That Lawsuit Will Look Great On You
Tags: bullies, law, lawsuit, libel, slander, The Stand-Up DiariesI know that a couple of my blog posts have been subjected to police investigations based on the language I’ve used in the past. Keeping that in mind, let me ask you a question.
How would you like to wake up tomorrow morning with a lawsuit hanging over your head for libel, slander and for being complicit in denying me my legal right to perform? How about a seven figure lawsuit. Would that grab your attention? What’s that? You’d want to settle out of court?
Of course, this all revolves around Carnac the Mediocre. Let’s start at the beginning.
Several months ago I needed to do something different to try and differentiate myself from the other comedians in the city. Something different that when people hear of it they would right away know it’s Trevor Dean.
I had watched old tapes of Carnac the Magnificent, the Johnny Carson character, on YouTube. After watching those videos several times I started to see the pattern of how the jokes were written. My mind went to work and I started churning out jokes, well over 70 in six weeks.
One big question that I needed answered was is what I am wanting to do legal? The answer is YES. Here is an excerpt from the The Copyright Act of Canada, section 29, 29.1
- Research, private study, etc.
- s.29 Fair dealing for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire does not infringe copyright.
- Criticism or review
- s.29.1 Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review does not infringe copyright if the following are mentioned:
- (a) the source; and
- (b) if given in the source, the name of the
- (i) author, in the case of a work,
- (ii) performer, in the case of a performer’s performance,
- (iii) maker, in the case of a sound recording, or
- (iv) broadcaster, in the case of a communication signal.
What laws did I break when I performed as Carnac? NONE
People made slanderous statements on e-mail and on my Facebook page that suggested I stole material. All those jokes I wrote are mine. Anyone who thinks I stole anything is probably jealous because they cannot write 70 jokes in six weeks.
Then I was told the audience felt sorry for me when I first performed as Carnac. This is pure jealousy, plain and simple. It isn’t the business of other comedians to say what an audience will or will not laugh at. The audience is the final judge. The headliner and opener that night thanked me for doing my job and warming up the audience.
Also, in consultation with a professional comedian from Los Angeles I found out that you can do everything exactly the same as Carnac, right up to the name of the character. You can use the same jokes. But if you want to use the same name of the character, you would need written permission from the creators of that character. However, I wrote my own jokes and changed the name of the character.
Sending emails to people accusing me of stealing jokes or material has no legal merit whatsoever. NONE
There are some comedians whose material I don’t care for, but I know better than to get on social media and accuse them of stealing material. Carnac will return in 2017, quite possibly before I head to Los Angeles.
So the next time you feel I might be stealing part of your spotlight and you want to lash out by making false claims, to try and make yourself look smart, just remember that I have the legal right to take you to court and sue for libel, slander and being complicit to restrict my ability to make future earnings with this character.
If you want to fuck with me and claim I am breaking the law by doing Carnac, you better have your legal facts in order. Otherwise you will be subjected to a lawsuit.