Yes, Multiple People Come Up With The Same Joke; It's Not 'Stealing' And Not Even Copying
from the let-it-go dept
A few times in the past, we've had posts looking at the issue of comedians copying each other's jokes and whether or not that's "stealing." Of course, as discussed at length here, this is clearly a misuse of the word "steal," but a larger point is that, like so much else in this world, there's a world of difference between idea and execution. In fact, if you look back at the history of joke telling it was all about "joke stealing," where people would tell and repeat jokes heard elsewhere. The real question was who could tell it better and perhaps change or embellish it to improve it. In fact, even comedians who complain about "joke stealing" seem to know this intrinsically, as can be seen in the movie The Aristocrats, which involves a ton of comedians all telling the same joke in very, very different ways.But there's another angle to this as well: which is that certain joke ideas are so basic that it's likely many people came up with the same idea. Jackie sent over this great blog post by Irwin Handleman, a TV comedy writer, pointing out how silly it is for people to complain about "joke stealing" involving those types of jokes. He gives an example:
A few weeks ago, after President Obama showed his birth certificate to Donald Trump and the other racists, The Onion's headline was: "Afterbirthers Demand To See Obama's Placenta."Some things aren't about copying at all, but just about the natural humor of the situation. And Handleman has it right. Getting upset about that kind of thing is ridiculous.
A fine joke. But then Bill Maher went on twitter and wrote: "I see The Onion stole my placenta joke that I did in Feb 2010 HBO special"
Wow. Okay. I've never heard of The Onion being accused of stealing in the past. It also seemed a bit presumptuous that everyone has seen that HBO special.
Well, it turns out that The Onion headline was actually a link to something they wrote in August of 2009. Apparently The Onion recycles its content when news stories pop again. They actually did the joke 6 months before Bill did!
Does this mean that Bill stole from The Onion? Of course not. Just like it was dumb to think they stole from him. It happens all the time. In fact, just to show how ridiculous the whole thing is, The Daily Show ended up doing the exact same joke, and Rupaul tweeted it a variation of it as well.
Bill Maher should've done what all comedians should do when it comes to this shit: shut the hell up. Let your work speak for itself. The hacks will fade, the talented will succeed.
This whole episode was very interesting to us at our show. Because last year, we wrote a line: "Life starts at the erection". And then 2 months later, Bill Maher said "Life starts at the erection". Did we say anything? No. It was a coincidence, and we knew it, and we moved on.
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Reader Comments
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I Like Bill
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I Do Not Like Bill
... I think Bill Maher is an ass, but he's usually an "original" ass.
The good comedians should be able to successfully execute a common idea in an original manner anyway. The comedians that do are usually so good that the joke seems original anyway. The comedians that don't (MENCIA) tend to be called out on failing to deliver. It seems to me that the whole joke stealing complaint is more of a means to draw attention to a comedian's shortcomings on delivery than on the originality of content.
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Very bizarre, these attempts to own something that people clearly think of independently. I am sure if you scour the Interwebs, these very words will have been written before by someone. I apologize in advance for inadvertently stealing them and promise I will return the words as soon as I am finished using them.
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By Bill Maher's own standards he stole the joke from the Onion.
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Legalize Non-commercial Copying
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Erection humor
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Re: Erection humor
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Re: Re: Erection humor
Well, then I wouldn't want to claim it as my own.
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invent this joke
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Re: invent this joke
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Re: invent this joke
Y'know, you really need to tell the WHOLE joke, not just the punchline - how many people realize this is a pun on "rectum"?
(BRIEFLY: Story teller: "Some guy shot me in the asshole." Indignant response: "Rectum." Storyteller: "Wrecked him? Damn near killed him!")
C'mon, folks - be honest - how many of you got this one?
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Just suppose copyright in jokes did exist
Pretty fast the world would become a humourlessness place as everyone would be scared to tell a joke in case someone else had said it first and they would get sued for using it.
So why exactly do we think Patents foster innovation?
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Re: Just suppose copyright in jokes did exist
As for here and now, what if some "big" artist puts a joke in one of his/her lyrics, will it be safe to retell the joke in a public place?
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Re: Re: Just suppose copyright in jokes did exist
Only if ASSCAP gets a piece of the humor.
*ASSCAP and all derivative jokes (C) Bill Marr
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stealing ideas
I used to like Bill Maher but it looks like he...
*slips on sunglasses*
... Got kicked by a MAHER.
YYEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!
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A "fine joke" !!!!!! OMFG !!!!!
You would have to be one sick prick to consider that joke, amuzing, or even remotely funny.... But then again, we all know about the "US Sense of humor"..
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- Heavy Metal is just noise
- Abstract art is just random scribbles and blotches
- Webcomics are made by losers for losers.
Basically, whatever doesn't fit into your little stereotype of how reality should be is crap and whoever doesn't think that it is crap is demented.
But don't blame yourself: it's basic human instinct. Except that some of us have evolved past that, and accept the fact that some people "might" actually enjoy the joke...no matter how bad it is.
PS: I don't find it funny either.
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What did the milk say to the cereal?
Do you wanna get together for breakfast?
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But then I think Laffy Taffy jokes are the best.
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Whoops
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The desperation runs deep amongst the freeloaders this morning.
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If I download a "ripped" version or a downgraded version off the Internet, it isn't infringement anymore?
If it doesn't matter, then yes, they are analogous.
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Nothing in this thread even remotely suggests anything about a broadcast or transmission of a digital copy of a song or movie.
Move your silly ass trolling to another thread please!!
Preferably just take it back under your bridge with you and call it a day!!
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Joke Stealing
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Get a sense of proportion, PLEASE!
No biggie - nothing to see hear folks, please move on.
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No New Ideas
It is why copyright cannot, and should not, be about ideas but implementation. And about that specific implementation. And since you built your implementation on a mixture of your own ideas and stuff that came before -- others should be able to come along and use your ideas in their implementations too.
Why is this such a hard concept for copyright maximalists to get? Oh yeah...greed at all costs. A little greed is good (for a capitalist,) but not at the expense of everything else.
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Odd Couple: Assume
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example
"Kick out the Mexicans and build a wall?
Who's going to build it?"
And I've seen people claim this joke has been stolen by people.
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Re: example
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How stand-up comics handled joke-stealing
Some people just ignored the copying. Others chewed the copier out. Everybody passed the word, behind the offender's back, that he was not to be trusted. According to the story, the most comics would use their "B" material (older or less funny jokes) at shows where the offender was also performing.
My teacher friend opined that this "thief" comic's success as a stand-up, and his later break into acting, was greatly helped by to the other comics' protective behavior. In a show with five or ten other comics, this one dude was the only guy consistently using his best, funniest "A" jokes, while everybody else was pulling punches. By comparison, this one dude always looked like a stand-out superstar.
Personally, I figured that stand-up comedy in the 1980s was already pretty derivative and homogenous. The impact of outright, word-for-word copying probably wouldn't be all that noticeable, given the cookie-cutter approaches of most comics.
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I like jokes!
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