Legal Question in Technology Law in California
E-mail Copyrights
I would like to write a book that would include some of the jokes I have received over the e-mail. Some of these jokes have been circulating for a long time, years even. What is the copyright law regarding these? Are they Public Domain, or do I need to get written permission to use them? If I need permission, how do I go about finding where the joke originated? Would setting up a web site, posting the jokes, and asking people to respond if they can prove they wrote any of them, be enough?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: E-mail Copyrights
It is the nature of jokes that they originate, are refined while circulated, and emerge as the product of the input of several sources. Seldom are they copyrighted.
Obvious exceptions are routines by famous people such as Bob Hope, George Carlin, and the like. Those may be copyrighted, or may be included in copyrighted material such as books, autobiographies, etc.
Chasing a joke can be most difficult. Giving credit is important, however, if the material has intellectual protections. Researching such matters is what makes experts, in part, in intellectual property law.
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