Balough
December 23, 2013
Being employed for less than two years is not sufficient consideration for enforcing a non-compete agreement in Illinois, a state appellate court ruled. The issue arose when an employee quit his job after three months. His employment contract included a non-compete agreement restricting his employment for two years after he terminated his employment for any […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
A Chicago television reporter was not defamed when a rival station aired a segment showing the reporter in a halter-top bathing suit at the home of the husband of a missing woman in a highly publicized investigation. A Cook County judge found that the reporter, Amy Jacobson, was a public figure for all purposes because, […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Placing a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device on a state employee’s personal car as part of an investigation does not require a warrant, but using the GPS to track the employee 24 hours a day for a month was unreasonable, a New York appeals court majority found. A concurring opinion would have required a […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
A federal judge has referred a band of copyright troll attorneys to their respective state and federal bars for their “moral turpitude unbecoming of an officer of the court.” The judge also referred the attorneys to the U.S. Attorney’s office in California and the Internal Revenue Service for their scheme that “outmaneuvered the legal system” […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
A 92-question and answer guide is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help businesses and parents understand the new rule for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which go into effect July 1, 2013. The rule, adopted in December 2012, expands the types of information about children under 13 that require parental […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
The use of a mother and her daughter’s images without their written permission on the cover of a media kit used to generate advertising revenue for a monthly publication violates the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, an Illinois appellate court found. McHenry County Living magazine originally took the photograph when it selected the mother’s garden as […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
A scam that induces businesses to pay for listing in a useless online marketing directory has been temporarily enjoined and the company’s United States assets frozen in a court action brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Since at least 2000, Construct Data Publishers, which is also known as Fair Guide, induced businesses and nonprofit organizations […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
The Illinois Commerce Commission must consider comments made by ratepayers at public forums and on the Commission’s own website before setting new utility rates. Lake Wildwood Association and Apple Canyon Lake Property Owners’ Association filed an appeal after the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC or Commission) struck all references in their joint brief to public comments […]
Balough
December 23, 2013
Richard C. Balough authored one of the chapters in Intellectual Property Law 2013 published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE). Mr. Balough’s chapter concerns the ownership and transfer of copyrights. The handbook was first published in 2005 and is designed to help practicing attorneys. Mr. Balough has contributed to each edition of the book.
Balough
December 23, 2013
A personal injury law firm can buy search terms using the names of a competing law firm’s partners without violating Wisconsin’s privacy laws because the use of the names is “non-visible,” an appellate court found. The state’s privacy statute includes as an “invasion of privacy” the “use, for advertising purpose or for purposes of trade, […]
