Law Dictionary Definitions

BSD license.See LICENSE.[Blacks Law 8th]

BSA.abbr. BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE.[Blacks Law 8th]

b.s.abbr.See bancus superior under BANCUS.[Blacks Law 8th]

Bryan treaties.Int’l law. Any of 48 treaties designed to avert war by requiring the signatories to submit disputes of any kind to standing peace commissions. • The first of these treaties, named after Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, was signed between the United States and Great Britain in 1914. [Blacks Law 8th]

brutum fulmen (broo-t<<schwa>>m f<<schwa>>l-men or -m<<schwa>>n). [Latin “inert thunder”] 1. An empty noise; an empty threat; something ineffectual. 2. A judgment void on its face; one that is, in legal effect, no judgment at all. [Cases: Judgment  27, 485, 486. C.J.S. Judgments §§ 499, 512, 546, 549.][Blacks Law 8th]

Bruton error (broot-<<schwa>>n). The violation of a criminal defendant’s constitutional right of confrontation by admitting into evidence a nontestifying codefendant’s confession that implicates both of them, where the statement is not admissible against the defendant under any exception to the hearsay rule. • The error is not cured by a limiting instruction to the jury…

Brussels Satellite Convention.Copyright. A 1974 treaty standardizing the regulation of broadcasting and cable retransmission using satellites. • Since the Convention addresses regulation of the signal rather than copyright or neighboring rights, what is transmitted is protected even if the content is not protected by any intellectual-property right. The U.S. ratified the Brussels Satellite Convention in…

brownfield site.An abandoned, idled, or underused industrial or commercial site that is difficult to expand or redevelop because of environmental contamination. Cf. GREENFIELD SITE(1).[Blacks Law 8th]

brother-sister corporation.See sister corporation under CORPORATION.[Blacks Law 8th]

brother-in-law. The brother of one’s spouse or the husband of one’s sister. • The husband of one’s spouse’s sister is also sometimes considered a brother-in-law. Pl. brothers-in-law.[Blacks Law 8th]