Misplaced Pages

#185814

28-419: The section was first enacted as part of the new Labor Code in 1937. It was a recodification of an older statute, Civil Code Section 1980, which had been enacted as part of the original California Civil Code in 1872. The statute had originally provided for a two-year limit on specific enforcement, but the limit was amended in 1931 to seven years. Hollywood industry lawyers in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s took

56-460: A $ 30 million breach of contract lawsuit. After nearly a year of legal battles, the band announced on April 28, 2009, that the suit had been settled following a defense based on the De Havilland law. Afterwards, Jared Leto visited de Havilland to thank her in person for her courage in bringing such an important legal case, and she shared with the news media her delight at learning that her case

84-429: A bid from rival network ABC ; although he ultimately decided to remain with NBC, his use of the law allowed him to extract major concessions from the network, including a reduced workload, increase in pay and ownership of the show. In August 2008, during the recording process of its third studio album, the band Thirty Seconds to Mars attempted to sign with a new label, prompting EMI (the parent label of Virgin), to file

112-671: A landmark decision of the California Court of Appeal for the Second District in de Havilland's favor on December 8, 1944. In a unanimous opinion signed by Justice Clement Lawrence Shinn, the three-justice panel adopted the common sense view that seven years from the commencement of service means seven calendar years. Since de Havilland had started performance under her Warner annual contract on May 5, 1936 (which had been renewed six times pursuant to its terms since then), and seven calendar years had elapsed from that date,

140-459: A stage in the process of legislation . Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy . Statutes are laws made by legislative bodies; they are distinguished from case law or precedent , which is decided by courts , regulations issued by government agencies , and oral or customary law . Statutes may originate with the legislative body of a country, state or province, county, or municipality . The word "statute"

168-749: Is also used to refer to an International treaty that establishes an institution , such as the Statute of the European Central Bank , a protocol to the international courts as well, such as the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court . Statute is also another word for law. The term was adapted from England in about the 18th century. In

196-597: Is derived from the late Latin word "statutum", which means 'law', 'decree'. In virtually all countries, newly enacted statutes are published and distributed so that everyone can look up the statutory law. This can be done in the form of a government gazette which may include other kinds of legal notices released by the government, or in the form of a series of books whose content is limited to legislative acts. In either form, statutes are traditionally published in chronological order based on date of enactment. A universal problem encountered by lawmakers throughout human history

224-416: Is how to organize published statutes. Such publications have a habit of starting small but growing rapidly over time, as new statutes are enacted in response to the exigencies of the moment. Eventually, persons trying to find the law are forced to sort through an enormous number of statutes enacted at various points in time to determine which portions are still in effect. The solution adopted in many countries

252-473: Is to organize existing statutory law in topical arrangements (or "codified" ) within publications called codes , then ensure that new statutes are consistently drafted so that they add, amend, repeal or move various code sections. In turn, in theory, the code will thenceforth reflect the current cumulative state of the statutory law in that jurisdiction. In many nations statutory law is distinguished from and subordinate to constitutional law . The term statute

280-464: The autonomous communities of Spain , an autonomy statute is a legal document similar to the constitution of a federated state , save that it is enacted by the national legislature, rather than the autonomous community it governs. The autonomy statutes in Spain have the rank of ley orgánica (organic law), a category of special legislation reserved only for the main institutions and issues and mentioned in

308-527: The studio system had complete control of a young artist's career. In response, actress Olivia de Havilland , backed by the Screen Actors Guild , filed a lawsuit on August 23, 1943, against Warner Bros. de Havilland was fed up with being typecast by Warners as an ingénue and strongly preferred the other kinds of roles she had been given when she had been able to convince the studio to loan her out to other studios. The lawsuit resulted in

SECTION 10

#1732772589186

336-673: The California Civil Code for its own legal system. Justice Stephen Field (who was David Field's brother and was largely responsible for introducing his work to California), praised the California Codes (including the Civil Code) as "perfect in their analysis, admirable in their arrangement, and furnishing a complete code of laws", while English jurist Sir Frederick Pollock attacked the Civil Code as "about

364-555: The California Civil Code was actually the third successfully enacted codification of the substance of the common law. The first was the Code of Georgia of 1861 (largely based on the work of Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb independent of Field), which is the ancestor of today's Official Code of Georgia Annotated . Then Dakota Territory beat California to the punch by becoming the first jurisdiction to enact Field's civil code in 1866. David Dudley Field II's audacity in trying to codify all of

392-554: The Civil Code (at the suggestion of the California Law Revision Commission ) and re-enacted in the form of a new Family Code. The California Family Code went into effect on January 1, 1994. Most statutes that deal with civil procedure are codified in a separate code, the California Code of Civil Procedure . Statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative body,

420-514: The De Havilland law with resolving their music contract issue in 2009, which sets a precedent for music artists and Section 2855. In 2015, British singer Rita Ora also cited the De Havilland Law in her complaint while seeking release from her American label. They eventually reached a settlement. Johnny Carson , then host of The Tonight Show , used the De Havilland law to break his contract with NBC and began aggressively considering

448-455: The Law were developed in the 20th century as a compromise between those who felt the common law was a disorganized mess and those who valued the flexibility and richness of the common law. Only California, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana enacted virtually all of Field's civil code, while Idaho partially enacted the contract sections but omitted the tort sections. Later, Guam borrowed much of

476-485: The common law of contracts which has no direct equivalent in civil law systems. Similarly, it codifies the mailbox rule that communication of acceptance is effective when dropped in the mail, which is a feature unique to the common law. The Code was first adopted in 1872 by the California State Legislature and was signed into law by then Governor Newton Booth . The Code enacted in 1872

504-595: The contract was no longer enforceable and she was free to seek projects with other studios. (The court misspelled de Havilland's last name, meaning that the case was published as De Haviland .) De Havilland's legal victory reduced the power of the studios and extended greater creative freedom to performers, starting with herself. Although Jack Warner tried to discourage other studios from hiring her, she eventually found work with Paramount Pictures , where she won her first Best Actress Oscar for To Each His Own (1946). The Court of Appeal's decision in De Havilland's favor

532-462: The general principles of the common law (including the law of property, domestic relations, contracts, and torts) into general statutory law in the form of a civil code was extremely controversial in the American legal community, both in his time and ever since. Most U.S. states (as well as most other common law jurisdictions) declined to pursue such an aggressive codification. The Restatements of

560-511: The general to the specific". However, as completed in 1865, the substance of the Field civil code was "overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, that of the common and statutory law of New York in the 1860s". In that aspect, it was "by no means revolutionary but rather conservative". For example, as enacted in California, the Civil Code contains a definition of consideration , a principle in

588-466: The legislature adopted the board's proposed amendments to the Code. The Civil Code is divided – like its civil law analogues – into four divisions: "the first relating to persons"; "the second to property"; "the third to obligations"; "the fourth contains general provisions relating to the three preceding divisions." Division One contains laws which govern personal rights while Division Two contains laws which govern property rights. Division Three codifies

SECTION 20

#1732772589186

616-413: The position that an exclusive personal services contract should be treated as suspended during the periods when the artist was not actually working. Since no artist could be working every single day (that is, including holidays and weekends), this interpretation meant that two, or later seven, years of actual service would be spread over a much longer calendar period, thus extending the time during which

644-673: The state of New York (but which was never enacted in that state). It is one of the 29 California Codes and was among the first four enacted in 1872. The Field civil code was "thoroughly civilian in its approach and arrangement". Like the French Civil Code of 1804 and the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825, it featured the "standard tripartite Gaius system". The code also followed the civilian tradition of systematically classifying subject matter into "categories of decreasing generality, constantly proceeding from

672-482: The substantive contract law of the State of California as well as various regulations relating to agency, mortgages, unsecured loans, extensions of credit, and other areas of California law. Division Four defines remedies available in lawsuits, what constitutes a nuisance, various maxims of jurisprudence, and other miscellaneous provisions which relate "to the three preceding divisions." Although revolutionary for its time,

700-545: The worst piece of codification ever produced" and called it "the New York abortion" (since it was never enacted in that state). Over the years, the Civil Code has been repeatedly amended by legislation and initiative measures. A very significant change to the Civil Code occurred in June 1992 when nearly all of the Civil Code's provisions relating to marriage , community property , and other family law matters were removed from

728-400: Was essentially the Field civil code of 1865, "with some changes to adapt it to previous California legislation". It was soon discovered that many more provisions of the new Civil Code conflicted with existing California statutes and case law. In 1873, Stephen J. Field , Jackson Temple , and John W. Dwinelle were appointed to a Board of Code Examiners to investigate such issues. In 1874,

756-462: Was one of the most significant and far-reaching legal rulings in Hollywood. The decision came to be informally known, and is still known to this day, as the "De Havilland Law". While today's film and TV actors have enjoyed the higher compensation and greater creative freedom intended by Section 2855, music artists have not. Jared Leto and Shannon Leto of the band Thirty Seconds to Mars credit

784-464: Was still helping new generations to break out of their contracts. California Civil Code The Civil Code of California is a collection of statutes for the State of California . The code is made up of statutes which govern the general obligations and rights of persons within the jurisdiction of California. It was based on a civil code originally prepared by David Dudley Field II in 1865 for

#185814