Members Themetallikid Posted October 16, 2006 Members Share Posted October 16, 2006 ok, so my buddies and friends have pretty much convinced me I should do a parody cd of rock songs. sorta Weird Al'ish but more modern rock and such. I'm curious about the legalities of such. I know to do a cover of a song you need to pay like 9 cents a song with like a minimum of 500 copies, but do parodies apply the same way? Anyone with experience/knowledge of this chime in. It would be something fun to sell at shows and on the side, maybe make a small profit per cd, but mostly for fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JBJ Posted October 17, 2006 Members Share Posted October 17, 2006 parodies are outwith copyright laws so you can do them no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted October 17, 2006 Members Share Posted October 17, 2006 Cripes, doesn't anyone know how to use Google? Here, in a nutshell: Copyright issues Although a parody can be considered a derivative work under United States Copyright Law, it can be protected under the fair use doctrine, which is codified in 17 USC § 107. The Supreme Court of the United States stated that parody "is the use of some elements of a prior author's composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author's works." That commentary function provides some justification for use of the older work. Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. In 2001, the United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, in Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin, upheld the right of Alice Randall to publish a parody of Gone with the Wind called The Wind Done Gone, which told the same story from the point of view of Scarlett O'Hara's slaves, who were glad to be rid of her. ---------------------------------------------------------- There are criteria that parody must meet in order to be considered as far use. I would suggest you do a search and look it up before you do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted October 17, 2006 Members Share Posted October 17, 2006 Does that mean that I can put this: JPB - Fiberman mp3 on my next CD and sell it? (it's based on the theme from "Spiderman") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarmook Posted October 17, 2006 Members Share Posted October 17, 2006 The real question with parodies, as the legal precendents are not clear, is: What happens when the copyright owner of the song you 'parodied' decides it's not a parody and you owe royalties? The answer: His record company and their lawyers will sue - and you could try to fight them, or not... The fact that YOU think it's a parody, or even that your attorney thinks it's a parody means nothing. Can you afford to PROVE it's a parody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted October 17, 2006 Members Share Posted October 17, 2006 Originally posted by guitarmook The real question with parodies, as the legal precendents are not clear, is:What happens when the copyright owner of the song you 'parodied' decides it's not a parody and you owe royalties?The answer: His record company and their lawyers will sue - and you could try to fight them, or not...The fact that YOU think it's a parody, or even that your attorney thinks it's a parody means nothing. Can you afford to PROVE it's a parody? That's why you have to look it up and make sure your parody meets the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court in Campbell vs Acuff-Rose, wherein Too Live Crew was sued for makinga parody of "Pretty Woman." The court ruled in favor of Crew, citing four criteria that is used as guidelines today. Here's a link. http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-1292.ZS.html The fact is, parody is protected speech in most instances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Manipulate Posted October 18, 2006 Members Share Posted October 18, 2006 Originally posted by guitarmook The real question with parodies, as the legal precendents are not clear, is:What happens when the copyright owner of the song you 'parodied' decides it's not a parody and you owe royalties?The answer: His record company and their lawyers will sue - and you could try to fight them, or not...The fact that YOU think it's a parody, or even that your attorney thinks it's a parody means nothing. Can you afford to PROVE it's a parody? Yes, but if everyone ran like a little bitch just because of the risk of a lawsuit then we wouldn't have lots of the art and speech we have now. You're correct though, its not entirely uncommon for companies or individuals to sue to in order to stop people from making fun of them (defamation suits, copyright suits, trademark infringment suits), but risk of getting sued is still slim. Not only that, but if we just gave into the intimidation of lawsuits, we'd be letting the companies decide what the law is, not the courts. Its just unsound policy to curb your activity, which is rightful and legal, because someone threatens suit or even sues. That's just a risk you have to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted October 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 19, 2006 Originally posted by Manipulate Yes, but if everyone ran like a little bitch just because of the risk of a lawsuit then we wouldn't have lots of the art and speech we have now. You're correct though, its not entirely uncommon for companies or individuals to sue to in order to stop people from making fun of them (defamation suits, copyright suits, trademark infringment suits), but risk of getting sued is still slim. Not only that, but if we just gave into the intimidation of lawsuits, we'd be letting the companies decide what the law is, not the courts. Its just unsound policy to curb your activity, which is rightful and legal, because someone threatens suit or even sues. That's just a risk you have to take. there is a term used, it is called 'due diligence', and if you can demonstrate that you researched the criteria of parody and met them, you can ask the suit be dismissed as frivolous and or prejudicial. The law cuts both ways. Just because you think you should have a certain right, doesn't mean you do. Because the law has to attempt to satisfy the rights of all parties. And it rarely works out to everyone's satisfaction. That's the reality. Making fun of someone else's work as a parody cannot mean holding the otriginator up to public embarassment unless it can be demonstrated that they are a public figure who should expect such tratment....there are a lot of subtleties involved...the law is mad for and by lawyers...and is intentionally cryptic to keep the rest of us in check:wave: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Manipulate Posted October 19, 2006 Members Share Posted October 19, 2006 Originally posted by daddymack there is a term used, it is called 'due diligence', and if you can demonstrate that you researched the criteria of parody and met them, you can ask the suit be dismissed as frivolous and or prejudicial.The law cuts both ways. Just because you think you should have a certain right, doesn't mean you do. Because the law has to attempt to satisfy the rights of all parties. And it rarely works out to everyone's satisfaction. That's the reality. Making fun of someone else's work as a parody cannot mean holding the otriginator up to public embarassment unless it can be demonstrated that they are a public figure who should expect such tratment....there are a lot of subtleties involved...the law is mad for and by lawyers...and is intentionally cryptic to keep the rest of us in check:wave: Anyone who has a song out that you're making fun of would, at the very least, be considered a "limited purpose public figure". The logic being that if you put yourself out in the public you can't complain when they make fun of you, at least in as far as they make fun of you for the thing that you're publicly known for. I think guitarmook's point is, they can still try to sue you, and it will still cost you money to defend, even if you win on summary judgment or a 12(b)(6) motion. There are enough subtleties in the law to allow argument, which means the litigation will be expensive. My point is, all that being said some people are willing to take that risk. Some people are willing to stand up to bullies and some aren't, and some can't afford to. Its always a good idea to know what the risks are before you do something though. Does anyone think the risk of getting sued for a parody is more than 1 in 100? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tonythetigrrr Posted October 20, 2006 Members Share Posted October 20, 2006 yeah, weird al is cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted November 3, 2006 Members Share Posted November 3, 2006 BTW I really dug "Fiberman". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted November 3, 2006 Members Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by MDLMUSIC BTW I really dug "Fiberman". Thanks! BTW... it's a true story about someone that I used to work with. ...and the toilet was mic'd with an SM58. (I've been asked before) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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