Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law / BMI

Entertainment and Media Law Moot Court

Competition

February 28 – March 3 2013

2013 RULE BOOK The following rules govern the Twenty-Ninth Annual Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and

Media Law Moot Court Competition in New York City. Any questions regarding the

interpretation of these rules should be directed to the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of

Law’s Moot Court Honor Society at CardozoBMI2013@gmail.com.

The Editorial Board of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Moot Court Honor Society is

the final authority in interpreting these rules and any interpretation thereon is binding on all

competitors.

Updated October 2, 2012

Updated October 2, 2012

Table of Contents

Team Composition ...................................................................................................................... 1 Briefs ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Service and Certifications ............................................................................................................ 4 Rounds ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Scoring ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Assistance Throughout the Competition ...................................................................................... 9 Scouting ................................................................................................................................... 10 Penalties .................................................................................................................................. 11 Awards ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Miscellaneous ........................................................................................................................... 13

Updated October 2, 2012 Internal dates are subject to change 1

TEAM COMPOSITION 1.1 Teams Generally

The 2013 Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Media Law Competition is limited to thirty (30) teams competing. Each team is comprised of no more than two (2) competitors. Team members are expected to share equally in brief-writing responsibilities.

1.2 Team Substitution Teams may not substitute competitors after submission of certification and service of briefs. A team faced with extenuating circumstances may seek an exception to this rule by emailing CardozoBMI2013@gmail.com. Exceptions will be granted only in the event of a sudden and unforeseen circumstance.

1.3 Ghost Teams No team from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law may compete in the Competition. However, in the situation there is an odd number of teams competing, a ghost team may argue during Preliminary Rounds. Consistent with the blind-scoring policy, neither the opposing team nor the judges will be informed of the ghost team’s participation. The ghost team will be scored as a competing team, but will not advance into the elimination rounds.

1.4 Competition Size

A maximum of thirty (30) teams may participate in the Competition. The MCHS Editorial Board will compile a waitlist of additional teams and will change the number of competing teams at their discretion.

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BRIEFS 2.1 Briefs Generally

Teams will be assigned to write a brief as either the Petitioner or Respondent for the purpose of writing the brief. While each team will submit only one brief, teams will be required to argue both sides during the Competition.

2.2 Format Generally

Brief format follows that used by the United States Supreme Court unless otherwise indicated by these Rules. No formal statement of jurisdiction is required. Briefs must use citations as prescribed by the current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Citation to the problem should take the following form: “(R. at **.)” All briefs must: 2.2.1 Be submitted in PDF format by midnight on the due date (February 1, 2013) to CardozoBMI@gmail.com. 2.2.2 Use uniform style and 12-point Times New Roman font for all brief contents, including footnotes. 2.2.3 Have one-inch margins on all sides. Page numbers may be placed outside those margins. 2.2.4 Use only double-spaced text. Footnotes may be single-spaced. 2.2.5 Be thirty (30) pages or less in length. Any partially filled page will count as a page. This page limit does not include the questions presented, subject index, table of authorities or appendix. Appendices may only be used if necessary to cite relevant statutory text or other material not generally available.

2.3 Identification

Competitor and law school names should not appear anywhere on the brief. Only a team’s officially designated number may appear in the lower right corner on the brief’s cover page; it may not display the law school name or competitor’s names. Briefs must not otherwise be signed or in any other way identify a team’s school or its members.

2.4 Certification

Competitors must certify that they prepared their briefs in accordance with these rules and that it represents competitors’ work alone without assistance. The certification must accompany the brief in the email in which the brief is submitted. The certification will be e-mailed to all teams and can also be found at www.CardozoBMI.info.

2.5 No Revisions

Once a team submits its brief, it may not thereafter revise it.

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2.6 Brief Grading All properly submitted briefs will be blind-graded by the Editorial Board and senior members of the MCHS. Of all briefs submitted, the Editorial Board will select a brief for the award of Best Overall Brief and a brief for the award of Runner-Up Best Overall Brief.

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SERVICE AND CERTIFICATIONS 3.1 Service on the Executive Board

Teams must serve one electronic copy of their briefs on the MCHS Editorial Board. The brief must be submitted by 11:59 PM, EST on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013 to CardozoBMI2013@gmail.com. In the subject line of your e-mail, please indicate your team number and school name. In the body of your e-mail, please indicate (i) your school name, (ii) competitor names, and (iii) your contact information. The brief must be attached as a single document. The MCHS Editorial Board will not assemble the parts of briefs into a whole. The certification must also be attached to this email. Teams wishing to be eligible for cash prizes should also submit their W-9 forms at this time, pursuant to Rule 9.2

3.2 Service on Opposing Teams

The submission of a electronic copie of your brief will constitute service on opposing teams. Your electronic submissions will be uploaded to www.CardozoBMI.info for all teams to review. We will notify each team’s registered contact once the briefs have been posted.

3.3 Late Submissions

Briefs submitted after the above-mentioned due date will not be accepted. Teams who fail to submit their briefs on time will receive a brief score of 0 which could impact their ability to advance past the Preliminary Rounds. Any exceptions to this rule will be made at the discretion of the MCHS Editorial Board.

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ROUNDS 4.1 Number of Participants

Each competition team consists of no more than two (2) competitors. These two competitors will represent the team in every oral argument. Substitutions of competitors are not permitted, unless some extenuating circumstance arises and your team has written consent from the MCHS Editorial Board.

4.2 Time Allowed for Argument

Each team will receive twenty-four (24) minutes for oral argument. Each competitor in a team must argue. The allotted time must be shared evenly between both competitors (i.e., each competitor has twelve (12) minutes to argue his/her issue.) Bailiffs will keep time during oral arguments and will use signs to inform competitors of their remaining time. Warnings will be given at ten minutes, five minutes and one minute. Once time has expired, the Bailiff will hold up a “STOP” card. When the “STOP” card appears, a competitor may request additional time from the Chief Justice. The allowance of more time is solely at the discretion of the Chief Justice.

4.3 Rebuttals

In advance of their argument, Petitioners may reserve up to three (3) minutes for rebuttal. The Bailiff will deduct the rebuttal time from either or both competitors’ argument times, at the direction of the team, prior to the commencement of the oral argument. Petitioner may waive the rebuttal argument following the close of the Respondent’s argument. Only one competitor from the Petitioner’s team may argue the rebuttal.

4.4 Argument Order

During each round, the Petitioner will argue first, followed by the Respondent. The order is as follows: Petitioner Issue I Petitioner Issue II Respondent Issue I Respondent Issue II Petitioner’s Rebuttal (optional)

4.5 Time and Place of Rounds

The Preliminary Rounds are scheduled for Thursday, February 28, 2013 and Friday, March 1, 2013. The Octofinal and Quarterfinal Rounds will take place Friday, March 1, 2013. The Semifinal and Final Rounds are scheduled for Sunday, March 3, 2013. The specific timing of the rounds will be released to the competitors at a later date. All rounds will take place at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, located at 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003.

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4.6 Preliminary Rounds

4.6.1 Team Parings: Teams will be assigned randomly during the Preliminary Rounds. Each team will argue for both Petitioner and Respondent at least once during the Preliminary Rounds. Teams will not face an opponent more than once during the Preliminary Rounds. 4.6.2 Round Mechanics: All teams will argue three (3) times during the Preliminary Rounds. Teams will be seeded according to their ranking following the Preliminary Rounds, placing the highest ranked team versus the lowest ranked team. 4.6.3 Seeding: Seeding is established according to a team’s win-loss record during the Preliminary Rounds. If any teams have the same win-loss record, the team with the highest aggregate point differential will be ranked higher.

4.7 Assignment of Sides Following Preliminary Rounds

During the Octo-final, Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final Rounds, the MCHS Editorial Board will assign the higher seeded team to argue on brief. Depending on scoring, this may result in both teams arguing on brief.

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SCORING 5.1 Scoring Composition

A panel of three (3) judges will judge and score each oral argument. Judges will not be made aware of a team’s brief score. In computing overall scores, the Editorial Board will consider both the oral argument and brief score. 5.1.1 During the Preliminary Rounds, the oral argument will be counted as sixty (60) percent and the brief as forty (40) percent of your final score. 5.1.2 During the Octo-Final Round, the oral argument will be counted as seventy (70) percent and the brief as thirty (30) percent of your final score. 5.1.3 During the Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final Rounds, the oral argument will be counted as one hundred (100) percent of your final score. Your brief score will not be factored in.

5.2 Preliminary Round Scoring

In each Preliminary Round of oral arguments, the highest score of the Petitioner’s brief will be compared with the highest score of the Respondent’s brief; the middle score of the Petitioner’s brief will be compared with the middle score of the Respondent’s brief and the lowest score of the Petitioner’s brief will be compared with the lowest score of the Respondent’s brief. A team will get 1 Round Point for scoring higher in each of the above comparisons. A team will get 1 Round Point for scoring higher in the majority of the above comparisons. A total of 4 Round Points can be won for the briefs in every Preliminary Round of oral argument. Therefore, in a match between Team 1 and Team 5, if Team 1 scores more than Team 5 in all the three comparisons, then Team 1 gets 4 Round Points. If Team 1 scores higher than Team 5 only in two comparisons, then Team 1 gets 3 Round Points and Team 5 gets 1 Round Point. In the event that the compared scores are identical, each team will be awarded a total of 2 Round Points. With respect to the oral argument rounds, each of the judges’ scores for the oral arguments of competing teams will be compared. If Judge A in a match between Team 1 and Team 5 gives a higher number of points to Team 1 – then team 1 will get 2 Round Points. A similar comparison will be carried out for Judges B and C. Therefore, at most, 6 Round Points can be won as a result of performance in the oral arguments for each Preliminary Round match. As a result, there are 10 Round Points to be won in each Preliminary Round match and the team with the higher number of Round Points wins the match.

5.3 Octo-Final Round Scoring

During the Octo-Final Round, the highest, middle and lowest scores of the Petitioner and Respondent’s briefs will once again be compared. However, during this round there

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is no Round Point awarded for scoring highest in the majority of comparisons. Therefore, a total of 3 Round Points can be won. With respect to the oral argument rounds, each of the judges’ scores will once again be compared. 2 Round Points will be given for the highest score in each comparison. 1 Round Point will be given for scoring the highest in each comparison. Therefore, at most, 7 Rounds Points can be won as a result of performance in the oral arguments for each Octo-Final Round match. Once again, there are 10 Round Points to be won in each Octo-Final Round match and the team with the highest number of Round Points wins the match.

5.4 Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final Round Scoring In the Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final Rounds, there will be a possibility of 6 Round Points as brief scores will not be factored into the match score.

5.5 Raw Scores

The aggregate of the actual points awarded to a team by each of the 3 brief graders and each of the 3 judges during the oral argument rounds will constitute the match raw score. For example, Team 5 in its first match could score 85, 85 and 90 as Brief scores and 80, 80 and 85 as oral argument scores. The raw match score for Team 5 in the first match is arrived at by adding these scores.

The competition raw score will be an aggregate of the Match Raw Scores. 5.6 Advancement

The sixteen (16) teams with the highest number of wins will advance from the Preliminary Rounds. In the event two or more teams have the same number of wins, they will be ranked by comparing the aggregate Round Points in the Preliminary Rounds. If a tie still exists, the competition raw scores of the tied teams will be compared to determine the ranking inter se. The same procedure will be followed in determining the eight (8) advancing teams for the Quarterfinals, the four (4) advancing teams for the Semifinals and the two (2) advancing teams for the Final Round.

5.7 Miscellaneous

If an unanticipated scenario results, the MCHS Editorial Board will be the final authority in determining which team is to advance.

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ASSISTANCE THROUGHOUT THE COMPETITION 6.1 No Assistance in Writing

Competitors may not receive any assistance from any other student, faculty member or outside party (attorney, specialist or otherwise) while writing their brief.

6.2 Preparing for Oral Argument

Once a brief has been filed, competitors may receive help from any source in preparing for their oral argument. If a school has entered more than one team, practice arguments may be scheduled between these two teams in preparation for the competition.

6.3 Counsel’s Table

Only the team’s competitors may sit at the counsel’s table during oral arguments. Once a round begins, competitors sitting at the counsel’s table may not communicate with non-competitors other than judges or bailiffs assigned for their particular round.

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SCOUTING 7.1 Scouting Prohibited

Scouting rival teams is strictly prohibited. No competitor, coach, teammate or Individual affiliated with any competing team may attend oral arguments of rival teams or otherwise obtain information about other competitors until their school’s team (or teams) has (or have) been eliminated from the competition.

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PENALTIES 8.1 Any Reasonable Penalty

The MCHS Editorial Board may impose, at its discretion, any penalty deemed reasonable and appropriate for the failure to comply with these rules.

8.2 Team Paraphernalia

Competitors, coaches, faculty advisors, parents, guests or any individual affiliated with a team competing may not wear or carry any school paraphernalia. This includes any item that represents a school by name, slogan, color or other identifiable symbol. The MCHS Editorial Board reserves the right to ask individuals violating this rule to remove the item before entering an oral argument. Individuals who are unwilling or unable to comply with this rule will be banned from entering the room during an oral argument round.

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AWARDS 9.1 Awards Generally Cash prizes will be presented in the following categories: Best Team Runner-Up Best Team Best Brief Runner-Up Best Brief Best Oralist Runner-Up Best Oralist

A team need not advance past the Preliminary Rounds to be eligible to win a brief or oralist award.

9.2 Eligibility for Awards

To be eligible for any cash prizes, all team members must fill out and submit a W-9 form to the MCHS Editorial Board. W-9 forms can be obtained online at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf. Completed W-9 forms should be included with the team’s certification and brief submission.

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MISCELLANEOUS 10.1 Problem Clarification

Any problem clarification questions must be submitted by Noon on January 21, 2013 to CardozoBMI2013@gmail.com. Responses to clarification requests received by the deadline will be posted at www.CardozoBMI.info by Noon on January 22, 2013.

10.2 Rule Changes

The MCHS Editorial Board reserves the right to amend these rules at any point until the commencement of oral arguments on February 28, 2013.