusts, Pet Trusts
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The owner of a local small business contacted me about an unfortunate situation involving copyright law and online marketing. A year ago, she inadvertently posted two copyright protected images on her business’s Facebook page and website. Recently she received a threatening letter from a company called Getty Images demanding a large sum of money for a settlement amount for copyright infringement.
To prevent this problem for your business, make sure that you have properly licensed all of the images used on your website, or in any marketing materials or social media sites. Assume that any image you see on the Internet has some level copyright protection unless it expressly states otherwise. Copyright protections exist as soon as a “work of authorship” is fixed in a tangible form and they do not have to be registered, although registration is recommended. Copyright infringement does not require either knowledge or intent. Inadvertently or not, if you use a copyrighted image for commercial purposes without permission you are leaving yourself vulnerable to litigation.
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The process of being appointed a power of attorney for a family member or loved one can be challenging for a variety of legal and emotional reasons. The prospect of handling the financial or medical decisions for someone you care about when they are no longer capable of doing so can seem overwhelming. But having these powerful documents in place can make incredibly difficult situations much less challenging in the midst of crisis.
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The US Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have each issued a ruling that same-sex couples that have been legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriage will be treated as married for federal tax purposes. This ruling will apply regardless of whether or not the couple is currently living in a jurisdiction that recognizes same sex marriage.
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In the midst of this tumultuous political season, North Carolina has passed a new Limited Liability Company (LLC) statute. The stated purpose of the new Act is, “to provide a flexible framework under which one or more persons may organize and manage one or more businesses as they determine to be appropriate with minimum prescribed formalities or constraints.” This Act will go into effect on January 1, 2014.
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Drew Reisinger, the Buncombe County Registrar of Deeds, has taken an important step towards challenging North Carolina’s constitutional ban on gay marriage. In a move inspired by the June 26th Supreme Court decision that struck down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, Reisinger began accepting marriage license applications from gay couples on Tuesday, October 15th. When asked by the press about his primary reason for accepting the applications, Reisinger said, “I have concerns about whether we are violating people's civil rights."
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