Conan O’Brien joke copyright claim heads to trial

A lawsuit accusing comedian Conan O’Brien of stealing jokes has been given the green light to go to trial.

O’Brien had been accused of stealing the jokes from Robert Kaseberg, a freelance comedy writer, who sued the comedian and Time Warner in July 2015 at the US District Court for the Southern District of California.

Kaseberg, who has written over 1,000 jokes used by comedian Jay Leno, claimed that O’Brien had infringed copyright on five of his jokes.

On Friday, May 12, District Judge Janis Sammartino said allegations over a University of Alabama-Birmingham joke and a Delta Air Lines joke will not proceed to trial, but gave the green light on three others.

The three jokes that will continue to trial are a joke about American football player Tom Brady, one about the Washington Monument and a joke about celebrity Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce Jenner).

“And although the punchlines of the jokes are creative, they are nonetheless constrained by the limited number of variations that would (1) be humorous (2) as applied to the specific facts articulated in each joke’s previous sentence and (3) provide mass appeal,” said Sammartino.

She added that jokes only merit “thin” copyright protection.

In February last year, Kaseberg posted on Twitter and his blog that “The Washington Monument is ten inches shorter than previously thought. You know the winter has been cold when a monument suffers from shrinkage”, said the judge’s order.

Later that day, a writer for O’Brien submitted a joke for that night’s monologue.

O’Brien later performed the joke, stating: “Yesterday surveyors  announced that the Washington Monument is ten inches shorter than what’s been previously recorded. Yeah. Of course, the monument is blaming the shrinkage on the cold weather. Penis joke.”

Jayson Lorenzo, the principal of the Law Offices of Jayson M. Lorenzo and representative of Kaseberg, said: "Comedy writers deserve to be compensated and to receive credit for the commercially valuable IP they create, just like everyone else who works to make a living.”

He added that the suit is a victory for comedy writers, especially lesser known ones.

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