Thursday, November 30, 2006

On Strange Case Names

In a copyright case where archive parade footage from a charity fundraiser video was accidentally included in a strip flick, we read the following:

Thus, this most delightful of case names: Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children v. Playboy Enterprises; seriously rivaled, in our judgment, only by United States v. 11 1/4 Dozen Packages of Article Labeled in Part Mrs. Moffat's Shoo Fly Powders for Drunkenness, 40 F. Supp. 208 (W. D. N.Y. 1941) (condemnation proceeding under Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act), and United States ex rel. Mayo v. Satan and his Staff, 54 F.R.D. 282 (W. D. Pa. 1971) (leave to proceed in forma pauperis denied in view of questions of personal jurisdiction over defendants).

815 F.2d 323, 325 n.1 (5th Cir. 1987).

In case you were wondering, the inclusion does appear to have been accidental: Playboy asked, through an intermediary, for some Mardi Gras footage; the intermediary asked a New Orleans TV station for it, and the TV station, rather than go through their archives to try to find a good clip, just pulled it from spools of footage of a staged Mardi Gras parade they had shot as an in-kind donation to the Easter Seals.

So here is my easy request designed to prompt comments:

Which of these do you think the funniest? Do you know of any other good ones?

1 comment:

The Brain said...

Here are two more I have found:

R.M.S. Titanic, Inc. v. Wrecked & Abandoned Vessel, 323 F. Supp. 2d 724 (E.D.Va. 2004)

In re Application & Affidavit for a Search Warrant, 923 F.2d 324 (4th Cir. 1991)