Posner agreed with Judge Barbara Crabb, of Wisconsin’s Western District in Madison, that Conrad’s suit was without merit. He went on to point out that “banana costumes quite similar to hers are, we are surprised to discover, a common consumer product” and even produced a Google search URL for such get-ups.

Posner also pointed out Conrad’s record of litigiousness.

“She has filed suits in state and federal court against her former lawyers, and once sued her web hosting company for taking down her website after she failed to pay the bill,” he wrote. “The web host had paid $4,000 to compensate her for ‘lost business’ while the website was down — even though it was down because of her failure to pay. She pocketed the $4,000 but sued the web host and in both state and federal court — anyway.”

Copyright watchers like TechDirt.com believe the case is important for its questions about whether a “performer” has any valid claim to copyright.

The case has understandably led to editors employing their favorite banana-related puns — "Banana Lady’s lawsuit slips up appeals court," "Case of banana lady has little a-peel for judge."

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