Harassment

An effective policy should define prohibited conduct broadly, cover all protected characteristics, provide multiple reporting channels, prohibit retaliation, describe the investigation process, and state that violations will result in disciplinary action up to termination.

Prevention strategies include regular training for all employees and managers, clear reporting mechanisms, prompt and thorough investigation of complaints, consistent enforcement of anti-harassment policies, and leadership commitment to a respectful workplace culture.

Employers are automatically liable for supervisor harassment resulting in tangible employment action. For hostile environment harassment, employers can raise the Faragher-Ellerth affirmative defense by showing they maintained reasonable prevention and correction measures and the employee failed to use them.

Senior executive complaints require special handling—typically involving outside investigators to ensure independence, board or audit committee oversight, enhanced confidentiality protocols, and careful consideration of interim measures to protect the complainant and the investigation process.

Fair use is a defense that permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission. Courts consider four factors: the purpose and character of use (commercial vs. educational, transformative vs. copying), the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount used, and the effect on the market. Fair use is highly fact-specific.

For works created today by individual authors, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Works made for hire and anonymous/pseudonymous works are protected for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Older works may have different terms.

Yes, software code is protected by copyright as a literary work. Both source code and object code can be registered. However, copyright protects the expression of ideas, not the underlying functionality—patent protection may be more appropriate for novel methods and processes implemented in software.

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