Leno, other comedians sue over joke books:
It’s no laughing matter to Jay Leno.
The “Tonight Show” host and NBC Studios have sued humor editor Judy Brown and her publishers in U.S. District Court, claiming that her collection of joke books has profited from material filched from his standup routines.
Leno and other comics, including Rita Rudner, are seeking unspecified damages and a permanent injunction against Brown’s 19 books — mainly compilations of jokes by comedians including Ellen DeGeneres, Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld, according to the lawsuit.
The publishers of Readers Digest have all just keeled over, so it will be up to their estates to settle the coming claims against them for the rehashed material served up in the magazine’s sundry user-submitted humor features.
