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Dealing With Mortgages During Your Filing For Bankruptcy
Negotiating the bankruptcy minefield can be hazardous, and it is always possible to make the wrong decision, from filing for the incorrect chapter to missing a deadline. It is really worth hiring a qualified and experienced bankruptcy lawyer to deal with things. So that you can increase your chances of filing for bankruptcy successfully and make a new start in your life.You can discharge your mortgage in a bankruptcy while still keeping your home. The process is known as lien stripping. In most states, you cannot strip a first mortgage on your home. However, if you have a second or third mortgage on your house, and they are completely unsecured, you can make a proposal to the court to have those liens basically treated as unsecured and wiped out.
This can only be done through filing for Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Let’s take an example of this. If you have a house worth $300,000, with a first mortgage of $350,000 and a second mortgage of $50,000, based on those numbers, you can strip the second lien $50,000, or the second mortgage, because it is completely unsecured.
In this case, the first mortgage basically encompasses the whole value of the house. And the second mortgage or the second lien, is not attached to anything; it is unsecured and you can have that discharged.
Secured debt is a creditor’s claim that is secured by a lien of some type in your property, either by your agreement or disagreement. For example, a mortgage is a secured claim or a finance agreement for an automobile.
If you do not continue making payments, the creditor could take back the property. A creditor can generally claim the property that secures the debt in the event of bankruptcy. Unsecured debt is not tied to any specific kind of property; it can be money owed on a credit card, for example.
Defining Copyright
Copyright can seem complicated and yet is so important to understand so that one doesn't infringe on another's rights.By definition, copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. These rights can be licensed, transferred and/or assigned. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to a wide range of works that are substantive and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work.
Copyright is literally, the right to copy, though in legal terms "the right to control copying" is more accurate. The term copyright means one has exclusive statutory rights to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time. The copyright owner is given two sets of rights: an exclusive, positive right to copy and exploit the copyrighted work, or license others to do so, and a negative right to prevent anyone else from doing so without consent, with the possibility of legal remedies if they do.
When one wanted a copyright, it initially meant they were granted the exclusive right to copy a book or made allowances for anybody to use the book for various purposes such as making a translation, adaptation or public performance. At the time print on paper was the only format in which most text based copyrighted works were distributed.
The type of works, which were subject to copyright, expanded over time. Initially copyright only covered books. Then copyright law was revised in the 19th century to include maps, charts, engravings, prints, musical compositions, dramatic works, photographs, paintings, drawings and sculptures. Developments in technology again added to these and now include motion pictures, computer programs, sound recordings, Choreography and architectural works.
The purpose of copyright primarily has its basis in commerce but it is also for the sake of controlling one's creations. Under the Berne copyright convention, which almost all major nations have signed, every creative work is copyrighted the moment it is fixed in tangible form. No notice is necessary, though it helps legal cases. No registration is necessary, though it's needed later to sue. The copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies. Facts and ideas can't be copyrighted, only expressions of creative effort.
Copyright law is different from country to country, and a copyright notice is required in about 20 countries for a work to be protected under copyright. Before 1989 all published works in the US had to contain a copyright notice, the (c) symbol followed by the publication date and copyright owner's name, to be protected by copyright. This is no longer the case and use of a copyright notice is now optional in the US, though they are still used.
Having a copyright on your work is not a complicated process, just one that requires a little research and knowledge.
Guide To Choose A Good Car Accident Lawyer
The last thing one could wish while driving his car is to face a car accident. But if one is unfortunate enough to meet with a car accident then consequences are to be faced with a strong heart and clear conscience. Accidents are not desirable at any point of time in one's life yet if met with one, one needs to be practical and gather up one's wits to deal with it. If you have met with an accident then do not delay consulting a car accident lawyer for the sake of right decision making. Consulting a car accident lawyer doesn't depend on the magnitude of the damage caused.These days you can hunt down lawyers on the internet at the sheer click of the mouse. But come to think of it, which one would be the best for you? The basic criterion to qualify as a good lawyer is to be patient enough to hear about your case and not think of ploys to extract money out of you while you explain the case to him. Here are few things that you need to keep in mind while on the lookout for a good car accident lawyer:
Your lawyer should have adequate experience in the field of car accident cases to understand the situation and deal with it better. Remember, an experienced soldier can win a lost battle all the way through. Clarify the fact whether he has proficient knowledge of fighting cases under the California state of law. It is best to get a locally based lawyer, who can to deal with the case with a fairer understanding of the California car accident laws.
Carefully browse through the lawyer's website before thinking of consulting him. Read through his testimonials to get a fair idea of the way he deals. Knowing about his professional background will help you to decide to hire him or not. If you are convinced then it will help to have faith in him.
Look for a free initial consultation before you decide to go ahead with the case. An initial consultation can be pretty helpful in making your decision. Do not forget that a wrong legal decision can land you in hell and ruin all that you have in no time at all.
How to republish Public Domain works?
Public Domain has been one of the most popular topics for infopreneurs or widely known as entrepreneurs, questions such as how to republish Public domain works are frequently asked to gain more income. Indeed, one can gain money just from being resourceful in using the contents of public domain and that is exactly what are we going to learn from this article.Republishing a work coming from Public domain is not that difficult, soon as you learn what your next action is you can have a 100% legal prevention from anyone stealing your work that also comes from the public domain. You need to understand that republishing something should not be 100 percent identical to the original one. In other words, what is likely to happen is that you personalize the work coming from the public domain to look like exactly what you want it to be. Say for example in a work that originally comes from a "paper and ink", changing the cover page into more of your personality or perhaps what-you-think-the-topic-should-be will be helpful to accentuate your own characteristics. It could also be significantly good if you could do something about the format of the text, paraphrasing some words to avoid plagiarism, changing some of its content as long as the idea is there is extravagantly wonderful in helping you republish your work coming from the public domain.
Of course, when you do this, it is given that the alterations that have been done can possibly be copyrighted by no other than you. Though the original text is in the public domain, the benefit that you can have is still the same just like anyone who wants to copyright their works.
Now there is some good question being frequently asked by lots of people, " Should I apply for putting copyright law on my work?" The answer will be one has used to register for putting copyright protection in their works. But after 1978, that is no longer the case. Now all you have to do is let people know that your work is copyrighted by you. It not a technical requirement for now in order to publish and republish some works to be published in the public domain. Because technically speaking as for now, registering one's work for copyright protection is optional. For those people who in not satisfied unless they put extra protection on their works then the copyright notice is always there to hand you their service.
Idiot's guide to Public domain
Works that are ineligible for copyright protection or with expired copyrights is the main concern of Public domain. When you consume in this section, you will not need to ask permissions just for the usage of a certain material. Oftentimes, teachers, faculty and students rely so much in the contents of Public domain for the gain of knowledge in academic institutions. However, they are not just the only one who can used the public domain but rather it is open for almost anyone for self- satisfaction. Since public domain works can served as the foundation for new creative works and can be used extensively, it can also be copied and distributed without paying any thing afterwards. So there's no need to feel scared, because you're secured in the Public domain.There are four major ways that works in the public domain, and these are the following:
failure to renew copyright: the owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules.
expiration of copyright: the copyright has expired.
no copyright protection available: copyright law does not protect this type of work.
dedication: the owner deliberately places it in the public domain.
a. The Renewal threat-because the copyright was not timely renewed in effect at that time under the law, hundreds to thousands of public domain works published before 1964 fell into the public domain in the United States. Because no renewal meant a loss of copyright. So if a work was first published before 1964, the owner had to file a renewal in the copyright office during the 28th year after the publication.
b. When there's Expired Copyright- those works published before 1923, belongs to the public domain as the copyright protection of those derivative works are now expired. So if a certain work was published in the U.S. before January 01,1923, anyone is free to use it without any permission.
c. Copyright Does Not Protect Certain Works- copyrights doesn't cover certain things such as facts, ideas or theories, because these things are free for all to use without permission. Copyright laws will not protect book titles, movies titles, or phrases and quotes.
d. Dedicated Works-if you can see words such as "this work is dedicated to the public domain", then it is free for you to use. There are some cases that an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work and just dedicates the work to the public. This type of dedication is rare these days. An additional concern is whether the person making the dedication has the right to do so. But only the copyright owner can dedicate a work to the public. Sometimes, the creator of the work is not the copyright owner and does not have authority to do so though.
Keep in mind that the copyright protection always expires at the end of the calendar year of the year it has supposed to expire. In other words, the last day of the copyright protection for any work is December 31. Please follow the resource box below for more details.
Don't be Fooled by the Lack of a Copyright Notice
We are all familiar with copyright notices. They appear on web sites, compact discs, books, virtually everything that is protected by copyright laws.They usually contain the letter "c" inside of a circle with wording such as "All Rights Reserved" following. Even though most everyone is familiar with these notices, there is a great deal of confusion about the purpose of a copyright notice and what the failure to include such a notice may mean to the author of a work. Much of this confusion arises from a relatively recent change in United States Copyright Law.
Under past United States Copyright Law, it was necessary to place the copyright notice on every item containing a protected work. Failure to include a copyright notice on a substantial number of published items could lead to loss of copyright protection. In effect, the work would lapse into the public domain because the failure to include a copyright notice was deemed to be a waiver of copyright protection. About 15 years ago, the United States amended the copyright laws to come into conformance with the Berne Convention on International Copyrights and the laws of many foreign countries. The end result is that failure to include a copyright notice on a published work does not any longer lead to loss of copyright protection.
Even with this change of law, there are still very good reasons to include a copyright notice when you publish a work of original authorship. including the notice asserts to the world that the work is yours and that you intend to enforce your rights. It also helps guard against a defense of innocent infringement or an arguement that the infringement was not intentional. Under the copyright laws, intentional infringement results in much higher statutory penalties.
The end result of this change in law is that it is no longer safe to assume that a work that does not include a copyright notice is not protected under the copyright laws. The copyright laws protect all original works of authorship regardless of whether they contain copyright notices or have been registered with the copyright office. There can be differences in the level of damages available if a notice is not included or a registration has not been affected. Still, misappropriation of a work of original work of authorship is still considered copyright infringements and damages would be recoverable against hte misappropriating party.
Given this fact, it is wise to assume that everything you run across on the Internet is copyright protected. You should refrain from publishing or using these items unless you obtain a license from the author. If you cannot find out who the author is so not assume that they are not out there and will not come after you if you use their material. The inconvenience and potential legal liability are too substantial and could have huge adverse impacts on your business.
The Cheapest Auto Insurance for teenagers
It’s common fact that car insurance for teenagers doesn’t come cheap. Getting behind the wheel without any real driving experience means you’re a risk for insurance companies. You could be the best driver in the world but if you’re just starting to drive you will be viewed as a high risk fair or not. Because of this high risk factor the insurance rates are going to be higher in comparison to more experienced drivers but there are some factors that can help you keeping the cost down. This article will explain some options hopefully you can apply some of them to get cheaper car insurance rates!The Cheapest Car Insurance for Young Drivers
Any parent or guardian would love to take the opportunity to explain to an auto insurance company how well behaved or good mannered their child is in the hopes the insurer will be persuaded to lower the high cost of insuring the young driver. The policyholders of these soon-to-be policy members desperately search for ways to cut back on the cost to insure young drivers because it is so expensive and raises rates tremendously. Unfortunately there is not an insurance company that offers a flat cheap rate for young drivers. There are legit reasons why auto insurance companies feel the need to provide auto insurance to this group of drivers for such high prices, but there are also ways a policyholder can get discounts on the premium for their teenaged driver.
Most discounts that can be applied towards the rates of insuring a young driver are based upon the youngster’s actions in life. The more responsible the young driver appears to be in other parts of life, the more likely this person is going to be responsible as a driver on the public roads. Any time a driver appears more responsible, the cheaper the rates will be to insure this driver. Check with your auto insurance company for the availability of these discounts and the prerequisites your young driver must meet before they are considered. Below, we will discuss some of the possible discounts you could receive through the responsibility demonstrated by your teen.
The first discount we’ll discuss is the good grades discount. It’s pretty self explanatory; by your young driver earning good grades, the auto insurance company rewards the driver (and the policyholder) by giving a discount on the insurance rate. A student who focuses on school and is able to meet a certain grade point average, which is usually a B average or higher, that student is showing a higher level of responsibility than a student with a D or C grade point average. It is also thought that students who achieve a high grade point average do better under the pressure of stressful situations. Scoring high on an exam and keeping good grades is stressful, much like the stress that is felt while driving on the roads and successfully assessing situations to avoid accidents.
A second discount is offered by most auto insurance companies when the young (or experienced) driver enrolls in and passes a defensive driving course. This course teaches drivers skills needed to drive cautiously, while helping students learn how to avoid accidents. While driver’s education provides information regarding traffic laws and how to obey them, these defensive driving courses may teach additional information to any driver regarding extra safer techniques that can be applied when driving. They can teach further concerning the rule of constantly using the vehicle’s mirrors and focus on how to use what you see in the mirrors to anticipate what other drivers are going to be doing. Taking these courses designed to promote safety while driving is another way of showing responsibility by wanting to know more about save driving and using it every day on the road.
Other ways to save on insuring a young driver revolve around the vehicle that will be used by the teenager. While purchasing a brand new vehicle may provide comfort to the parent, it will also bring higher insurance rates to the parent or policyholder as well. Newer vehicles tend to have a higher cash value than older vehicles, therefore they cost more to repair or replace. Teenagers have a history of wrecking cars partially or completely, and insurers know this and act accordingly. There are save cars available for these new drivers that are only a few years old. These vehicles will not cost as much to insure, especially if they are equipped with safety features such as airbags and alarms.
In addition to the year the vehicle was made, the make and model of the vehicle also play a factor in determining the insurance rates for your teenage driver. It is common sense that sports cars that can go fast will be driven fast, especially by teenagers who lack in thinking of consequences before they act. Because teenagers lack real driving experience, they are more likely to ignore speed limits when behind the wheel of a fast car. This is another thing that insurance companies have dealt with in the past and try to avoid by hiking up the price to insure these vehicles to young drivers. Choosing a car for your teenager that is modest and save will keep the insurance rates low. If you become really worried, talk to your insurance agent about the vehicles you are considering allowing your young driver to use and ask what the price differences would be.
Keeping an open line of communication with your young driver is also a way to keep your insurance rates low. Discussing your expectations of save driving and making clear what the consequences are if the rules are not followed may encourage your teenager to do their best to keep their driving privilege. A contract between the new driver and the policyholder may define the rules and punishments more clearly as both parties involved sign it. The contract may include things such as expected curfews and paying for gas. Cell phones should not be used while driving, and discuss whether or not friends are permitted in the car while driving. Another option is to have the teen pay for their portion of the insurance premium.
Some states only allow young drivers to be on the road from dawn until dusk, while others enforce a Provisionary License for the first one to two years of driving. The consequences of breaking traffic laws during this provisionary period are usually more severe. Parents may find it beneficial to mimic these rules with their young drivers as well, reinforcing that driving is always a privilege for them and not something that should be taken for granted.
While it is expensive to insure a young driver, it is necessary to do so. Driving teaches a teenager responsibility and helps introduce them to adulthood. If done correctly, the teen can learn valuable lessons about rules and consequences that will allow them to mature. Look for the discounts offered by your insurance company to help keep this experience as cheap as possible.
Significance Of Hospitality Tourism For A Country's Economy
Tours and trips have become an important part of our lives these days. We all like spending some free time with our family and friends. This is one of the main reasons why hospitality/tourism industry is growing in almost all the countries. Hospitality tourism sector is important as it generates business for several government and non-government organizations.The growth of hospitality and tourism industry offers several opportunities to small operators and communities. This is why, various developing as well as developed countries all around the world are promoting hospitality tourism.
How hospitality tourism affects a country's growth?
Develops trade business - Most tourists buy different local products and take them back to their homes. This includes direct as well as direct foreign investment which plays an important role in trade development of the country.
More employment - With the growth of hospitality/tourism industry, more employment is generated in a country. Several employment opportunities are offered by tourism industry. These employment opportunities are related to different sectors that are related to hospitality and tourism industry.
Infrastructure development - Most of the developing countries construct new highways, airports, hotels, lodges, restaurants, guesthouses and trekking routes to improve their hospitality tourism sector. These new developments are very important to attract more number of tourists.
Cultural development - Apart from above mentioned development, tourists are known for being an important way to exchange culture and values. Hospitality tourism industry helps the local people to learn more about the different lifestyles and religions.
Generates revenue - Hospitality tourism industry in any country helps in generating more income for the locals. Tourists pay different taxes to the government which helps the country to develop. Tourists also help the local traders to earn extra revenue and profits by shopping.
Notary Public – A Certified Official
A notary public is a public servant chosen at state level as neutral witness for certifying documents. Notary public or a Notary usually manages oaths and affirmations, take affidavits, statutory declarations, acknowledgments of deeds and other conveyances, witness and authenticating documents, prepare marine protests in case of damages, protests notes and bills of exchange, provides notice of foreign drafts, provides exemplifications and notarial copies, and performs certain other official acts depending on the jurisdiction. Basically a public notary is a public officer who is constituted by law to provide non-contentious matters generally concerned with deeds, powers-of-attorney, estates, and international business.A notary public is a person who witnesses the signature of certain papers, makes sure the signers are who they say they are, and administers oaths if needed. The qualifications for becoming a notary vary from state to state although the basics remain the same. Notaries are selected by a government authority, such as a court or lieutenant governor, or by a regulating body often known as a Society or Faculty of Notaries Public. For a notary-at-law, an appointment is usually for life, but lay notaries are made to order for a briefer term with the possibility of renewal.
For the purposes of confirmation, most countries need commercial or personal papers which originate from or are signed in another country to be notarized before they can be used or officially recorded or before they can have any legal effect. Notary affixes a notarial official document which attests the execution of the document, usually by the person who appears before the notary, known as an entrepreneur or constituent.
Requirement for notary public continues to grow each year, as they assist in variety of fields including: real assets, insurance, banking, law, etc.
Common Law Capers
The firm Lawfully and its principal Gibson Owen are well able to advise you on any new trademarks to ensure that a search is carried out to minimise disappointment, subsequent rejection and disputes. Where a client has built up a reputation and goodwill in a trademark or trade name without registration then he must at some time address the question of registration.Up until registration, his trademark would be called a common law mark and he runs the risk of finding after many years of business that there is a prior registration of a similar name in a similar class of goods. He may find that there is a similar name which has been in the market place unregistered but with a commencement date prior to that of the client's first usage.
Upon addressing the matter of registration the client is confronted by having to carry out searches to establish what identical, similar or deceptively similar marks are on the Trademark Register or in the market place with a priority date well before the client's first stated usage.
Common law rights are those rights you can enforce by an action without primary reliance on statute law.
The Designs Act, Patents Act and Trademarks Act all give you statutory rights as an incidence of registration of your trademark or invention. Valuable enforcement rights will arise as an incidence of such registration.
Having developed a reputation, goodwill and a significant capital value attaching to the unregistered trademark, the owner must then contemplate the fact that there may be prior registrations that are similar or deceptively similar or where another business, perhaps an opposition business, has been using their mark to develop goodwill and reputation predating that of the client's first usage.
Where a contest develops over who has the prior right to the name, there is a real prospect that the client would not only lose the contest but lose significant capital such as the removal of its name, the loss of its profits for the period of conflict and the obligation to start again with a new name, which in turn can amount to losses of immense amounts of capital.
The ownership of a common law trade name is an excellent example of playing Russian Roulette with the company's capital.
Where a company proceeds to adopt and assume a trademark that is unregistered there is a very real likelihood that it will be tempted to describe attributes of its product or service in that name. An excellent example would be the name Bankstown Smash Repairs. It is not appropriate to identify a geographic region in a name and it is not appropriate to identify the product or service in the name.
Very often the names that are chosen are names that are generic or inappropriate and should remain available to all of those who compete in that industry. An example of such words is 'smash repairs'.
It is always best to invent a name which has nothing to do with the product or its attributes. It is usually too late to warn a client on these factors when they have developed goodwill and reputation at common law.
Where you have given the right of exclusive use of your trademark to a licensee then usually you will have given that licensee the right to protect the intellectual property against invaders and trespassers.
It is possible that the exclusive licensee is not interested in protecting the reputation attaching to the trademark property, but as the registered proprietor you may feel you must protect the integrity of your trademark and you can do so provided you have reserved those enforcement rights during the preparation of that licence. The need to take action can arise during the course of the license or after its termination.
There could be many commercial reasons why a licensee does not want to spend funds on fighting invaders and trespassers and it may fall to you to defend the integrity and reputation of the trademark.
If you have failed to draft the license correctly in not reserving to yourself the right to supervise the quality of the licensee's products with regularity then you will have difficulty in protecting that integrity and reputation.
Not only must you reserve to yourself the right to supervise quality but also you must exercise that right and not appear to abandon it by failure to supervise for lengthy periods or failure to supervise regularly.
In addition a licensee may feel that when the exclusive license lapses he has adequate momentum in his product and reputation not to bother with a renewal of the exclusive license.
Where there has been a failure by the Licensee to renew the license, the registered proprietor must ensure that the reputation and goodwill attaching to a trademark have expressly re-vested in him as the registered proprietor.
Whilst these requirements seem to be only incidental to the main business of granting rights to a licensee and receiving royalties from him it is obvious that the mark could be seriously imperiled unless the above two factors are treated with detailed attention in the license document.
Continuing use and development of reputation and goodwill in an unregistrable mark can eventually allow its registration. The unregistrable mark can become known in the eyes of the market or the public as one that distinguishes the owner's goods and/or services from those of his competitors. Upon such proof being established, which carries a very heavy burden to discharge, such an offending mark can be applied for and may be approved for registration.
It is far better to take advice before commencement of use of a mark so as to ensure it does not offend against other marks and therefore attract lawsuits and opposition to registration. It is possible to offend against another mark registered or unregistered by direct conflict or by using a mark that is deceptively similar to another mark.
Any interloper or trespasser will be easily put to heel if he is offending against a registered mark in the same or similar classification for goods.
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