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    ╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and BokeJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:20pm

    Kind of like how 85% of Kinja comments (including 99% of Deadspin jokes) are lifted from Tumblr.

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      crushlovepanic╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and Boke
      7/28/15 2:23pm

      Jesus is that true? (Not that I’m surprised, but I always thought Deadspin commenters were the funniest in the Gawker universe).

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      Jay Hathaway╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and Boke
      7/28/15 2:23pm

      And everything that was ever on the internet started with reddit

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    GregSamsaJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:25pm

    I once wrote for a blog made up of fake celebrities. My specialty was doing both Katie Couric and Samuel L. Jackson. I got paid zilch, was nearly sued by Jackson, and saw a few of my jokes appear on television. No one told me suing was a possibility—I just assumed jokes given for free are jokes to be had by all.

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      You might be wrong.GregSamsa
      7/28/15 5:46pm

      Do you assume that if a television network broadcasts a show over the air, everyone’s just allowed to make copies of it for profit?

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      GregSamsaYou might be wrong.
      7/28/15 5:59pm

      Seems to be the case. It’s public airwaves, correct?

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    Jay HathawayJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:22pm

    The fourth joke, mentioned in Kaseberg’s lawsuit but not his blog post, was from just last month. On Twitter, he wrote, “Three streets named Bruce Jenner might have to change names. And one could go from a Cul-de-Sac to a Cul-de-Sackless.”

    From Conan’s monologue that night: “Some cities that have streets named after Bruce Jenner are trying to change the streets’ names to Caitlyn Jenner. If you live on Bruce Jenner cul-de-sac it will now be cul-de-no sack.”

    Still just another easy joke about a thing in the news, but this one strikes me as the most suspicious of the four.

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      Kony TornheiserJay Hathaway
      7/28/15 2:25pm

      Despite all the snark, the guy is likely correct. All it would take is one Conan writer following him, and then pitching these jokes at their meetings. The other writers wouldn’t even know he was lifting them.

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      sui_generisJay Hathaway
      7/28/15 2:26pm

      Yeah, that’s definitely the only one out of four that isn’t easily and completely reproducible by any mid-rate comedy hacks from the initial premise. It’s oddly-detailed. Still possible for it to be a coincidence, though.

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    MattJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:21pm

    If you're going to accuse them of stealing from you, maybe don't lead off by admitting that one of the 'original' jokes you're claiming as your own was a slightly retooled from a joke made by the person you're accusing of stealing from you.

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      thgyhgbMatt
      7/29/15 12:24pm

      also, why would you admit to coming up with these shitty, hacky jokes

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      Mattthgyhgb
      7/29/15 12:28pm

      For the past 15 years, I think the going mentality has been that its better to be famous for something, anything, than not famous at all. So in some people's mind, it's better to be that famous hack comedian than to just be that hack comedian that no one knows about.

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    gramercypoliceJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:54pm

    I’m sure this is settled law and all that, but is there legal precedence saying that Twitter jokes are automatically copyrighted? I used to follow Kelly Oxford and she was always calling out people who stole her jokes — not one or two, but there were people whose entire Twitter identity consisted of her jokes, slightly modified, and posted on other Twitter accounts.

    But otoh, I can see an argument that says, “Posting on Twitter is like tacking up a manuscript on your main campus bulletin board. Intrinsically, it has no protection because you haven’t made any claim to originality of the work in the first place.” When does the tweet take on the properties of copyrighted material?

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      Jay Hathawaygramercypolice
      7/28/15 3:22pm

      I think twitter users own copyright in their tweets. Twitter just started letting people issue takedown notices for stolen tweets.

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      BradleyPittsgramercypolice
      7/28/15 4:45pm

      Also, in the UK at least, copyright is generated automatically when you create something. Proving that you created it first is another matter, of course, but luckily for him (if he’s right) tweets/blogs are time and date stamped.

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    TheBurningAnnexJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:20pm

    Andy Richter rules. That is all.

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      burlivesleftnutTheBurningAnnex
      7/28/15 2:45pm

      Does it bother you that he’s a sidekick? He should be in charge.

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      Mowgli in flaresTheBurningAnnex
      7/28/15 2:45pm

      One might even say he controls the Universe.

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    gramercypoliceJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:21pm

    TIL comedy writers apparently contributed to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Who knew?

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      ChrisLiongramercypolice
      7/28/15 3:37pm

      Contributing to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno... is that something someone readily admits?

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      LadyManifestoXgramercypolice
      7/28/15 11:49pm
      GIF

      HA! I think Carson himself would approve of that joke

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    GroovingontherubbleJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:24pm

    I have no doubt, TV comedy writers get cold, have down times, writers block, and search the Internet for inspiration and to keep their jobs.

    IMO that’s what happened here and Conan will eventually settle out of court for an undisclosed sum.

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      Sorely VexedGroovingontherubble
      7/28/15 2:39pm

      Even so, I have a hard time believing they’d return to the same lame well four times in a row. Lift four jokes from four different people and you have plausible deniability. Lift four from the same person and the odds of someone noticing are much higher.

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      BernieGroovingontherubble
      7/28/15 3:31pm

      They would have settled prior to filing. Conan’a attorneys are confident that the suit is bogus

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    mkUltravoxJay Hathaway
    7/28/15 2:41pm

    so... how much is a joke worth? i know a guy used to write jokes for Joan Rivers back in the day (sometime in the 1800s i think) and it was like, $100 bucks or less a joke. So a joke today would be... a couple hundred? so he’s looking at maybe 500 bucks? less than a thou surley.

    (don’t call me surely. beat you to it.)

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      Kony TornheiserJay Hathaway
      7/28/15 2:25pm

      I actually think the guy is probably correct. All it would take is one Conan writer following him, and then pitching these jokes at their meetings. The other writers wouldn’t even know he was lifting them.

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