You Can’t Spell Holiday Spirit Without Litigation
Holiday seasons usually bring joy and glee, but nothing quite compares to having money to deck the halls. While most express gratitude and happiness for spending time with family and friends, these lawsuits show that good tidings aren’t for all:
- An attorney in Manhattan was forced to listen to the Christmastime classic “Jingle Bells” all day, every day and finally said “Bah Humbug!” After the relentless, auditory onslaught of this magic song became too much, he sued his neighbor who was playing the music for noise pollution and won! He clearly believed that “Silent Night” was superior.
- The holiday season is all about traditions: music, lights, and watching your favorite football team lose on Christmas Day. One of the newer, and most popular traditions, is the playful elf on a shelf. But, nothing spells Christmas like a good ole’ fashioned monopoly. After the creation of the original “Elf on a Shelf”, various similar products came out and these creators were sued for stealing profits. As Christopher Lambert (Connor MacCleod in the holiday classic “Highlander”) eloquently said “There can be only one.”
- Despite what the attorney in the first example claimed and won, not all courts agree that holiday music is a bad thing. In 2016, residents of a jail in Arizona sued their county jail for playing holiday music half of the day. They must have spoken with the Manhattan based attorney, as they sued for cruel and unusual punishment and for violations of their religious rights! The federal court judges, however, were prancing, dancing, and dashing to the defense of these classics and held that Rudolph’s red nose showed the way for Santa, not the inmates’ way to a successful lawsuit.
From our family to yours, please have a safe and fun holiday season. Happy Holidays!
