Just Because You Make a Funny Version of a Copyrighted Work...

[davideduardo]

Interesting legal perspective about doing song and character parodies...

Dr. Seuss and Fair Use – Just Because You Make a Funny Version of a Copyrighted Work Does Not Mean that You Will Escape an Infringement Claim

With Dr. Seuss recently in the news for the decision of his estate to pull from publication certain books that were racially insensitive, we thought that

www.broadcastlawblog.com

 

[TheBigA]

Here's an interview with Weird Al Yankovic, who talks about his experiences:

Weird Al and Parody: Why It's Better To Ask Permission Than Beg Forgiveness — THE LEGAL ARTIST

There’s a saying that’s become popular in recent years: "it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” There’s a lot of appeal there for the Type-A, take-charge types and I completely understand it... if you want results, just do it since apologizing after the fact will be easier than fi

www.thelegalartist.com

 

[wadio]

Very interesting.

As is evident from the analysis undertaken in the Boldly Go case, unless the “parody” is making fun of the original copyrighted work, it may well not qualify as a fair use and thus may be subject to a claim of copyright infringement.

Most, if not all, the song parodies I hear on the radio make fun of stories in the news, not the original work. It would be a shame if the practice had to be discontinued. "Fun" is becoming an endangered species these days.

 

[Anton P]

Just call it Dumb D. Seuss. Nathan figured it out a while ago...