Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio signed a book contract with Edwar Elgar Publishing.  Professor Sterio will write a book entitled “Secession in International Law: A New Framework.”  The anticipated publication date will be the fall of 2017.

C|M|LAW Associate Professor and Associate Dean Mark J. Sundahl has published an article regarding secured transactions in ancient Athens as part of Symposion 2013, a book published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences collecting the papers presented at the 19th Symposium of the International Society for Greek and Hellenistic Legal History which took place in August 2013 at Harvard University.   This biennial symposium gathers the leading thinkers in the field of ancient Greek law to discuss their papers in closed sessions over four days.   Dean Sundahl’s article “Secured Credit in Athens: Reopening the Debate” applies modern secured credit theories to arrive at a new interpretation of the evidence regarding the nature of secured credit transactions in Athens in the 4^th century B.C.

C|M|LAW Associate Professor and Associate Dean Mark J. Sundahl recently attended the meeting of the United Nations’ Scientific and Technical Subcommittee to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in Vienna as an advisor to the U.S. delegation and gave a presentation on February 4^th before the subcommittee.  The purpose of the presentation (given jointly with Mike Gold, an executive at Bigelow Aerospace) was to encourage other countries to adopt the U.S. practice of inviting industry input during the formation of new regulations regarding space activity.

Professor Candice Hoke, along with six prominent scholars and experts in cyber security and copyright law, filed a comment with the United States Copyright Office on February 6,  regarding a proposed exemption under 17 U.S.C. Section 1201 or Software Security Research (Class 25). According to the Comment, “[a]n exemption for software security research is essential to promote the active research and testing efforts necessary to keep pace with evolving cybersecurity risks.”  The text of the Comment is available here: 1201_comments_–_security_research

Associate Dean Mark Sundahl

Associate Dean Mark Sundahl has published a chapter on Financing Space Projects in the newly released Handbook on Space Law published by Edward Elgar Publishing.  The Handbook addresses the legal and regulatory aspects of activities in outer space and major space applications from a comprehensive and structured perspective. It discusses the dichotomy between the state-oriented character of international space law and the increasing commercialization and privatization of space activities.  More information about the book is available here.

The Supreme Court of Canada recently recognized a constitutional right to strike.  In its decision, the Supreme Court of Canada cited an article written by Eric Tucker, Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University (Canada) and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (co-authored with Professor Judy Fudge), entitled “The Freedom to Strike in Canada: A Brief Legal History” (2009-2010), 15 C.L.E.L.J. 333.  The Supreme Court opinion is available here:  Sask_Labour_en

Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich was interviewed on Channel 5 News, for a segment regarding the use of police body cameras which will be broadcast on January 30.  An article based on the same interview is available here (Legal expert says police departments need policies about governing body camera use; retaining video).

C|M|LAW’s Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law, Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, was quoted in an article, Opposition Mounts vs. Medina County pipeline, by Dan Shingler, on page 4 of last week’s Crain’s Cleveland Business.  Shingler’s article quotes a blog post Robertson wrote for Crain’s Energy Report, The fight over a proposed pipeline route in Medina will be a test of the system, available here.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, organized and wrote an amicus brief on behalf of himself and twenty-five other prominent professors of antitrust and sports law, supporting the plaintiffs in O’Bannon v. NCAA. In that case, a plaintiff class of student athletes won Sherman Act injunction against NCAA rules precluding them from sharing in certain licensing revenues.  The brief supports plaintiffs in the NCAA’s appeal before the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the trial court adequately explained a finding of liability under the so-called “rule of reason” standard.

O’Bannon, a much discussed and controversial case, is important both because it represents a potentially ground-breaking development in student athletes’ long effort to share in some part of the several billion dollars in revenue they help generate each year, and also on technical grounds, because it was the almost unheard-of rule-of-reason case reaching plaintiff victory on the full merits.  On appeal, the Ninth Circuit could make significant new law.

In addition to Sagers, twenty-five other scholars of antitrust and sports law signed, including professors from Harvard, NYU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, U.C. Irvine, the University of Florida, the University of Texas, and Wisconsin.

The brief is available here:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2557234