Comment on Congressman Gaetz: "Robots should not be subject to Free Speech" (I'm Not a Robot)
FireTower@lemmy.world 4 months agoIt’s a composition in the style of Johnny Cash that’s meant to be funny. That’s parody.
That’s satire. In the US for something to be parody it has to be a commentary on the original work(s) or author(s). A parody of Johnny Cash would be something like if they used AI to copy his song note for note but had lyrics that criticized him for portraying himself as bluecollar in his music despite his wealth.
Parody receives higher protection than satire because the parodist is actually trying to make a statement. Most “music parody” like that of Weird Al is satire, which is why Weird Al asks for permission from the original artists.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 months ago
FireTower@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Webster offers a lay definition not a legal definition. Often in law words are interpreted to have meanings different than they normally would. For example a company would be considered to be a person for the purposes of a law saying “No person shall dump oil in the river”.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 months ago
While it is common that yes, parodies are indeed social commentary, this is far from necessary for something to be a parody (and the matter only really comes into play considering if the original work’s use falls under fair use or not.
rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Not according to the copyright alliance (emphasis mine):
While both parody and satire use humor as a tool to effectuate a message, again, the purpose of a parody is to comment on or criticize the work that is the subject of the parody. By definition, a parody is a comedic commentary about a work, that requires an imitation of the work. Satire, on the other hand, even when it uses a creative work as the vehicle for the message, offers commentary and criticism about the world, not that specific creative work. Therefore, parodies use copyrighted works for purposes that fair use was designed to protect.
FireTower@lemmy.world 4 months ago
The issue is there is not clear commentary on either Cash or the Barbie song. Perhaps it’s meant to be contextually interpreted in a specific situation to act as commentary on something else, where it might be satire. And the fact that the two melded together offers a funny juxtaposition isn’t necessary commentary.
What does the author think of Johnny Cash or the Barbie song? What does he mean when he has the Beach Boys sing 99 Problems? The Red Hot Chili Peppers video from 10 months ago probably would get parody status. Because what they sound like to people who don’t like them is actually commentary on the band. But so many of his works we can ask what should society walk away with from “Hank Williams sings Straight Outta Compton”? There simply is no message or commentary in most of these.
While a parody targets and mimics the original work to make a point, a satire uses the original work to criticize something else entirely.
If anything granting it satire status is generous.
Nastybutler@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Weird Al either changes the lyrics (parody) or makes a polka version of the tune with the original lyrics. Still immune from lawsuits. He doesn’t have to get the artist’s permission. He does it out of courtesy, because he’s a good human being
brbposting@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Would say “protected from losing lawsuits” by my understanding. If lawsuits were NBD that’d be pretty pedantic, but they can still be costly to win.
The law might give you a nearly bulletproof defense, but defending yourself saps a lot of mental energy, time, and money.
FireTower@lemmy.world 4 months ago
You don’t need permission for true parody but changing the lyrics (unless you do so to comment on the original work or author) isn’t that.
Take Amish Paradise. It commented a bunch on the Amish. But it didn’t say anything about Coolio or Coolio’s work.