Music streaming services have affected the music industry from both a financial and legal standpoint. Their current business model affects stakeholders such as artists, users, and investors. These services have been scrutinized recently for their imperfect royalty distribution model. Covid-19 has made these discussions even more relevant as touring income has come to a halt for musicians and the live entertainment industry. <br/>Under the current per-stream model, it is becoming exceedingly hard for artists to make a living off of streams. This forces artists to tour heavily as well as cut corners to create what is essentially “disposable art”. Rapidly releasing multiple projects a year has become the norm for many modern artists. This paper will examine the licensing framework, royalty payout issues, and propose a solution.

The threat of global climate change to the world’s water resources has jeopardized access to clean drinking water across the world and continues to devastate biodiversity and natural life globally. South Africa operates as a useful case study to understand and analyze the effectiveness of public policy responses to the perils of climate change on issues of water access and ecosystem preservation. After the new South African Constitution was enacted in 1997, protecting water resources and ensuring their equitable distribution across the nation’s population was a paramount goal of the young democratic government. The National Water Act was passed in 1998, nationalizing the country’s water infrastructure and putting in place programs seeking to ensure equitable distributive and environmental outcomes. Thus far, it has failed. Access to South Africa’s water resources is as stratified as access to its economy; its aquatic ecosystems remain in grave danger; and many of the same problems of South Africa’s Apartheid era still plague its efforts to create an equitable water system. Decision-making power continues to be concentrated in the hands of the wealthy, at the expense of historically marginalized groups, whose voices are still not adequately heard. Corporate actors still exert undue influence over legislative policy that favors economic growth over environmental sustainability. The looming threat of climate change is exponentially increasing the chances of disasters like Cape Town’s 2018 feared ‘Day Zero’. The National Water Act’s noble intentions were never actualized, and therefore the people of South Africa remain in serious danger of acute and chronic threats to their water supply.

Intellectual property (IP) is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Despite being an important motivator for innovation, IP laws and IP protections are largely unknown by most individuals outside of the legal field. The purpose of this work is to condense some of the most fundamental concepts in U.S. intellectual property law and describe them in an understandable way for non-lawyers. This thesis covers basic information on U.S. patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and the ways in which they impact both science and society. Additionally, this thesis discusses the need for better IP education and presents a solution to this problem in the form of a partly completed draft for an educational book. The book itself is meant to illustrate how the research of this thesis can be utilized in introductory educational materials while also demonstrating the potential for presenting IP law concepts in a fun and visual way.

To mitigate climate change, carbon needs to be removed from the atmosphere and stored for thousands of years. Currently, carbon removal and storage are voluntarily procured, and longevity of storage is inconsistently defined and regulated. Clauses can be added to procurement contracts to require long-term management and increase the durability of storage. Well-designed and properly enforced contracts can pave the way to future regulation for long-term carbon management.

With cannabis legal in 38 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia as of 2023, the legal cannabis industry has become a major emerging industry that will continue to grow rapidly as continuing support for legalization drives both states and the federal government toward relaxing and even repealing prohibitions on both medical and recreational cannabis. However, the patchwork of conflicting state and federal laws surrounding cannabis create a legal and economic quagmire that severely limit the growth and success of legal cannabis businesses while aggravating longstanding socioeconomic disparities. In this thesis, I offer an evaluation of the history of cannabis in the US, current cannabis policy at the state and federal level, as well as offer a selection of federal and state policy options to promote a dramatic overhaul of current federal cannabis policy. These proposals aim to effectively and efficiently address the state/federal divide in cannabis law while simultaneously addressing key socioeconomic disparities aggravated by federal cannabis prohibition.

The perception that homosexuality is an immoral affliction and an innovation from Western cultures is prevalent throughout Africa, specifically in six case countries: Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that homophobia, not homosexuality, is the true Western import. Additionally, it will analyze the background and colonial histories of my six dossier countries, their current laws surrounding LGBT+ rights, the social and legal repercussions of being LGBT+, and the consequences of state-sponsored homophobia in terms of justice, international law, and the future of each country. Based on my research, all these case countries use colonial-era provisions, penal codes, and religious norms to discriminate against homosexuals, which operate under legally-mandated “morality,” a notion inherently subjective. Additionally, the most targeted groups are gay men and transgender people, while lesbians and bisexual women are rarely targeted and convicted compared to homosexual men. This is due to various social, legal, and religious factors regarding the high importance of patriarchy and masculinity. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that European colonization in Togo, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia introduced new legal norms that persecuted pre-colonial practices of homosexuality under the guise of morality. Now, the repercussions are rampant and dangerous (especially for homosexual men and transgender people) and cannot be overcome without radical changes to local legal and social systems.

In this project I created a series of infographics as comprehensive resources for students to reference as educational guides. As a business law student I have been able to accumulate knowledge through all of my law courses to better understand our society and its laws, albeit this knowledge is not yet complete. Other students are not always given this same opportunity to understand their rights and the laws that govern them and have clearly indicated to me through my survey that they would feel better prepared to become young adults in society if they were given additional resources. Therefore, my thesis consists of research based on the results of my survey regarding the areas of law that students indicated interest in along with a series of seven infographics with easy to understand information about the First Amendment, the Sixth Amendment, women’s rights, arbitration, legal offenses and consequences, Arizona State University’s legal and emergency resources, and the main constitutional amendments students should be aware of. Students should understand the laws they must abide by as members of society as well as the constitutional rights they are guaranteed if they are expected to fully obey and use both as incoming adults of the United States of America.