Why Stephen Colbert can't be Stephen Colbert anymore
"Late Night" host Stephen Colbert told a jeering crowd that they would never see pompous newscaster character "Stephen Colbert" again, as the character is the intellectual property of another company, presumably Colbert's former employer, Comedy Central.聽
"Late Night" host Stephen Colbert told a jeering crowd that they would never see pompous newscaster character "Stephen Colbert" again, as the character is the intellectual property of another company, presumably Colbert's former employer, Comedy Central.聽
Talk show host and comedian Stephen Colbert was met with boos this week when he announced that his famous 鈥淪tephen Colbert鈥� character, an arrogant cable news host featured on the 鈥淐olbert Report,鈥� would never be seen again.
Mr. Colbert told audience members that after a brief revival of the pompous newscaster character during the Republican National Convention last week, lawyers at CBS were contacted by lawyers from another company, who informed CBS lawyers that the 鈥淪tephen Colbert鈥� character was聽the other company's intellectual property.
"I feel the same way, but what can I do?" said Colbert as the audience responded negatively to his announcement. "The lawyers have spoken. I cannot reasonably argue that I own my own face and name. And as much as I'd like to have that guy on again, I can't."
Not all the scholars are buying it.聽
鈥淢y reaction from afar is that it seems like a great publicity stunt,鈥� says David Nimmer, an intellectual property law professor at the UCLA Law School, in a phone interview with 海角大神. 鈥淥n the whole it strikes me as a bit of a mismatch.鈥�
The old 鈥淪tephen Colbert鈥� character appeared on both the 鈥淒aily Show鈥� and 鈥淭he Colbert Report,鈥� but Colbert claims that due to legal issues, it will never appear at Colbert鈥檚 latest gig, 鈥淭he Late Show.鈥�
Other comedians have faced similar issues as they move from media outlet to media outlet. According to The New York Times, comedian and TV personality David Letterman had similar issues when he moved from NBC鈥檚 鈥淟ate Night鈥� show to CBS鈥� 鈥淟ate Show.鈥�
Instead of bringing completely intact characters across show lines, Mr. Letterman was forced to tweak them by changing names.
Some experts on intellectual property law say, however, that Colbert鈥檚 announcement is confusing, given that the 鈥淪tephen Colbert鈥� character seemed like more of a persona and an attitude than a fully developed character.
In the world of intellectual property law, copyrights apply to original characters in a fixed and tangible medium (imagine Scarlett O鈥橦ara or Sherlock Holmes). With Stephen Colbert鈥檚 similarities to 鈥淪tephen Colbert,鈥� the persona, Columbia Law School鈥檚 Philippa Loengard tells the Monitor that the character is not copyrightable. It could be trademarked, she says, but trademarking that character would require Stephen Colbert鈥檚 permission, as the two share a name.
Barry Irwin, a expert on Copyright and Entertainment law at Notre Dame, disagrees, however, telling the Monitor by email that if the character is 鈥渟ufficiently delineated,鈥� it could belong to whoever was the creator鈥檚 employer at the time of the character鈥檚 nativity.
鈥淚f those familiar with the character could reasonably predict what the character would do or say in a given situation,鈥� writes Mr. Irwin, 鈥渋t is probably sufficiently delineated to be deemed protected by copyright.鈥�
Irwin adds that he does not agree that the character sharing a name with Stephen Colbert makes it uncopyrightable.
Despite questions of sufficient delineation, Ms. Loengard agrees with Mr. Nimmer that there could be something rotten in the Colbert universe. She tells the Monitor that not only are the legal issues surrounding this sort of intellectual property complex and difficult to pin down, but she also believes that the rights to such a character would have been hammered out in Colbert鈥檚 exit agreement with Comedy Central.
If the rights to that character were established in that exit agreement, Loengard says, Colbert should not have been surprised after bringing out the character in response to the RNC.
Nimmer says that on-screen characters have occupied a murky role in copyright law since Sam Spade and the Maltese Falcon. Part of the problem is that the law of characters 鈥渉as been abstracted from provisions for books, movies, and plays,鈥� he says.
Both Nimmer and Loengard say that without knowing exactly what Comedy Central鈥檚 lawyers possibly said to CBS鈥� top lawyer, it is impossible to identify exactly the intellectual property issue in this instance.
Stephen Colbert may have had the last laugh, though. After announcing the death of 鈥淪tephen Colbert,鈥� he introduced audience members to a new character, the newscaster鈥檚 American flag shirt-clad identical twin cousin. His name? Stephen Colbert.