
This page features a constantly updated list of books, articles and other scholarly resources on topics related to humor and the law. Should you have any comments or suggestions, please email info@forhum.org.
- Adriaensen, B, Bricker, A, Godioli, A and Laros, T (eds) 2022 Humor and the Law: The Difficulty of Judging Jests. Special issue of HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 35 (3). Features contributions by Alberto Godioli & Laura Little, Shivangi Gangwar, Ana Pedrazzini & Tjeerd Royaards, Emanuel van Dongen & Martine Veldhuizen, Elisa Kriza, Kelly & Vicky Breemen, Gabi Rittig and Jessica Milner Davis.
- Alkiviadou, N 2022 Ain’t that funny? A jurisprudential analysis of humour in Europe and the U.S. The European Journal of Humour Research 10(1). 50–61. https://doi.org/10.7592/ejhr.2022.10.1.649
- Anderson, L 2015 Racist Humor. Philosophy Compass 10 (8). 501-509. DOI 10.1111/phc3.12240
- Anderson, T and Mazer, R 2022 Satire and political cartoons threats prompt new resource for legal guidance. Media Law Research Centre London Conference Papers. 3-18. https://medialaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-london-conference-papers.pdf
- Balzaretti, S 2022 Political Satire and Sexist Stereotypes: A Critical Insight on the Case of Patrício Monteiro Telo de Abreu v. Portugal, Strasbourg Observers, 14 September 2022.
- Bricker, A 2022 Libel and Lampoon: Satire in the Courts, 1670-1792. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Brison, S J and Gelber, K (eds) 2019 Free Speech in the Digital Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Capelotti, J P 2015 Defending laughter: An account of Brazilian court cases involving humor, 1997–2014. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 29(1). 25–47. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2015-0128
- Dynel, M 2021 Desperately seeking intentions: Genuine and jocular insults on social media. Journal of Pragmatics 179. 37-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.04.017
- Elder, CH 2021 Microaggression or misunderstanding? Implicatures, inferences and accountability. Journal of Pragmatics 179. 37-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.04.020
- Gavins, J & Simpson, P 2015 Regina v John Terry: The discursive construction of an alleged racist event. Discourse & Society 26(6). 712–732. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926515592783.
- Godioli, A Humour and Symbolic Violence: Canal 8 v. France (ECtHR, 58951/18 and 1308/19), ForHum blog, 23 March 2023.
- Godioli, A 2020 Cartoon controversies at the European court of human rights: Towards forensic humor studies. Open Library of Humanities 6(1). 1–35. https://doi.org/10.16995/olh.571
- Godioli, A. and Young, J. (2023) Humor and Free Speech: A Comparative Analysis of Global Case Law. Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, Special Collection. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8105760
- Godioli, A, Young, J & Fiori, BM 2022 Laughing Matters: Humor, Free Speech and Hate Speech at the European Court of Human Rights. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 35. 2241–2265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-022-09949-8
- Jacques, S 2022 A Two-Tier System for Freedom of Expression: Towards a Right to be Heard?, COMMUNIA / Kluwer Copyright Blog, 14 November.
- Jacques, S 2019 The Parody Exception in Copyright Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Little, L 2019 Guilty Pleasures: Comedy and Law in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Matamoros-Fernández, A, Bartolo, L and Troynar, L 2023 Humour as an online safety issue: Exploring solutions to help platforms better address this form of expression. Internet Policy Review 12 (1), 2023. DOI: 10.14763/2023.1.1677
- Matamoros-Fernández, A 2023 Taking Humor Seriously on TikTok. Social Media + Society 9 (1), 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231157609
- McDonald, P 2016 Libellous Literature: Elton John and the Perils of Close Reading. In Literary Trials: Exceptio Artis and Theories of Literature in Court, ed. Ralf Grüttemeier, 175–190. London: Bloomsbury.
- Milner Davis, J and Roach Anleu, S 2018 Judges, Judging and Humour. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Nugraha, IY 2021 ‘It’s Just a Prank, Bro!’ ZB v. France and a Dark Humour That Turned Sour. Strasbourg Observers, October 12.
- Pérez, R 2022 The Souls of White Jokes: How Racist Humor Fuels White Supremacy. Stanford University Press.
- Todd, J 2016 Satire in Defamation Law: Toward a Critical Understanding. Review of Litigation 35(1): 45-69. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2810522
- Whyatt, S 2023 Free to Create: Artistic Freedom in Europe, Council of Europe report.