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Can You Copyright a Joke? (npr.org)

Posted by msmash on from the getting-to-the-bottom-of-things dept.

Reader AnalogDiehard writes: Writer Alex Kaseburg has filed a lawsuit against TBS and Time Warner alleging that jokes recited on the Conan O'Brien show were stolen from his blog shortly after they were published. The case gets heard in August and could create new protections in a legal forum in which there is little precedent or clear definition in what defines a joke as "original" and subject to legal protection, especially in an industry where theft of humor occurs on a regular basis. But the outcome of any judicial decision opens a big can of worms and raises serious questions: Will YouTube videos get shut down from DMCA notices citing copyrighted jokes? Will compliance staff have to be retained to ensure that their magazine or news article, TV show, movie, or broadway act is not infringing on copyrighted jokes? Will copyrights on jokes get near-perpetual protection like the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act? Will people be able to recite limericks without fear of infringing? Will tyrannical politicians copyright critical jokes to oppress freedom of speech? Will legal cases be filed arguing that a comedian's joke(s) bears too much similarity to a copyrighted joke recited decades ago? Will girl scouts be free to tell copyright jokes around the campfire?

11 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Simple by s.petry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No

    Similarly, you can't Copyright a word, or a string of words. You can trademark a company name, but I can tell jokes about your Company all day long and not violate your trademark law. You can copyright very long strings of words as complete thoughts, but even then I can quote you all I like as long as I give credit.

    If one could copyright a joke, countless comedians would have no possibility of a career. Jokes are remade over and over and over, in addition to being simply stolen between acts. (Intentionally avoiding digs at comedians known to steal other people's jokes.)

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Simple by tomxor · · Score: 5, Informative

      No

      Similarly, you can't Copyright a word, or a string of words.

      What... like a book?>

      There is not hard line of "originality" the brain is input output with an arbitrary amount of processing, cases argue originality of creative works all the time, and everytime they draw an arbitrary line, so "can you copyright a joke"? that's subjective, it depends on the case, it depends on the Judge. (Yes copyright makes no sense)

    2. Re:Simple by orgelspieler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can copyright anything that you have created that has been recorded in some fashion, including a "string of words." If I wrote down a novel and creative joke and published it, and somebody performed the joke in public, they infringed my copyright. I'm rather curious how this will pan out, because Stephen Colbert's writers have been "stealing" material from @midnight, and that would make for a great lawsuit!

    3. Re:Simple by Dog-Cow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is material that already exists in the public domain.

      I don't like the idea of copyrighting jokes, either, but this argument is just plain wrong. Stories of all sorts have existed for centuries, or longer, but adaptations get copyright all the time. In this sense, jokes are just short stories.

    4. Re:Simple by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Funny

      There once was a man from Nantucket...

      who copyrighted a bucket.
      The judge tossed the case
      as moot on its face
      and he heard the next case on his docket.

      No?

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    5. Re:Simple by dougmc · · Score: 4, Informative

      Similarly, you can't Copyright a word, or a string of words.

      You absolutely can copyright a string of words, if it's long enough. And they don't have to be complete thoughts, either.

      Here's a quick summary of what can and can't be copyrighted (page 3.)

      Actually, based on existing law ... I'd say that jokes can be copyrighted as long as they've been recorded somehow -- written down, recorded audibly, etc. and especially if they've been published. One might argue that a really short joke ("Three guys walk into a bar. The fourth one ducks.") is too short, but a longer one? Like "The Aristocats"? Seems eligible to me.

      Of course, the courts may see it differently, but I guess we'll see ...

      You can copyright very long strings of words as complete thoughts, but even then I can quote you all I like as long as I give credit.

      You have a strange view of copyright law.

      {The entire text of the Harry Potter series} --J. K. Rowling

      Of course, that's not what you meant, but it is basically what you said ...

      What you seem to be referring to is "fair use". It certainly exists, but you've greatly oversimplified it.

    6. Re:Simple by sootman · · Score: 5, Funny

      > No?

      No. The meter's off. :-)

      There once was a man from Nantucket
      Who told all his lawyers to suck it.
      He took a big toke,
      Gave up on his joke,
      Got really high and said "fuck it."

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  2. In other words... by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 4, Funny

    So you're saying copyright is a joke?

  3. "Recipes" are a handy analogue here by Valacosa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Probably not. This feels similar to the copyright situation surrounding recipes.

    You can't copyright a recipe. You can copyright a particular description of a recipe, which is why many recipes come with flowery descriptions and pretty pictures. Those can be copyrighted. But the thing itself, the list of instructions, cannot be.

    By the same token, it'd be unsurprising if the courts found that particular wordings or diagrams can be copyrighted, but the joke itself -- the end product -- cannot be copyrighted.

    Conan isn't a hack, he's genuinely funny (IMHO). This is probably coincidental. Somewhat related (from Zach Wiener): An Open Letter to Sarah Silverman

    --
    "Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
  4. I'm not so sure ? by King_TJ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Unfortunately, though I can already imagine all sorts of bad scenarios that will come about from granting jokes copyright protections .... I'm not sure there's a strong argument to prevent the lawyers from hopping aboard this gravy train?

    A professional comedian is essentially paid to deliver jokes and skits that make an audience laugh. In most cases, this is done with memorized lines, scripted and honed over time. In many situations (like late night TV), the host doing a bit of stand-up comedy as part of the show is using jokes purchased from writers who make the material for them.

    So in that sense, yes - jokes have monetary value and it's customary to pay people to provide them for you.

    Obviously, the DELIVERY of the lines is also a part of what makes a comedian "good" (and worth paying to see). But the same could be said for musical performances. We still extend copyright protection to songs, despite the fact that individual artists bring something unique when they perform them.

  5. The Aristocats! by xbytor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    > Like "The Aristocats"? Seems eligible to me.

    Nope. The thing about the Aristocrats is that every comic does their own version. The arch of the joke and the last line is the only thing each version shares. The details are unique to the comic.