SO THIS COMEDIAN GOES TO COURT
It’s no laughing matter that Jay Leno’s witticisms ended up in a series of joke books.
A complaint filed last week (.pdf) in Los Angeles on behalf of Leno, NBC and several other comedians claims author Judy Brown and her publishing companies printed the material of certain comedians without getting permission.
“We believe that the jokes are copyrighted by the creator,” said Theodore Boutrous Jr., a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner representing the plaintiffs. “They’re distinctive and meet all the standards for copyright.”
A lawyer for the defense, Joseph Hiersteiner at Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer & Gee, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Brown’s books credit the comedians who authored the jokes, but the complaint says that makes the alleged violations even worse, because the books are then marketed on that basis. The suit says one volume is advertised as a way to give readers a look at the “best and brightest comedians � without paying the two-drink minimum at a comedy club.”
It also alleges that she collected the jokes, in part, by sending representatives into comedy clubs to record comedians’ routines.
A monetary amount has not been established yet, but plaintiffs Leno, NBC and Rita Rudner will donate any recovery to charity, Boutrous said. “We want relief for our client � we filed the complaint with that goal in mind.” The plaintiffs also are asking that the books be removed from sale and the materials disposed of.
The jokes that appeared on the “Tonight Show” are registered as copyrighted, but Boutrous said the ones performed in comedy shows or other venues should be covered by a general common law copyright attached to works of this nature.
“As [a] matter of law, things can be copyrightable even without being registered,” Boutrous said.
The complaint is sprinkled with a handful of the jokes that appear in Brown’s books.
For example, among the jokes in “Squeaky Clean Comedy,” there’s Rita Rudner’s take on naming kids: “It gets harder to name children when you get older. Because by the time you’re in your thirties every name you think of reminds you of someone you hate. We have to hurry, we’re down to Jethro and Nefertiti.”
� Kellie Schmitt
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