The bizarre story of Trump’s plagiarized inauguration cake

Think about the sorts of places where the national leader wears a military uniform. Mostly nice places to live?

George Washington may have made different sartorial choices had he served as president after WWII vs. before.

4 Likes

Those images are Presidential portraits, and the second one is John Adams, who did not serve in the military. There is an explicit comparison between Trump, Obama, Nixon, and Washington. They have the office of the President in common. Also Jackson, who I am not a big fan of. But even if the apocalypse happens tomorrow, Trump will still have been President, and there is likely going to be a creepy statue of him in the Hall of Presidents at WDW.

Surely there must be SOMEONE out there trying to figure out how to secretly replace him with a more level-headed robotic doppelgänger.

4 Likes

Agreed. Personally, I like swords. If both swords and hats became fashionable again, it would please me immensely. But I am anachronistic. And Old timey.

Well, wearing a sword wasn’t just a fashion thing at the time. It was a statement, like open carry only perhaps more serious. The statement was: “I am a hard man and if you fuck with me I will stab you in the heart.”

I’m actually pretty glad most of society has moved past that honor culture bullshit.

10 Likes

Finish off the logical progress of your statement:
…and therefore, the President is not in the armed forces.

Just because you can command it to do something does not mean that you are in the armed forces. It is a serious and important difference that is a fundamental trademark to ensure that there can never be a military dictatorship.

5 Likes

King George V-


Carl XVI of Sweden-

Stealing is fine. Why should the victim create drama? Sad.

7 Likes

Are you advocating the US adopt a European style monarchy? I didn’t think you liked it when you had one.

8 Likes

Perhaps “part of” instead of “a member of”. before 1986, the separation was clearer.

As R says, IP-type protections for food is very limited. That’s why commercial food processors rely on trademarks and trade secrets; once the recipe is out of the bag there’s not really any getting it back in. Occasionally one will hear stories of one chef wanting to sue another for infringement, but it usually doesn’t get very far. Duff must have quickly realized there’s no advantage to him for being a dick about another bakery getting a job he wouldn’t want anyway and the money going to charity.

1 Like

Yes! Many… for one thing, the samurai were expected to be horsemen. For another, straight-bladed samurai swords existed, and were fairly commonplace at one time. For another, some samurai preferred to fight with weapons other than swords, although the social status denoted by the daishō meant they’d probably still wear them. So yeah, plenty of opinions :wink:

But my opinion is that you should cut cake with a straight bladed sword, otherwise you will look dorky when you have to ride the curve against the cake pan or tabletop.

Edit: Looking at images of Trump sword cake-cutting now - it’s dorktacular.

6 Likes

Is actually not a part of. Is a civilian outside the armed forces. Not even in the Coast Guard.

“In in charge of the armed forces” the way that the Vice President gets a vote in the Senate tie breakers but is not actually in Congress.

Seriously. He’s not in the armed forces. Can’t be per the Constitution. It’s, like, a thing.

3 Likes

Certainly not. I just like swords and uniforms. Swords, mostly. As I mentioned, I had the opportunity to wear both in college, and custom boots. I still wear good boots. If I had a good excuse to carry a sword every day and not look like a lunatic or scare people, I would do so. But I am so far OT that I am likely to get fussed at, so back to cake.

1 Like

How precisely would you administer that? While this case of an exact copy of a cake decoration is rather clear cut. Most subjects in food are not. Would a cake decorated in the same general style run afoul? Because you’d certainly see that sort of suit. What about the particular formulation of butter cream used? Or variations or improvements derived from it? The base concept of butter cream itself? Who gets the copyright on that? Does anybody? Should they? Who gets to own stock? Who gets to own stirring some marmite into stock to give it a savory boost? Does one clash with the other?

And so forth. It’s relatively easy to imagine simple cases where there’s an easy answer. But for is a base unit of culture, like language. All of it is based in, reliant on or a direct application of some one else’s work or long held cultural knowledge. It’s messy and attempts to inject IP protection would end up with something as weird and counter productive as software patents.

1 Like

I’m not sure if you are speaking from knowledge about copyright or about baking here, but if it’s the former, if someone successfully made the argument that we weren’t really talking about a cake but about a statue - it’s art not food - would that change the analysis?

I really have no idea what would happen if someone else made a statue then I basically copied their design. I don’t know what position that puts them in legally.

And not that it matters to this case anyway, since Duff is obviously not going to make a fuss about it, let alone try to take it to court. I’m just following my own train of thought.

1 Like

I’ve got some experience in the subject, though not direct and not legal. I’ve been a cook. Know a lot of high end cooks and bakers. And I’ve been in and of food bev for like 16 years.

So yeah so far as I know you could present the argument that your cake design is analogous to sculpture or other visual art. And assert copyright that way. But the copyright office is not likely to accept that owing to the clear exceptions carved out for food. You could like wise attempt to make the same argument in court. But whoevers defending from that is gonna go for the obvious holes in the argument. In regards to the difference between a sculpture made as art. And a cake made on hire for people to eat.

But yeah the possibility is there. And if you successfully made the argument (enough times) then cake designs would become copyrightable. But to my knowledge that exact tactic hasn’t panned out in the past. In large part actual cooks and bakers seem disinterested in such protections. When you see these fights erupt is usually a “business” person attempting to gain competitive advantage by copyright shit like hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Or trademarking names for common dishes.

More often it’s something like joke steeling in comedy. Public shaming of some one who lifted some one else’s work wholesale and without attribution.

4 Likes

It angers me that I agree with that man about anything. Even dippin dots. Which are gross.

5 Likes

Well, that’s the whole trouble, ain’t it? Trump is a lunatic (well, unstable and quick to anger, at least) and is scaring people. Some random person walking down the road with a sword is one thing. But every thing a president does sends a message, and in this day and age, it’s the wrong message – and I suspect in this case he knows very well the message he’s sending. “I’m in charge, I’m gonna do exactly as I please.” Or something like that. It’s kinda scary.

8 Likes

Military or not the wearing of swords was de rigueur at the time. IIRC daily wear had gone out by that time. But formal occasions often demanded it. So that’s a fashionable affectation dictated by class and etiquette. And nothing to do with being the commander in chief.

5 Likes