TAXATION. The ultimate goal of any limited partnership is to provide a framework in which there is limited personal liability as to taxation for all owners (Cleveland, Wells & Yashimoto, 1996)
A. WHY DOES a GYM FIT a NEED? Gymnasiums (hereinafter alternatively "gyms," "fitness centers" or "fitness facilities") serve a wide range of needs in contemporary American society, ranging from meeting the purely physical fitness-related needs of people to those that are more related to socialization and, by extension, romance and dating (Cruz-George, 2007
This definition of a limited partnership is congruent with the provisions of the Uniform Limited Partnership Act that stipulates such a partnership is comprised of one or more general partners and one or more limited partners who are not bound by the obligations of the partnership (Black's, 1991). A limited partnership represents an effective operational structure for asset protection because limited partners are generally liable only for their partnership contributions and not for any partnership debts if they do not participate in the control of the day-to-day partnership business; by contrast, general partners control the partnership and are completely liable for partnership debts (Dedon, 1999)
The general partner of a limited partnership has full authority to manage the affairs of the limited partnership and is subject to unlimited liability for debts and obligations incurred by the limited partnership. Limited partners have no rights to participate in the management and control of the business of the limited partnership; however, they also are not liable for any of the debts or obligations of the limited partnership in excess of the amount of capital they contributed to the partnership (Gutterman, 1994, p
There are some limits as to what and how much can be assessed against partnership assets. In this regard, the same type of affirmative asset partitioning that is applied to corporations, typically termed "priority with liquidation protection" is also used with limited partnerships which assigns creditors a prior claim on assets as well as providing that if a partner becomes insolvent, the partner's personal creditors cannot force liquidation of partnership assets to satisfy their claims upon exhausting the partner's personal assets (Hansmann & Kraakman, 2000)
For instance, Mealey (1997) examined the reasons why most people sought out a public gymnasium and the types of exercise equipment they used during their visits and found some interesting relationships between the two variables. The gym clientele that was found to be more interested in establishing relationships used exercise equipment that maximized their opportunities for communication with members of the opposite sex as well as those that accentuated the physical attributes the respondents believed were most attractive (Mealey, 1997)
BACKGROUND. With a history dating to the ancient Greeks who were fond of using the facilities for socialization besides physical fitness activities, gymnasia have served as meeting places and exercise venues for humankind for thousands of years (Rahe, 1993)
To satisfy the terms of a contract and have it held as authentic in a court of relevant jurisdiction, the six elements of a contract must be considered, which are (a) intention (did the parties to the contract make their respective intentions evident?); (b) agreement (there is concordance between the parties as to the terms of the contract); (c) consideration (something of value changed hands pursuant to the contract); (d) capacity (the legal standing of the parties to contract with each other); (e) consent (affirmative consent was demonstrated by the parties) and (e) legality (the enterprise outlined in the contract is not illegal). Part of the contractual requirements for the general and limited partners will involve entering into a mutual nondisclosure agreement concerning the operations and business plan used by the private gym enterprise outlined herein, as well as a non-competing employment agreement for a period to be determined for all general partners of the limited partnership ("two time periods must be considered when drafting them: the partner's tenure in the partnership and the period afterward" (Truskowski & Thorne-Thomsen, 1999, p
Gym operators who are in doubt concerning optimum temperature levels should consult with their clientele as well as the relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines which recommend a workplace temperature control in the range of 68-76 degrees F. And humidity control in the range of 20%-60% as set forth in the OSHA Manual which also provides corresponding allowable noise ranges depending on the activities that are involved (West, 2006; Temperature, 2007)
And humidity control in the range of 20%-60% as set forth in the OSHA Manual which also provides corresponding allowable noise ranges depending on the activities that are involved (West, 2006; Temperature, 2007). In addition, some upscale gym operators have even recruiting the services of feng shui experts to help them provide an atmosphere that is conducive to promoting harmonious environmental conditions for their clients (Wu, 2005)
Data protection laws are expected to become tougher in the U.S. And Europe in the coming year (Baker, 2010)
Heimusic is the publisher of the information on its website and it is responsible for the content it displays. Under standard common-law principles, a person who publishes a defamatory statement by another bears the same liability for the statement as if he or she had initially created it (Citizen Media Law Project, 2009)
A website disclaimer and terms of use provision could provide a great deal of risk mitigation for Heimusic. The disclaimer should include key elements such as the rights to information published, website content (quality, accuracy and use), restrictions on who can use the website, external links, the website owners rights to remove or reproduce material uploaded or posted to its website, liability for the actions of users of the website, limiting liability for viruses and legal jurisdiction (Davy, 2008)
Privacy and Data Collection Heimusic's collection of personal data from users poses a privacy issue which could subject the company to penalties. In the UK, the Data Protection Act of 1998 ("DPA") requires that companies storing and using personal data adhere to certain requirements (Dotmailer, 2010)
The creation of a consumer contract may cause Heimusic to be subject to the consumer protection laws of the country where the user resides. The Rome I Regulation, which took effect in the UK on 17 December 2009, updates the rules determining which country's laws apply to a contract (Halton, 2010)
The images and music may be copyrighted material belonging to the creator of the works. Copyrighting protects the author from plagiarism and illegal copying and reselling of the work (Jay313, 2008)
This is an area of risk for Heimusic because it could be liable for defamation. Defamation is the issuance of a false statement about another person, which causes that person to suffer harm (Larson, 2003)
Depending on how much detail is present in the actual terms of the consent given by users, Heimusic may be entering into consumer contracts with each of users for the use and licensing of their information. The formation of a contract requires an offer by a party, an acceptance on the offered terms, definite terms as to what the contract is for and adequate consideration (Ollek, 2009)
File sharing was first brought into controversy by Internet giant Napster and the subsequent legal battles over its peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing website. The Napster litigation began in December of 1999, when the five major recording industry companies -- BMG, Sony, EMI, Universal and Warner -- filed suit against Napster for copyright infringement (Sher, 2002)
, a supplier of customer-relationship management software. "Any company that doesn't understand the value of the customer relationship won't be around for very long" (Wilder, 2001)