Dear Doc:
What is the strangest form of intellectual property protection you’ve ever run across?
Signed,
Ronald McD.
Dear Ronald:
Without a doubt, the most unusual form of protection of an idea or expression is the Clown Egg Register in Wookey Hole, England (the “Register”). The Doc is indebted to David Fagundes and Aaron Perzanowski and their article “Clown Eggs” in the Notre Dame Law Review (Vol. 94:3, p. 1313) for much of what follows…
To the casual observer, most clowns are pretty much alike: big floppy shoes, brightly colored baggy clothes, a red nose, and a wig, and there ya’ go…a clown. To the cognoscenti, however, each and every clown is a unique expression, and the informal rules of the clown world prohibit one would-be clown from copying the expression of another clown entirely. It’s OK to use the same wig or shoes, but the most important and identifiable feature of each clown, his or her facial makeup, is to be respected.
According to the Notre Dame law review article, “In 1946, an English chemist named Stan Bult began painting portraits of clowns on chicken eggs. The eggs featured members of the International Circus Clown Club (ICCC), of which Bult was the founder and secretary, as well as famous historical clowns. Today, the organization has been renamed Clowns International (CI), but the tradition of memorializing clown makeup designs continues.” Notably, however, there is no requirement that one submit an egg to the Register, but it has been seen that clowns the world over still respect the principle of uniqueness that the Register exists to support.
The Register is but one example of a community of creative artists regulating their field through informal norms, rather than attempting to shoehorn their work into existing statutory schemes. Thus, in a manner similar to those of chefs, drag performers, graffiti artists, magicians, physicians, roller derby athletes, standup comedians, and tattooers, clowns regulate copying through norms, and have, in addition, established an evidentiary register to reduce uncertainty in resolving conflicts over rights in their personae.
Again, according to the law review, “There are three primary categories of clowns—the whiteface, the auguste, and the character clown.” To these, Americans seem to have added an additional character – the politician. Notably, at least some politicians wear more makeup and funny wigs than actual circus clowns, but these office-seekers seem never to have heard of the Egg Register, perhaps preferring to ignore the norms it represents, just as they flaunt other norms and intellectual property rights.
Do you want to protect your intellectual property? Consult the attorneys at LW&H…they’re not only NOT afraid of clowns, but have only rarely been referred to as one.
Until next month,
The “Doc”
— Lawrence A. Husick, Esq.