• Allow courts to make digital recordings of hearing available through PACER with permission from the presiding judge.
  
• Adjust the fee schedule so users aren't billed unless their usage reaches $10 per quarterly billing cycle.
  
• Approve a pilot project for some federal and district bankruptcy court opinions to be published online at FDSys, the Government Printing Office's new online database.

If you don't have access to PACER, you can find more information about it here. You can also access PACER free if you visit the clerk's office at the U. S. District Court for the District of Utah.

Notwithstanding any other legal notice provision established in this Utah Code, a person required to publish legal notice:
(a) until January 1, 2010, shall publish as required by the state statute establishing the legal notice requirement; and
(b) beginning on January 1, 2010, shall publish legal notice:
(i) as required by the statute establishing the notice requirement; and
(ii) on a website established by the collective efforts of Utah's newspapers.

The Utah Press Association created UtahLegals.com, which lets you search all legal notices in nearly 50 Utah newspapers by keyword. You can also browse by newspaper. There are quick links to the most popular searches like property foreclosures and auctions.

The Federal Register, which provides announcements about proposed regulations, is available on the Office of the Federal Register website and the Government Printing Office's new FDSys database. Look for the link that invites you to submit your comments.

The Federal Register is published each week day, with notices, proposed and final regulations grouped together by agency. You can sign up to receive the Federal Register table of contents by email each day.

You can also search Regulations.Gov (also on Twitter) for proposed or final rules, submit comments, and even search public comments by keyword. Last year over 400,000 public comments were submitted through the website. The site even provides an instructional video to help you learn more.

Regulations.Gov accepts user suggestions. Create an account to comment on how to improve the website.

The Office of Textiles and Apparel (part of the Department of Commerce) has a lot of information about the legal aspects of fashion law, including importing retail goods to the U.S., Federal Register notices, and Free Trade agreements. The Office also hosts webinars related to fashion law - check out the upcoming webinars and archives here.

New York Law School also provides information about fashion law through its Institute for Information Law & Policy. The institute hosts a blog and events that deal with cases and practical issues of fashion law. Of course, Utah is far away from New York; however, you can still read publications by speakers at the Institute's events. For example, the upcoming event, "Fashionably Law: Fashion & the Law Firm" features Karen Artz Ash, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenmann LLP. Access her publications via the law firm's web site.

However, people using this type of media who are non-rights holders must follow the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). For example, Olympic news, results and feature-type articles can be posted. However, results provided by the IOC must contain a copyright tag line and credit must be given to the Olympic sponsors who recorded the results. For example, if you post results from a speed skating competition, the tag line would read something like this: © 2010 IOC. Official Results powered by Atos Origin. Timing and results management by Omega.

In addition, the use of audio and video is restricted by both the Olympic Charter and the IOC News Access Rules. As the IOC Guidelines state, "no sound or moving images of any Olympic events, including sporting action, interviews with athletes in the mixed zones and competition venue press conference rooms, Opening, Closing and medal ceremonies or other activities, such as chat sessions which occur within accredited zones (competition sites and practice venues, Olympic Village, Main Press Centre, etc.) may be disseminated, whether on a live or delayed basis, regardless of source."

The Olympic symbol may only be used for editorial purposes and you should not use any Olympic mark that implies you or a third party have an official relationship with the Olympics.

More information is also available from the Vancouver 2010 Media Centre.

Photo credit © VANOC/COVAN.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), created in 1984, resolves commercial and disciplinary sports disputes through mediation or arbitration. It is administered by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport. The Court can hear original cases, appeals from International Federations (a non-government organization administering a sport at the international level) or sports organizations, and urgent cases arising during the Olympic games (through a special Ad Hoc Division). Arbitration is governed by the Statutes of the Bodies Working for the Settlement of Sports-Related Disputes, while Mediation is governed by the CAS Mediation Rules.

You can learn more about the history and function of the court and gain access to its recent and archived decisions, which are written in either French or English.

Instead, in this first annual laws of love post, we're focusing on broken engagements. Is a financee required to return her engagement ring or other gifts given during the couple's engagement? While neither the Utah Supreme Court or Court of Appeals has decided the engagement ring question, in the case of Hess v. Johnston, 163 P.3d 747 (2007), the court held that money the man had spent on trips, a vasectomy and a gift to his financee's son prior to marriage did not lead to unjust enrichment. In other words, the woman didn't have to pay him for any of these expenses because there was "no inherent inference that they were conditioned on the marriage."

This case left open the question of whether the woman would have been required to return her engagement ring after breaking the engagement because in this case she willingly did so. The court stated, "[we]need not address whether the gift of an engagement ring carries with it an implied condition of marriage requiring its return when the wedding does not ensue."

In addition, the court held that the man could not recover monetary damages for other causes of action, including breach of contract, promissory estoppel, or conditional gifts.

Brown v. Southern Ventures Corp., 331 So.2d 207 (1976)
A wrongful death action brought by the widow and children of a man who died in a motel pool while a guest at a Superbowl party in 1973.

People v. Dixon, 592 N.E.2d 1104 (1992)
A criminal investigation of alleged gambling at the Prime Minister Restaurant on Superbowl Sunday.

Takeall v. PepsiCo, Inc., 809 F.Supp. 19 (1992)
Plaintiff, a ventriloquist, claimed copyright infringement for the Diet Pepsi advertising slogan "You Got the Right One Baby, uh-huh!" which debuted at the 1991 Superbowl.

Saatchi & Saatchi Business Communications, Inc. v. Just For Feet, Inc., 64 F.Supp.2d 207 (1999)
A breach of contract dispute over an unaired Superbowl commercial.

CBS v. FCC, 535 F.3d 167 (2008)
The Janet Jackson Superbowl halftime show "wardrobe malfunction" case.

Text messaging is defined in Utah law as "a communication in the form of electronic text or one or more electronic images sent by the actor from a telephone or computer to another person's telephone or computer by addressing the communication to the person's telephone number." Utah Code 76-4-401. In some narrow instances, texting while driving is permitted, such as during a medical emergency.

To read statistics associated with texting while driving, and other state laws, check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website Distraction.gov.

While you should always be aware of these laws, here's a list of some of Utah's DUI laws to keep in mind over the New Year:

1. If you are 21 or older and are arrested for your first DUI, your license will be suspended for 120 days.
   
2. If you are under 21 at the time of your DUI arrest, your license will be suspended for 120 days or until you turn 21, whichever is longer.
   
3. If you are 21 or older and are arrested for a second DUI, your license will be revoked for 2 years.
   
4. If you are under 21 and are arrested for a second DUI, your license will be revoked for 2 years or until you turn 21, whichever is longer.

More information about DUI offenses are found in the state Traffic Code. The Utah Department of Public Safety has more information about DUI laws in Utah. If you have been issued a DUI citation or any other traffic ticket, Highway Patrol has information about citations.

However, some name change petitions are quite unusual. Take the case of David Lynn Porter. Porter asked the Third District Court in Salt Lake City to change his name to Santa Claus and the court denied his request. The appellant's brief stated that "...to Porter's dismay Judge Timothy Hanson of the Third District Court denied this jolly old elf's request." He appealed to the Utah Supreme Court and asked that the Court reverse the Third District Court's holding and change his name to Santa Claus, and in the alternative, to Kris Kringle. The Court did in fact reverse and remand the case back to the lower court, where Porter's name was legally changed to Santa Claus. Want to read the appellant's brief? Download it here.

In the Court's opinion, Justice Wilkins, writing for the majority, stated: "Porter's proposed name may be thought by some to be unwise, and it may very well be more difficult for him to conduct his business and his normal everyday affairs as a result. However, Porter has the right to select the name by which he is known, within very broad limits. Significantly, Porter already tells others that he is Santa Claus. Allowing him to legally change his name to reflect his practice of doing so is more likely to avoid greater confusion than to create it by making Porter legally responsible for his actions in the name Santa Claus." Read the entire Supreme Court opinion here.

If you're interested in other name change cases, check out this Slate article by law professor Eugene Volokh: 1069, Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii And Other Names So Weird That Judges Forbade Them.

If you're looking for Utah's laws on driver licenses, those laws are located in the Public Safety Code. Check out Title 53, Chapter 3 for driver license information. This part of the Code governs who may or may not be licensed, renewal information, and the types of licenses that are available. The Utah Driver License Division also provides information about driver license laws, the handbook you should study to get ready for the driver test, and fees to apply for a license and more.

As of January 1, 2010, the Utah Driver License Division is making some changes about what types of documents are required to apply for a driver license or identification card. After this date, the Division will also no longer allow you to renew your license through the mail or online. For more information about these changes, visit the Division's website.

If you already have a traffic citation, check out the blog post on paying for traffic citations online. Or if you need to find information about traffic school, check out this blog post. And finally, the Utah Courts' website has general information about traffic matters.

If you have any questions about this information, please contact the law library.

Before you sign the contract for a pay day loan, here are five warnings to remember:

1) Make sure the institution has a valid registration with the Department of Financial Institutions. If it does not not, the person or business is violating the law. Utah Code 7-23-201. You can also contact the Department of Financial Institutions to make a complaint against a pay day lender. Use the form provided to mail or email your complaint.

2) There are no maximum interest rates in Utah. However, the interest rate should not be unconscionable. Utah Code 70C-7-106.

3) The maximum roll over loan period is 12 weeks. Utah Code 7-23-401.

4) The pay day loan contract must be in writing. Utah Code 7-23-401.

5) The pay day lender must post "a complete schedule of any interest or fees charged for a deferred deposit loan that states the interest and fess using dollar amounts." Utah Code 7-23-401.

For more information about pay day loans, including ways to find alternative sources of funding, check out the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Alert: "Payday Loans Equal Very Costly Cash: Consumers Urged to Consider the Alternatives."

The Utah Public Transit District Act defines public transit, which public transit districts may employ or contract with law enforcement officers, and what jurisdictions the law enforcement officers cover.

First, public transit is defined as "the transportation of passengers only and their incidental baggage by means other than:
(a) chartered bus;
(b) sightseeing bus;
(c) taxi; or
(d) other vehicle not on an individual passenger fare paying basis." Utah Code 17B-2a-802.

Second, only multicounty districts ("public transit district located in more than one county") can employ or contract with law enforcement officers. Utah Code 17B-2a-822. Those officers have the same duties and responsibilities as other law enforcement officers, as defined in the Public Safety Code at 53-13-103.

However, the transit police officer's jurisdiction is limited to transit facilities and transit vehicles, except for other jurisdiction that is discussed in the Public Safety Code at 53-13-103. The Utah Code specifically defines a transit facility as "a transit vehicle, transit station, depot, passenger loading or unloading zone, parking lot, or other facility:
(a) leased by or operated by or on behalf of a public transit district; and
(b) related to the public transit services provided by the district, including:
(i) railway or other right-of-way;
(ii) railway line; and
(iii) a reasonable area immediately adjacent to a designated stop on a route traveled by a transit vehicle." Utah Code 17B-2a-802.

Transit vehicle is defined as "a passenger bus, coach, railcar, van, or other vehicle operated as public transportation by a public transit district." Utah Code 17B-2a-802.

For more information, check out UTA's Public Safety page.

However, in Salt Lake City, the "mutual commitment registry" is available "for adult residents of the City who share a primary residence and rely on one another as dependents." The registry is set up so employers can easily determine who is eligible for benefits and allow people health care visitation rights in Salt Lake City health care facilities. Eligibility requirements for the registry include:
(a) Registrants must be each other’s sole partner;
(b) be over 18 years old;
(c) be competent to contract; and
(d) share a primary residence in Salt Lake City.
For more information, check out the City's mutual commitment registry page.

If you live outside of Salt Lake City, you may be eligible for domestic partnership benefits as offered by your private employer. For example, if you are employed by American Express in Utah, the company's human resources policy would apply to your eligibility of benefits. See, for example, the company's statement about who is eligible for medical, dental and vision plans.