This paper uses a new time series dataset of shareholder protection consisting of 60 annual legal indicators for the period 1970-2005 for France, Germany, the UK and the US. On the basis of these data it examines developments in shareholder protection and reassesses the claims that common-law countries have better shareholder protection than civil law countries. Furthermore it examines the rela...

This article discusses legal and economic rationale in regards to open source software protection. Software programs are, under TRIPS1, protected by copyright (reference is made to the Berne Convention2). The issue with this protection is that, due to the dichotomy idea/expression that is typical for copyright protection, reverse engineering of software is not excluded, and copyright is hence f...

Given the importance of sound advice in retail financial markets and the fact that financial institutions outsource their advice services, what legal rules maximize social welfare in the market? We address this question by posing a theoretical model of retail markets in which a firm and a broker face a bilateral hidden action problem when they service clients in the market. All participants in ...

It became evident by the mid-1970s that intellectual work embodied in new technologies-in particular, computer software-did not fit neatly within the traditional forms of legal protection for intellectual property.' Because of the complexity of these issues, Congress created the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) for the purpose of recommending a national...

Traditional religious knowledge widely incorporates traditional religious expressions and other forms of traditional knowledge, such as ecological knowledge, medicinal knowledge, elements of languages, and so on. Traditional religious knowledge is a subset of cultural heritage, of which the inheritance and spread have attracted considerable attention from the global society. A series of interna...

The legal competency or capability to exercise rights is level of judgment and decision-making ability needed to manage one's own affairs and to sign official documents. With some exceptions, the person entitles this right in age of majority. It is acquired without legal procedures, however the annulment of legal capacity requires a juristic process. This resolution may not be final and could b...

The paper studies the legal protection of databases and especially the European database sui generis right from the mobile business perspective. First, we discuss about arguments in favor and against legal protection with respect to current databases. Next, we describe the future model of mobile peer-to-peer databases. Finally, we analyze how the database right suits to the future databases and...

the contract of marriage is the most important contract which a person may conclude during his or her life. as women are vulnerable and their commitment to the marriage is very tight, iranian legislator should protect women on the conclusion of marriage contracts in three stages; before age of puberty by prohibiting any marriage, after age of puberty but before attaining majority by judicial su...