Some pile on the blawgosphere as a realm of little insight, little blogging, bad graphics and bad layout. Add to the mix bone-chilling terror and audio quality reminiscent of a rampaging charnel grub — "Horrible nattering, like cicadas and screams..." — and you've got Howell-o-ween II: it's always been personal.

Don't think the thought of bailing on this assignment (citing blog-life balance) hasn't occurred to me. And don't count your undead chickens just yet, it could still happen, particularly as I'm finishing up some time after 1:00 a.m. on my bedroom floor, having put Tyler back to sleep in here when he woke up with a coughing fit. But assembling this seasonally-spiced potpourri reminds me that a big reason to "volunteer" to host Blawg Review is simply to have the chance to collect and get pointed to a huge pile of great news, thought, and insights. Hmm, guess that's a pretty good reason to read, too...

We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho

• David Giacalone, whaddayaknow about Fair Use and Copyright?
• Eugene Volokh, This Blog Post Is Copyright Protected and Fair Use Is Not Applicable
• David Giacalone, woops: More Threats from NCG's June Maxam
• David Giacalone, defamation self-help (for myself, too)
• Kaimipono D. Wenger, Copyright pirates, they're certainly no Boy Scouts (Mike Madison adds the "activity badge" clarification, and another interesting scouting assignment)
• John Palfrey, Sounds like fair use to me (and it should be, if it's not)
• William McGeveran, Scanning Books for Lexicography as Fair Use
• PC World, "Wikipedia is considering a plan to purchase copyright content and make it available under public domain."
• David Berlind, Why IBM's patent suit against Amazon could be bad news for the entire Web
• Techmeme-osphere for YouTube's removal of Comedy Central clips due to DMCA takedown notices
• Howard Bashman on one sort of Hummer Bummer; Mark Hefflinger on another (that last one is truly terrifying, if you should happen to operate a business of any size)
• Glenn Reynolds, APPARENTLY, THE VIRAL-MARKETING VIRUS ATTACKS THE BRAIN, at least at Universal Pictures
• Peter Lattman, Jimi Hendrix Steals the Show At Intellectual Property Auction
• Marty Schwimmer, Alias GooTube

photo by DaddyNewt

We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho

• Xeni Jardin on the ease of hacking "contactless" credit cards with RFID
• PC World, If You Dislike Microsoft's Windows Antipiracy Checks, Look Out; Next up: Microsoft Office joins the software validation program
• Xeni Jardin, Fake Boarding Pass Generator guy and FBI: what about the law?
• ZDNet bloggers, Technology that gives us the creeps
• Seymour Jobs, Is Your Work Trumping Family Time?
• Nabazta(blo)g on semi-sentient, costumed bunny-tech (via Jeneane)
• Cute Overload on the Best Turtle Costume on the Planet Ever (via grow-a-brain)
• Halloween Dogs (via grow-a-brain)
• George Lenard, Halloween in the Workplace: How Do You Celebrate?
• Justice League Heros
• Abnu at Wordblog, Naughty Nurses at Heart Attack Grill
• Tom Mighell's vote on Google's custom search engine: treat

We kindle and char, inflame and ignite
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
We burn up the city, we're really a fright
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho

• Peter Lattman, Google's Lawyers Keep Busy
• Carolyn Elefant, Does Google Intentionally Invite Lawsuits?
• AP on the hazards of taking the Lord's name in court
• Nicole L. Black on gender-specific exposure laws
• Howard Bashman on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
• It's scary enough there's an E. coli blawg, isn't it? Here's a Marler Clark lawyer on "safe" spinach
• Peter Lattman on global warming litigation
• Marcia Hofmann on a new Freedom of Information Act section for EFF's Legal Guide for Bloggers
• James Edward Maule, As Halloween Looms, Making Sure Dead Tax Ideas Stay Dead
• J. Craig Williams, The Halloween Queen Fights City Hall Over Sign Law
• David Lat, Stripper's Remorse: That Cat Is Way Out of the Bag
• Jack Balkin, A Dunk in the Water for Clarity; Marty Lederman, Yes, It's a No-Brainer: Waterboarding Is Torture

We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho

• KipEsquire, The Unconstitutional Censorship Law that Just Won't Die
• Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., unusual lawyer gifts
• Ron Friedmann on offshoring and outsourcing legal services (Peter Lattman on Mumbai Safire gin)
• Kevin O'Keefe, Lawyers making asses of themselves on net
• Seth from QuizLaw, Should I go to law school?
• Bob Coffield, SCOTUS trivia
• David Maister, Guns for Hire
• Walter Olson, Eliot Spitzer and excessive compensation and David Egilman on asbestos screenings
• David Giacalone, 300 million Americans: self-help relief for that bloated feeling
• Geoff Sharp, Mediation vBlog Project Launch
• Evan Schaeffer, The Weekly Law School Roundup #42: The Giving-Jeffrey-Toobin-What-He-Wants Edition
• Ann Bartow, I wanted to like it (a very lukewarm review of Quiet Revolution)
• Carolyn Elefant on the oldest living graduate of Harvard Law School

We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho

And the post of the week and creative thought/writing award goes to Colin Samuels (inspired by this fantastic Wired compilation), Just think what Hemingway could have accomplished with three years of legal education!: "Pound of flesh? Nominal damages, Fatso!"

Blawg Review has information about next week's host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.