[Podcast] Take my Joke, Please; NPR's On the Media, 10/8/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Take my Joke, Please:

"The writers of Saturday Night Live were accused of joke plagiarism last month by sketch comedy writer Tim Heidecker. Whether or not Heidecker’s right, he can’t sue: like fashion, comedy is a world where copyright law barely applies. Comedians don't copyright their jokes; instead, they rely on an informal system of intellectual property enforcement. Chris Sprigman and Dotan Oliar, two law professors, decided to study how that system works."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/10/08/06