Editor settles copyright suit with Jay Leno
LOS ANGELES (AP) -January 24, 2008 Judy Brown and her publishers has settled the federal copyright
infringement lawsuit filed on behalf of NBC Studios; Leno; Rita
Rudner; Jimmy Brogan; Diane Nichols; Sue Pascoe; Kathleen Madigan
and Bob Ettinger.
"I thought it was important to make it clear that jokes are
protected like any other art form," Leno said in a statement.
Brown's attorney, Ralph Loeb, declined to comment Wednesday on
the settlement.
However, in a statement Brown apologized. "The best comedians
may make comedy seem easy, but I know it takes talent, hard work
and careful preparation to make people laugh," she said. "That is
why I am settling this lawsuit by agreeing never again to publish
their jokes without asking their permission to do so."
The suit claimed that Brown collected thousands of jokes that
appeared in 19 books over a decade without permission of the
writers. The books include "The Funny Pages," "Funny You Should
Know That" and "Joke Stew."
The settlement calls for Brown and her publishers to pay
damages, stop producing the joke books and make efforts to pull
existing copies from bookstores.
Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., an attorney who represented the
comedians and NBC, declined to disclose the amount of damages but
said Leno, Rudner and NBC were donating their settlement portions
to charity, and his law firm would contribute some of its fees.
Together, he said, that would add up to "hundreds of thousands of
dollars."
