Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Law of Agency

The phrase refers to an area of law, like the law of contracts; it is not a statute.

There certainly are statutes that govern particular types of agents: real estate, insurance, and celebrity agents tend to be regulated in most states.

If you want to do legal research on your own, a good starting point for state law is http://www.hg.org/usstates.html

Re: Law of Agency

Agency cases are frequently decided on whether an agent can bind his principal. For example, if an agent signs a contract, is the principal (partnership, corporation, or other firm or individual), bound by terms of the contract?

If an agent is driving a company car to a corporate meeting and strikes a pedestrian, is the corporation liable? If driving to a tavern for lunch, or to a golf course, or to a racetrack, at time of the accident, is the corporation liable?

How are agents commissioned with their authority?

How much authority do they have? (For example, can an agent sign for his principal?)

How is the agency terminated?

These questions are generally resolved by the common law of each state. Common law as opposed to statutory law is just the sum total of all the cases that have decided the same issue in a particular state.

If you are in New York, take a look at American Jurisprudence, under agency, and then try to find some NY cases having facts similar to yours.

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Re: Law of Agency

I didn't care for the replies you got prior, so here's my shot:

Agency law is state law, generally, much of it "common law" created by years of judges making and refining principles of law as opposed to statutes created by elected legislators. Simply put, it is the law which allows one person to act on behalf of another. The characters involved are the agent and the principle. If an agency relationship is found to exist, then the agent can "bind" the principle, for example, by signing a contract which the principle will be responsible for. Durable Powers of Attorney, Health Care proxies, and even the attorney / client agreement all create agency relationships; if someone "signs away your rights" to someone else named X, then X can enforce their rights against you, if there is a valid agency relationship. If you don't like the result, you can sue your agent but you would normally still have to honor the agreement to X.

Question: in what context did it come up for you?