Conan O'Brien apologizes for Palin shooting Rudolph sketch, sort of

Conan O'Brien is the son of Thomas O'Brien, a physician, epidemiologist, and professor of medicine at Harvard, and Ruth O'Brien (née Reardon), an attorney and partner at the Boston firm Ropes & Gray, and Conan is a graduate of Harvard.
wikipedia.

On 24 Dec 2010, the Wall Street Journal Speakeasy noted:

Earlier this week, Conan O’Brien aired a comedy bit in which Sarah Palin shoots Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Funny stuff. The only problem: Jimmy Kimmel had done a similar sketch earlier in the month. O’Brien has now issued an apology. “We weren’t aware,” said O’Brien, before going on to make a joke about the whole affair.

In the world of copyright, independent creation is a defense; in the world of patent, independent creation is not a defense.

Back in 2004, the Harvard Business Review [HBR] brought us "plagiarize with pride,"
and a variety of Harvard professors have been caught plagiarizing. An attorney at Ropes & Gray got snagged copying for a patent application.

Past IPBiz posts:


Harvard Business Review article: Plagiarize with Pride



"Plagiarism Saves Time" out, but "Plagiarize with Pride" in


Ropes & Gray: copying patents legal and ethical?

Also
Conan Apologizes For Swiping Segment From Kimmel:

Well, he sorta-apologizes, at least. Conan deflects blame for the incident, joking that the responsible staffer has been fired and re-hired by Kimmel.

Deadline lined up the offending Conan piece alongside Kimmel's recent clip of Palin shooting Rudolph, as well as Kimmel's claymation take on the same subject from 2008.

Hmm. Maybe Kimmel needs to apologize for recycling jokes.

If apologies are needed for joke-recycling, expect to hear a lot from Letterman.