Carlos Mencia nailed for stealing other people's material

[Zabka]

Bad language warning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsq1uTLBHBc

Kerry, I told you that I never found him funny. Now I know because it's old jokes aside from my thinking he's an idiot. Some people may not see this as a big deal, but if you watch "Comedian" a documentary about Jerry Seinfeld getting back into standup after his show you see how all these comics work on their craft and take 2 years to get 45 min of material.

Mencia stealing from Cosby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg

Mencia stealing from Sam Kinnison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOnPFix5uLE

Stealing from DJ's??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDmaG1-H25M&NR

[Dioxin]

yeah, this has been in the media for about a month or more now. Joe Rogan got into a huge fight with him on stage calling him a hack. It got pretty ugly. Glad this is all coming out.

[Kamui]

He just killed those jokes :x

[Phoenix]

Kamui your signatures are killing me. Hilarious.

[Kerry2]

Bah, his stand up stuff never has been that great. I'm just a fan of his show on comedy central. The reason I like it is because he says all the stuff about current events that most everybody else is afraid to say. This deff. does not help his career but I seriously doubt it will kill it.

If you really think about it, most all comedians have ripped off one another at some point in time. Some just do it more than others but really, how much 100% new material can one person honestly come up with in a lifetime.

[Zabka]

plagarism has ruined many an academic career and sunk literary careers. Copyright infringement has been responsible for Napstergetting shut down, countless lawsuits, royalties being paid to artists. Intellectual property is what has enabled technology and biotechnology research to flourish in the United States (and prevented rumble from the PS3 controllers at launch).

Comedy should be no different. This is somebody's livelihood which is dependent on their own originality. When somebody else profits as a result of stealing somebody else's craft, that is wrong and should have ramifications--yet somehow comedy doesn't seem to benefit from the same laws.

In intellectual property law, there is a concept called prior art which explains how if the protected asset existed prior to the original claimant's invention, that the patent is invalid. That could be the case for some comedy (slapstick for example) as nobody has "created" that. However, in most cases, comedy is not timeless and is instead very much grounded in the era in which it was created. Eddie Murphy's Delirious and Steven Martin's Comedy Aint Pretty were two comedy albums that absolutely killed back in the day. oday, they seem remarkably dated with only some bits maintaining their humor. Aside from "who's on first" most comedy does not hold up well--and comedy is usually a reflection of the society at hand in one way or another. Most comedians out there work on creating their own jokes, their own voice, their own style. So I don't think it is a minor deal at all---after all, Mencia wouldn't even have a comedy show if it weren't for his standup.

Now on the flipside, the comedy show itself is written by a staff of writers, I am sure. Then it is up to them to come up with the original thoughts,not just Mencia. I love stand up comedy. I thought "Comedian" was a tremendous documentary to show just how nervous Seinfeld was before any gig despte being a kajillionaire. I admire these people for the challenge of their professions. I also loathe those who are posers.

[madmax32]

(and prevented rumble from the PS3 controllers at launch).

lol.
Interesting.....

[Kerry2]

I'm not saying that plagarism is right in any format of written or spoken word. My point was that every comedian on a stage today was influenced by another comedian at some point in his life and has used some form of another comedians material. Chris Rock for example was influenced by Richard Pryor and his comedy bits sounds alot like pryors. I'm sure if you went through both you would find at least one duplicate bit.

Any comedian out there that says they have never used another comedians bit, be it word for word or amended, would be lying. Most modern comedians try to use "true life" experiences for thier material but how many forms of "take my mother in law, please" can you honestly use before it crosses the line of plagarism? To that end, every time someone reads or hears a joke, then goes and repeats it to someone else without giving credit to the original creator falls in the same category. We are just on a smaller stage with a smaller audience when we tell a joke around the water cooler. The sad reality is that every single one of us breaks at least 5 U.S. patent laws every morning when we wake up and get ready for work/school/ect. Semi off topic but did you know that there is actually a u.s. patent on a comb over and eating cereal with milk.

I guess what I'm saying is that, while I don't think it's right to palgarise someones material and Mencia was completely in the wrong for doing so, for all of these other people to grab thier proverbial torches and start forming a lynch mob is very hipocritcal.

[Zabka]

Kerry, I agree with many of your points that you make. Certainly comedians have been influenced by comedians before them, be they Eddie Murphy, Lenny Bruce, or Bob Hope. But that is a style--not a joke. The instances that were revealed of Carlos were a step beyond having a similar style. In addition, these also aren't "classics". I am sure that people can coincidentally come up with the same idea without having heard it anywhere before. But these instances seem a bit too much...especially the cosby bit.

As for the patents and other things---last I checked I gained no money from using milk with cereal and a combover. Further, patents only have a 17 year life. Copyright is forever. In either case, damages would have to be shown, or economic benefit that should go to the originator has gone to the patent/copyright infringer. So any of us doing that is not something that is in violation. But making a career utilizing the material of other people (including colleagues who are contemporaries and did shows with you), is hard to defend.