Software liens must be adequately registered; bankruptcy cases have held that security interests should be filed in the Copyright Office
Article Abstract:
The US District Bankruptcy Court in Arizona ruled in In re Avalon Software that a lender must register both the software and the security interest desired with the US Copyright Office before assuming such an interest. There are conflicting ideas about whether state or federal law governs the practical matters of liens on intellectual property assets. Two federal court decisions before Avalon indicate the federal Copyright Act preempts state uniform commerce codes. Safe practice for those desiring liens on computer software is detailed.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Supreme Court's 'Boggs' decision makes sense
Article Abstract:
The US Supreme Court's 1997 ruling in Boggs v. Boggs that ERISA preempts state community property law was correct and resolved a difference between the appellate courts for the 5th and 9th circuits. The state law at issue allowed the nonparticipant spouse to control, by testamentary instrument, the disposition of his community property interest in the surviving spouse's qualified pension benefits. ERISA, however, denies nonparticipant spouses this testamentary right, and, as confirmed by the ruling, preempts conflicting state law.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
U.S. Supreme Court rejects FDIC's assertion that federal common law trumps state law in determining standard of liability for officers and directors of banks
Article Abstract:
The US Supreme Court has clarified in Atherton v. FDIC the standard of care for bank directors, an issue which had been in controvery since the Financial Institutions Reform and Regulatory Act had been enacted. The ruling assumes that there must be evidence of a significant conflict between state law and federal policy for federal common law to apply.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Lender liability: evaluating risk under CERCLA and the security interest exemption. EPA's CERCLA lender liability proposal: secured creditors "hit the jackpot."
- Abstracts: Federal bankruptcy court holds debtor's interest in s. 457 plan is property of bankruptcy estate. First case under Pension Annuity Protection Act allows participants who received Executive Life contracts to sue under ERISA
- Abstracts: Firms now plan asset purchases; as capital equipment expenses increase, prudent firms should consider financing alternatives
- Abstracts: Yes: litigants deserve a justice with an open mind. No: the costs would be too high. Yes: victims deserve justice no less than defendants
- Abstracts: Minimum standards for private adjudicators? Adversarial or conciliatory: what litigators should know about mediation