It's No Joke: Some Copyrights Are Thin Weaklings

A copyright is an intangible property right. I sometimes suggest thinking of a copyright as a cloud hanging over its creator even when the underlying tangible work is somewhere else. But if copyrights are intangible, how can they also be "thin" or "broad," "weak" or "strong"?

Those words are frequently used to describe the breadth of a copyright's application in infringement cases. Strength measurements are particularly important for copyrighted works that are simple, readily created, and descriptive or reflective of external world realities. 

The issue of copyright thinness or weakness came up in Kaseberg v. Conaco, LLC, a dispute about jokes. The plaintiff, Robert Kaseberg, a joke writer, claimed that the Conan O'Brien late night show appropriated his jokes. So the court had to determine what elements of a joke are protected by copyright, and the strength of that copyright interest.