The Key West Citizen has an article “Attorney: Buffett didn’t coin phrase”
Jimmy Buffett didn’t coin the phrase “Coconut Telegraph” after all, an attorney for the singer/songwriter’s Margaritaville Enterprises now says.
Buffett attorney Jeffrey Smith wrote a letter Sunday to Denise Malefyt, whose Prestige Publishing produces the 8,000 circulation Conch Republic Coconut Telegraph, recanting an earlier statement.
“We sent you a letter on April 30, 2008, regarding your company’s violations of Margaritaville trademark rights. In that letter, we stated that Jimmy Buffett coined the phrase “coconut telegraph” in 1981. … Based on your feedback and our further investigation, this information appears to be incorrect. We are therefore retracting that statement.”