Ipse Dixit

By CC0/Public DomainSociety & Culture Philosophy

Ipse Dixit episodes

March 19, 2019 Christopher Odinet on Mortgage Servicing and the Financial Crisis
In this episode, Christopher Odinet, Associate Professor of Law and Affiliate Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, discusses his new book, "Foreclosed: Mortgage Servicing and the Hidden Architecture of Homeownership in America," which is published by Cambridge University Press. Odinet begins by describing how the mortgage industry worked before the financial crisis, and the origin of mortgage servicing companies. He explains how securitization of mortgages and the reliance on mortgage servicing companies made the financial crisis worse and hurt many homeowners. He reflects on regulatory changes made in response to the crisis, especially Dodd-Frank and the CFPB. But he argues that more changes are needed to protect against inevitable future crises. Odinet is on Twitter at @ChrisOdinet.
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48 min
March 18, 2019 From the Archives 73: Eldred v. Ashcroft Oral Argument (2003)
This is the oral argument from Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003). Here is the summary from Oyez:
Facts of the caseUnder the Copyright and Patent Clause of the Constitution, Article 1, section 8, "Congress shall have Power...to promote the Progress of Science...by securing [to Authors] for limited Times...the exclusive Right to their...Writings." In the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), Congress enlarged the duration of copyrights by 20 years, making copyrights now run from creation until 70 years after the author's death. Petitioners, whose products or services build on copyrighted works that have entered the public domain, argued that the CTEA violates both the Copyright Clause's "limited Times" prescription and the First Amendment's free speech guarantee. They claimed Congress cannot extend the copyright term for published works with existing copyrights. The District Court and the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed.QuestionDoes the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act's extension of existing copyrights exceed Congress's power under the Copyright Clause? Does the CTEA's extension of existing and future copyrights violate the First Amendment?ConclusionNo and no. In a 7-2 opinion delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court held that Congress acted within its authority and did not transgress constitutional limitations in placing existing and future copyrights in parity in the CTEA. Disagreeing with the argument that a copyright once set is fixed, the majority found that the CTEA "continues the unbroken congressional practice of treating future and existing copyrights in parity for term extension purposes," and is a permissible exercise of Congress's power under the Copyright Clause. Moreover, the Court held that the CTEA's extension of existing and future copyrights does not violate the First Amendment. Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen G. Breyer dissented, arguing that the CTEA amounted to a grant of perpetual copyright that undermined public interests.
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59 min
March 15, 2019 Will Slauter on the History of Copyright in the News
In this episode, Will Slauter, Associate Professor at Université Paris Diderot, discusses his new book, "Who Owns the News?: A History of Copyright," which is published by Stanford University Press. Slauter begins by explaining that the question, "Who owns the news?" has had different answers at different points in time. He describes the history of the news, beginning in 16th century England, and continuing through the present day, explaining how the it has taken different forms at different points in time. He reflects on the way that regulation, social technologies, and economics have shaped the news and concepts of ownership. He uses particular moments in the history of the news to illustrate those changes. And he argues that the history of the news can help us understand the history of copyright more richly and clearly. Slauter is on Twitter at @w758.
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55 min
March 15, 2019 Katherine Macfarlane on Accommodating Disabilities in Law School and Practice
In this episode, Katherine Macfarlane, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Idaho College of Law, discusses her work on how disabilities affect law students and lawyers, and how we can better accommodate people with disabilities. She begins by explaining the legal obligations that law schools and law firms have to accommodate people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She describes the different kinds of disabilities that may affect law students and the kinds of accommodations that they may need and deserve. She reflects on her own experiences requesting accommodations for her disability as a law student, lawyer, and law professor. And she provides some thoughts on how law schools and law professors can better accommodate students with disabilities. Macfarlane is on Twitter at @KatAMacfarlane.
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39 min
March 14, 2019 Stephanie Hoffer on Disability and Medicaid Reform
In this episode, Stephanie Hoffer, Professor of Law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, discusses her article "Making the Law More ABLE: Reforming Medicaid for Disability," which was published in the Ohio State Law Journal. Hoffer begins by describing how the ADA requires the federal and state governments to provide financial assistance to people with disabilities, and how that assistance is provided through Medicaid. She explains how Medicaid's income and asset restrictions both impose burdens on people with disabilities and their families, and create perverse incentives. Among other things, they limit the ability of people with disabilities to work and the ability of their families to provide financial assistance. She recognizes that the ABLE act helped reduce the problem somewhat, by enabling people with disabilities to save and their families to help them. But she argues that the government should do more, by eliminating income restrictions, and explains why that would provide more equitable treatment at a similar or even lower cost. Hoffer is on Twitter at @ProfHoffer.
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45 min
March 14, 2019 From the Archives 72: Mr. District Attorney Solves "The Case of the Money Machine" (1951)
On April 11, 1951, NBC radio broadcast "Mr. District Attorney Solves 'The Case of the Money Machine.'" Here are the liner notes:
5256. Mr. District Attorney. April 11, 1951. NBC net. "The Case Of The Money Machine". Sponsored by: Vitalis, Sal Hepatica, Bufferin. A former worker in a mental hospital breaks in and steals one of the inmates who happens to be a mathematical genius. An act in the carnival is set up for the madman. The first "Honorary Mr. D.A." is named. Transcriptions of this program, marked "as broadcast" have been found dated November 16, 1953. Robert Shaw (writer), Jay Jostyn, Len Doyle, Vicki Vola, Fred Uttal (announcer), Phillips H. Lord (creator), Charles Paul (music), John Gibson, Robert Shaw (writer), Edward A. Byron (producer, director). 29:54. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Complete.
Notably, the "district attorney" in question is curiously closely involved in the apprehension of the suspects, and does not appear to be engaged in any actual legal work. One fears that this program may have given audiences a somewhat inaccurate idea of the responsibilities of a district attorney.
In 1972, the Radiola Company of Croton-on-Hudson, NY re-released the program as the A-side of an LP.
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30 min
March 13, 2019 Peter Karol on Conceptual Art Certificates
In this episode, Peter Karol, Professor of Law at New England Law Boston, discusses his article "Permissive Certificates: Collectors of Art as Collectors of Permissions," which will appear in the Washington Law Review. Karol begins by describing certificates of authenticity and how they are used in the art market. Then he explains what conceptual art is and how conceptual artists use certificates differently than other artists. He provides several examples of disputes relating to conceptual art and certificates, and why the present difficult questions of both copyright and trademark law. He closes by asking how we should think about conceptual art certificates in relation to copyright and trademark doctrine. Karol's scholarship is available on SSRN.
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42 min
March 13, 2019 Jeremy Sheff on Jefferson's Taper and the Classical Tradition
In this episode, Jeremy Sheff, Professor of Law and Director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at St. John's University School of Law, discusses his article "Jefferson's Taper." Sheff begins by describing Thomas Jefferson's "Parable of the Taper," found in a letter to Isaac McPherson, in which Jefferson argues that there is no natural right of property in inventions, which are a fire than can be spread from one person to another, without dimming the source. This parable has figured prominently in contemporary debates between utilitarian and Lockean theories of the justification for patents, with utilitarians seeking endorsement in the parable, and Lockeans rejecting it. Sheff argues that Jefferson was actually paraphrasing Cicero's iconic work "De Officiis," and drawing on a very different Classical tradition of natural law. Not only does this perspective help us better understand what Jefferson actually meant, but also it may a provide helpful new perspective on the contemporary debate. Sheff is on Twitter at @jnsheff.
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49 min
March 13, 2019 From the Archives 71: Ad Council, How High is your E.Q.? (1977)
In 1977, the Department of Commerce and the Advertising Council published a booklet titled "The American Economic System...and Your Part In It," which was distributed for free to anyone who wanted a copy. The booklet is available here. Naturally, the Ad Council also prepared a massive advertising campaign for the economics education program, which the New York Times described here. I found this quotation from the launch party quite amusing:
Another supporter of the free enterprise system, Mayo J. Thompson, a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, was on the program this morning. And he quickly won the hearts of his listeners by attacking in a fine Texas drawl the Eastern lawyers who were on the F.T.C. staff. Speaking of that staff he said, “I think that the dominant attitude is that capitalism is not quite as respectable as it ought to be . . . the suspicion lingers that the whole business of making profits is morally tainted.”Mr. Thompson, now a partner in the law firm of Akin, Gump, Stauss, Hauer & Feld, portrayed the staff as being made up of people overwhelmed by the belief of truth in advertising. The former commissioner, however, believes in the “harmless untruth.”“Common sense tells nonlawyers that, unless a false and deceptive advertisement results in a dollar loss to the consumers, no harm has been done and the whole matter should be dumped in the nearest round file,” he said.Maintaining also that advertising within certain bounds should also be given freedom of speech protection of the First Amendment he said: “if politicians and journalists were held to the F.T.C.'s absolute truth standards, for example, the presses would grind to a halt in a matter of hours and the airways would fall silent in a flash of blue smoke.”For that he received his loudest round of applause.
In any case, the Ad Council also published this 7" record titled "How High is Your E.Q.?," with an assortment of PSAs for the booklet. I especially like the "attorney" and "professor" ones.
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8 min
March 11, 2019 From the Archives 70: Jerry Springer, Save the Terminal/Faded Photos (1973)
In 1973, while he was a member of Cincinnati City Council, Jerry Springer recorded this 45 single, advocating to preserve the Cincinnati Union Terminal. The terminal was built in 1933, but train service to the terminal ended in 1973. Nevertheless, Union Terminal was the model for the Justice League's Hall of Justice in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Super Friends." The City Council voted the terminal a historic landmark, but Southern Railway tore down the concourse in 1974.
Springer recorded these two tracks "Save the Terminal" and "Faded Photos (Just Won't Do)." "Save the Terminal" was written by S. Flaharty, T. West, and J. Eliot. "Faded Photos (Just Won't Do)" was written by S. O'Shea and S. Flaharty.
Springer resigned in 1974, after admitting to hiring a prostitute, but was later re-elected. Eventually, he moved into journalist, and abandoned his political career.
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7 min

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Ipse Dixit is a podcast on legal scholarship. Each episode of Ipse Dixit features a different guest discussing their scholarship. The podcast also features several special series.