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After years of accumulating, a debate about the kind of humor that has come close to the metaphysical and spectrum of a lawsuit featuring Patton Oswalt and Andy Richter, Conan O. Brien has Thursday settled the lawsuit against him, ending an impasse by an independent comedy. writer who had accused the night host of stealing jokes.
The terms of the regulation have not been disclosed. But in an open letter shared with Variety – alternately provocative, funny and erudite – O'Brien said he and his accuser had agreed to "settle our dispute amicably", abandoning a lawsuit that was to begin on the 28th. May in San Diego.
"I decided to give up a potentially costly and ridiculous jury trial in a federal court over five jokes that do not even make any sense," O'Brien wrote. "Four years and countless bills have been abundant."
It all began in July 2015, when writer Robert Alex Kaseberg sued O'Brien; his production company; TBS, which broadcasts O'Brien's show, "Conan"; Time Warner (now WarnerMedia); and members of O'Brien's Creative for violating Kaseberg's copyright by posting jokes he posted on his blog and Twitter account.
In For example, Kaseberg wrote on Twitter on June 9, 2015: "Three cities, two in Texas and one in Tennessee, carry streets named after Bruce Jenner, and they must now consider replacing them with Caitlyn. -Sack-Of-Sackless Bag. "
That night, in the monologue, O'Brien had told a joke similar to that of "Conan": "Some cities whose streets bear the name of Bruce Jenner are trying to change their name to Caitlyn Jenner. If you live on Bruce Jenner's cul-de-sac, it will now be a no-sack cul-de-sac. "
Joke robbery has long been considered a deadly sin in comedy, and allegations of plagiarism have caused lasting damage to once ubiquitous comics, such as Dane Cook and Carlos Mencia, who have been struck by their peers.
But thorny philosophical questions – about the likelihood that two people will have the same thought at the same time, or when a mere observation becomes an original creative expression – have largely prevented the prosecution for infringement from standing.
O'Brien's supporters, who had rallied to his defense after the trial, argued that "parallel thinking" in comedy was commonplace and that there were only news. In the letter published by Variety, O'Brien advanced the same argument.
"The fact is that with more than 321 million monthly users on Twitter, and apparently 60% of them, young budding comedians, creating the same jokes based on the same". News of the day has amazing numbers, "he wrote.
Representatives of Kaseberg and O'Brien could not be contacted.
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