Comedy writer accuses Conan O’Brien of stealing jokes

TORONTO — Late night host Conan O’Brien has been accused of stealing jokes from a San Diego comedy writer.

Robert Kaseberg filed a copyright infringement lawsuit last week alleging one of his blog posts and three of his tweets have been used in monologues on the TBS show Conan this year. He is seeking more than $750,000 in damages and costs.

Kaseberg is suing O’Brien and his production company Conaco, as well as Turner Broadcasting System and Time Warner Inc.

Conan executive producer Jeff Ross and head writer Mike Sweeney are also named as defendants.

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Kaseberg said a joke about Delta he posted on his blog on Jan. 14 and jokes about Tom Brady, the Washington Monument and Caitlyn Jenner that he tweeted on Feb. 3, Feb. 17 and June 9 respectively were used in O’Brien’s monologues.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

A spokesperson for Conaco said the lawsuit is meritless.

On Monday, O’Brien’s sidekick Andy Richter tweeted sarcastically: “OH NO WE’VE BEEN FOUND OUT!!” and “There’s no possible way more than one person could have concurrently had these same species-elevating insights!”

Actor Dax Shepard agreed.