COLBERT V. COLBERT: COPYRIGHT ABILITY AND OWNERSHIP OF PERFORMED CHARACTERS

Stephen Colbert is a household name in the United States. 'Wait, which Stephen Colbert are we talking about?' This is the standard first line of dialogue when people start the Colbert-related conversations. Bearing the same name and identical appearance, Stephen Colbert can be either a real-life comedian or a fictional character. Copyright protection for fictional characters has now been widely recognized. Nonetheless, this statement may only stand valid for characters originate from visual or literary works. What about characters of other nature? Are they also eligible for copyright protection? In light of the case of Stephen Colbert and his fictional character 'Stephen Colbert,' this essay attempts to study copyright issues surrounding 'performed characters': characters that are expressed through the performance of human beings rather than conventional mediums such as pages and recordings. This essay starts with the case of Stephen Colbert, where the fictional character's course of development and the dispute over copyright will be addressed in detail.