Who Owns A Joke?

There’s no question that comics steal jokes from one another, but a scholarly review found not a single copyright case filed by one comedian against another for lifting original material. That’s partly because copyright law defends the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. It can also be attributed to the cost of legislation – ranging from $373,000 to $1 million – which is a little out of reach for most working comics. Given the legal gray area, comedians work under an informal code, though there are instances of suing non-comics, as Jay Leno did in 2006.