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Wait, Conan OBrien is being sued?
The alleged joke theft resulted in a lawsuit in which Kaseberg is seeking $450,000 in damages.
Who is Alex Kaseberg?
Hes also done some stand-up and had at least one joke used by David Letterman.
He said in a 2018 interview onLaughSpinthat he started posting jokes online to get jobs.
The point of the blog and putting jokes on Twitter was just marketing, he said.
Why did this case take so long to go to trial?
There are only so many days in a week, month, and year to hear cases.
A lot also goes on behind the scenes in terms of paperwork and motions.
What is the difference between stealing a joke and infringing on copyright?
In most cases,the legal definition of theftusually involves the unauthorized taking of property.
If it sounds complicated, it really is.
Is it likely that OBrien actually stole jokes?
That will be up to the court to decide.
Kaseberg alleges that OBriens team stole a total of five jokes.
One of these has already been thrown out by the judge over technicalities, leaving four jokes in question.
What are the jokes hes accused of stealing?
And they fought over control of the armrest the entire flight.
Kaseberg claims that OBrien used this joke that same night on his television show.
truck to the man who won the game for the Patriots.
Enjoy that truck, Pete Carroll.
Kaseberg says OBrien told this joke on his show that aired one day later.
You know the winter has been cold when a monument suffers from shrinkage.
Kaseberg says OBrien used the joke on air on February 17.
Finally, the fourth joke was about Caitlyn Jenner.
Each time, he alleges, he posted a joke earlier than it was used on theConanshow.
Has there been any fallout for Kaseberg after accusing such a big star of stealing jokes?
If anything, people who never knew Kasebergs name now know it.
Did Kaseberg ever give a shot to reach out to the show to discuss the matter?
I never asked them to pay me, Kaseberg told LaughSpin.
I never asked for a job.
I wanted them to acknowledge those were my jokes.
Thats as far as it got.
Kaseberg said that Sweeneys reaction to him, which he describes as borderline horrific, inspired the lawsuit.
Will Conan testify at the trial?
THESE TAKES ARE TOO HOT!
We create jokes from nothing.
What do we know about the case so far?
Then just last month, OBriens legal team askedU.S.
And while the request was initially denied, Sammartino eventually came around and agreed to the bifurcation.
He wanted them to analyze the pattern of jokes that he had written to show that theConanjokes were his.
What does Team Coco have to say about all of this?
OBriens team denies stealing any jokes.
How hard or easy is this case to prove?
In fact, those time stamps could end up being pretty damning for OBrien.
Have there been any other cases about joke stealing?
As such, the comedy world has tried many different ways to seek retribution over perceived sticky fingers.
Remember when the Gallagher brothers fought over who hadthe right to smash watermelonswith a sledgehammer?
Or whenJoan Rivers sued Frank Marinofor impersonating her in a Vegas show back in the 1980s?
Could the Digital Millennium Copyright Act have any bearing on this case?
Because theDigital Millennium Copyright Actcriminalizes any dissemination of copyrighted materials online, a joke could be fair game.
Did these jokes share an identical punch line?
Thats why the time stamps on Kasebergs posts will likely be a big deal in this case.
What happens if OBrien loses?
One could argue that even worse than shelling out the money, hed also lose face in the industry.
What about if Kaseberg loses?
If Kaseberg loses, hell mostly be out legal fees.
The OBrien team could countersue for damages, legal fees, or defamation, but thats a big if.
What impact could this case have on the comedy world?
This case could have enormous consequences either way.
