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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 17 May 2017
Conan jokes may have killed, but he stands accused of theft

BRIAN MELLEY was given as Super Bowl one intentionally stole a punchline, he said. Dis- backstage — usually ami-
Associated Press MVP . . . to the guy who joke or put a price on a putes are generally settled cably.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — What Digital time stamps, how-
do Caitlyn Jenner, Tom ever, may help the under-
Brady and the Washington dog. The lawsuit compares
Monument have in com- Kaseberg’s tweets and
mon? blog posts with the timing
They’re all subjects of of emails from O’Brien’s
punchlines Conan O’Brien writers later the same days.
is accused of ripping off — “The problem used to be
and that’s no joke. that if you’re not famous
O’Brien lost an effort to toss and someone else was tell-
out a federal copyright in- ing your joke, they would
fringement lawsuit in San think you ... are the thief
Diego last week, poten- instead of the victim,” Oliar
tially setting up a novel trial said. “Famous comedians
over comic creativity and could easily steal jokes with
the value of laughter. impunity. Now technology
Robert Alexander Kas- can help the novice co-
eberg said he posted sev- median.”
eral jokes online that the The lawsuit names O’Brien,
late-night comedian re- his production company,
peated almost verbatim Turner Broadcasting Sys-
later that day or the next tem, Time Warner Inc., and
on his “Conan” show on In this Feb. 12, 2016 file photo television host Conan O’Brien gestures to the audience the executive producer
TBS.“The laughter stopped at Sanders Theatre on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge. and head writer of the
in late 2014 and early 2015, Associated Press show.q
at least for a spell, when
(Kaseberg) began to no- won the Super Bowl for
tice similarities between the Patriots,” O’Brien said.
his posts and several of the “So Brady’s giving his truck
jokes used in the late-night to Seahawks coach Pete
television show Conan’s Carroll.”
monologues,” U.S. District Another gag followed
Judge Janis Sammartino news that surveyors had
said in a ruling that allows found the Washington
the lawsuit to proceed. Monument was 10 inches
Kaseberg has written for shorter. Both men attribut-
various publications and ed it to cold weather and
had more than 1,000 of his “shrinkage.”
jokes told by Jay Leno, an Comedians have been ac-
archrival of O’Brien. cused of ripping off each
The judge dismissed al- other’s material as long as
legations over two jokes chickens have been cross-
Kaseberg claimed were ing the proverbial road.
originals, but she allowed Milton Berle, dubbed the
the lawsuit to go forward “Thief of Bad Gags,” even
on three others, saying the made light of it, saying of
law provides “thin copy- a fellow comic’s routine,
right protection” for those. “I laughed so hard I nearly
“This is a victory for come- dropped my pencil.”
dy writers, especially lesser While accusations of thefts
known writers,” Kaseberg’s fly, they don’t usually end
attorney Jayson Lorenzo up in court, said Dotan
said. “Their works are pro- Oliar, a law professor at the
tected, and you can’t use University of Virginia.
someone else’s material, After Joe Rogan accused
no matter who you are, Carlos Mencia of plagia-
without facing liability.” rism onstage at the Com-
One of Kaseberg’s jokes edy Store in Los Angeles in
was about the New Eng- a confrontation captured
land Patriots’ 2015 Super on video, Oliar and a col-
Bowl victory that followed league wondered why
what was widely con- such accusations didn’t
sidered one of the worst lead to litigation.
coaching decisions in They found that comedy
sports history by the Seattle doesn’t pay well — un-
Seahawks. O’Brien’s mono- less you’re someone like
logue the next day includ- O’Brien with deep pockets
ed a very similar setup and and a production com-
punchline. pany and network behind
“Tom Brady said he wants him that can also be sued.
to give the truck that he It’s difficult to prove some-