MADISON, Wis. A family entertainer who performs health and wellness videos for a variety of sponsors filed suit against CUNA Management School, CUNA Mutual, Midcoast FCU and the defunct AM Community CU, which she said used her copyrighted “Banana Lady” video without her authorization.
In her suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Western Wisconsin, Catherine Conrad says Todd Streeter, who was chief information officer of AM Community CU (now a part of TruStone Financial CU), posted photos and videos of her copyrighted and trademarked character without her permission. The Banana Lady video photos and videos were posted on the CUNA Management School business Facebook page and the AM Community CU Facebook page, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs in the suit all have insurance coverage by CUNA Mutual Group, according to the suit.
Catherine Conrad is a self-employed family entertainer who performs singing telegrams, corporate roasts and toasts, and her trademark Banana Lady, which includes a health and wellness campaign for local, regional and national sponsors to educate families on eating right and keeping fit. She has been actively pitching local television corporate sponsorships at $130,000 each to banks and credit unions and was preparing to launch a national campaign theme song, “Money Money Money” when the photos appeared online without her permission, she says in the suit. “It is difficult to sell financial sponsorships for the Banana Lady family and wellness campaign when people are out there using her image and character for free,” says the suit.
The suit says Conrad received a phone call from Lori Saucier from Midcoast FCU on July 13, 2011 asking her to provide a birthday singing telegram for one of the attendees at CUNA Management School’s conference in Madison on July 14. Conrad said she told Saucier that the Banana Lady character was copyrighted and trademarked and not to post it online without permission or paying a fee. The announcement was to be made to all attendees prior to the performance. After Conrad performed her Banana Lady routine, however, it was posted on the Internet, anyway.
The suit claims copyright infringement, trade dress violation of the Lanham Act, trademark infringement and duty of care.
