These things usually have passed around the internet several times before it gets to the meme aggregators, I wish there was a better solution than watermarking. Tineye/GIS would theoretically work, but it'd find every instance where the meme was passed around, not its origin!

Do you have a suggesting for finding each "owner"?

Such requirements would shut down all these sites (not that we'd have a huge loss by doing so, but I'd like to think that a social/technological solution would be possible.)

The problem is that because you can be rightfully extorted by original author you have little incentive to keep and acknowledge attribution. It's better to pretend that given image came from the cloud.

That's how copyright enforcers again make it worse for all creative people.

Is that because even though the show is free performer gets 2% of the popcorn viewers choose to buy?

Original authors of the jokes either don't earn any money with them or do it similar way that the "joke thief" does. Only they are not that popular as he is.

I think reposting is much less of an offence then one proffessional comediant using joke of another one without proper attribution.