conrad banana

Important lessons from this case:

1. Singing telegrams spread cheer by bringing laughs into the workplace, home, public entertainment or party.
2. It is implausible to believe that if you wear a banana costume to perform a singing telegram in a workplace event, that someone won’t take a photo of you and post it on their Facebook page.
3. Judge Posner is surprised that banana costumes are common consumer items.
4. Performing a singing telegram is not copyrightable if its not fixed in a tangible medium.
5. If the plaintiff had recorded her banana costume dance performance, or written banana dance notation, then she would have complied with the fixity requirement.
6. If plaintiff had had a protectable copyright, and advised the event arrangers that posting photos of her were prohibited, and the arrangers hadn’t advised the audience of this prohibition, then the arrangers may have been liable for inducement.
7. But the plaintiff didn’t satisfy the fixity requirement, so she didn’t have a copyright, and the arrangers did advise the audience of the prohibition, so that’s that.
8. If you file eight cases in federal court since 2009, and nine cases in state court since 2011, you will piss off Justice Posner.

conrad v am banana dance.pdf

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