Stephen Colbert, host of the Late Show, brought back his infamous character ‘Stephen Colbert’ from his previous Comedy Central Show, The Colbert Report. After the Republican National Convention aired last week, Colbert alongside Jon Stewart, bantered back-and-forth in a segment called The Word, also from The Colbert Report.
While fans in the audience were pleased to see the return of this character some in the corporate world were not.
On Wednesday’s episode of his show, Colbert told the audience that, while he was thrilled they enjoyed seeing his character make a return, the corporate lawyers for Comedy Central and its parent company Viacom did not receive the bit so positively. During the segment, he said “You know who didn’t enjoy it so much? Corporate lawyers. Because, and this is true, immediately after that show, CBS’s top lawyer was contacted by the top lawyer from another company to say that the character ‘Stephen Colbert’ is their intellectual property, which is surprising, because I never considered that guy much of an intellectual.”
“So it is with a heavy heart that I announce, thanks to corporate lawyers, the character of ‘Stephen Colbert,’ host of ‘The Colbert Report,’ will never be seen again”. The audience not happy with this announcement booed emphatically. “What can I do? The lawyers have spoken. I cannot reasonably argue I own my face or name.”
Later in the show Colbert introduced a new character to the audience. Stephen Colbert – Stephen Colbert’s identical cousin.
If the introduction of this new character was not enough to get legal departments talking, Colbert introduced a new segment called The Werd, not to be confused with the segment he did on The Colbert Report – The Word.
It is possible to copyright parodies of parodies. Courts have held that such creations can gain their own protection. Unfortunately for Colbert, he will more than likely not own the rights in question. CBS will likely own the rights to the new parody as it would fall under the work-for-hire doctrine, which states that work prepared by an employee within the scope of employment or work specifically ordered or commissioned for use is owned by the employer or the purchaser.