Law Profs Explain Why Comics Don't Sue Over Joke Thefts
Copyright law applies to joke thefts, but comedians rarely invoke legal protections because suits are too expensive and uncertain.
One legal barrier is that copyright protects original expression, but not the original idea, according to UCLA law professor Kal Raustiala and University of Virginia law professor Chris Sprigman, writing at the New York Times Freakonomics blog.
That means comics who rewrite jokes rather than stealing them wholesale are safe from judgments.
Instead of resorting to the courts, comics use social norms to enforce their own informal rules of conduct. “Comedians maintain a small list of commandments that every comic must follow—or risk being ostracized, boycotted, and sometimes worse,” they write.
As evidence they cite a paper co-authored by Sprigman based on many interviews with comedians. The comedians’ social norms go further than copyright law, protecting the underlying ideas as well as the way they are expressed.
