Joke Book Publisher Settles Jay Leno Lawsuit
Jay Leno and other comedians have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit against publishers that printed their jokes without permission.
Editor Judy Brown and her publishers have agreed to stop publishing the joke books and to pay an undisclosed amount to the comedians, according to a press release. Brown also issued an apology.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles federal court in 2006, Reuters reports. Stand-up comedians who joined the suit included Rita Rudner, Jimmy Brogan and Bob Ettinger.
Theodore Boutrous Jr. of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented the comedians and NBC Studios, which produces The Tonight Show with Leno.
Boutrous said Leno, Rudner and NBC would donate their part of the settlement to charity and his law firm will contribute some of its fees, adding up to “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the Associated Press reports.
“We got everything we wanted and could have asked for through the settlement,” Boutrous told Reuters.
