Weird Al What's-His-Name

Just curious: Weird Al Yankovich {sp?} uses others' songs and makes his own version of it with same music, new words. Is this some sort of infringment?? I've always wondered if he had to get permission from someone to do that. Any clues?

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Quoting zedex

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Just curious: Weird Al Yankovich {sp?} uses others' songs and makes his own version of it with same music, new words. Is this some sort of infringment?? I've always wondered if he had to get permission from someone to do that. Any clues?

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The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a "parody" of a song is not subject to copyright law. I would have to search a little for the case, but I do remember it.

I also suspect AL or others get some type of permission from the copyright holder to do a parody, as this would leave no legal wiggle room for infringement, just as doing a cover remake when another artist does it.

This is probably the case on point, I knew there was a SC ruling on this though, as I looked into this some years ago for someone who had the same question.


http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-1292.ZS.html

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Quoting BOR

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...I also suspect AL or others get some type of permission from the copyright holder to do a parody, as this would leave no legal wiggle room for infringement, just as doing a cover remake when another artist does it.

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I doubt he requests permission. I've been in the comedy business and nobody asks for permission to do parody. It's criticism and opinion - and protected. Protection of comedic expression, satire, etc, is pretty much absolute when done in a comedic context/venue. It would be pointless to ask as the subjects of parody would rarely answer, never mind grant permission.

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Quoting 4eyedbuzzard

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I doubt he requests permission. I've been in the comedy business and nobody asks for permission to do parody. It's criticism and opinion - and protected. Protection of comedic expression, satire, etc, is pretty much absolute when done in a comedic context/venue. It would be pointless to ask as the subjects of parody would rarely answer, never mind grant permission.

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Thanks Buzz!!


Well, by "ask for permission" I actually meant pay a royalty fee of some type to the copyright holder, so that is money in the bank for them.

Since you have been in the business you know far more about it then I, but I just wanted to clarify what I meant, whether it is done or not, as I say, you know more than I on the topic!

I think "Weird Al" could push a parody through against the wishes of the original artist and the artist's label (See Campbell v Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 US 569 (1994)), but I recall hearing of one or two times when his label declined to do so. That's probably simply being practical - recording executives probably don't want to start wars with other labels, particularly over parodies that offends a major artist.

Also, some of Weird Al's songs aren't so much parodies as they are "insert silly lyrics into somebody else's music." At a certain point that's like this failed effort to avoid copyright law with a book about O.J. Simpson called "The Cat NOT in the Hat! A parody by Dr. Juice". The court found that while O.J. Simpson was parodied, the Dr. Seuss book was not and thus their claim for copyright infringement remained valid.

I suspect that in some cases, Weird Al's label does pay royalties to the original artist.

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Quoting BOR

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Thanks Buzz!!


Well, by "ask for permission" I actually meant pay a royalty fee of some type to the copyright holder, so that is money in the bank for them.

Since you have been in the business you know far more about it then I, but I just wanted to clarify what I meant, whether it is done or not, as I say, you know more than I on the topic!

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My experience in "the business" is that I performed (stand-up and cast member) on stage(NY and Boston) and wrote and sold a few comedy bits to a cable TV network/show, some of which were parody. I certainly never asked for permission from the TV show I parodied, nor did the producers to my knowledge. But my involvement was/is part-time, and I never made a successful living at it. I'm sure there are instances where permission may be asked and/or warning given, but the comedy world is pretty arrogant about its right to attack anything and everything under the "comment and criticism" standard.

After further review... (aaron's post got me thinking and I recalled hearing something similar)

It appears that I am wrong :eek: to some degree (I'm stunned as this has never happened before :rolleyes: :wallbang: :D)- Weird Al does get permission (though he states he doesn't legally need to)

From Wierd Al himself at his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/weirdal

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Do you get permission to do those parodies?

Yes, I do get permission from the original songwriters. While the law supports my ability to parody without permission, it's very important to me to try to maintain the relationships I've built with artists and writers over the years. Thankfully, most artists seem genuinely flattered to get the "Weird Al treatment." Some groups (including Nirvana) have publicly stated that they didn't realize that they had really "made it" until they heard my parody!

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Quoting 4eyedbuzzard

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My experience in "the business" is that I performed (stand-up and cast member) on stage(NY and Boston) and wrote and sold a few comedy bits to a cable TV network/show, some of which were parody. I certainly never asked for permission from the TV show I parodied, nor did the producers to my knowledge. But my involvement was/is part-time, and I never made a successful living at it. I'm sure there are instances where permission may be asked and/or warning given, but the comedy world is pretty arrogant about its right to attack anything and everything under the "comment and criticism" standard.

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Hey Buzz, I was basically talking about "song recordings" and not spoofs on a comedy stage. I know comedians, or in my case, commodeian, ha ha, perform such at thier appearances.

So permission is not required, but prevents the fight. I get that as far as the lyrics go, but what of the music itself. If it is copied to parody the original, wouldn't that be classified as infringement?

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Quoting zedex

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So permission is not required, but prevents the fight. I get that as far as the lyrics go, but what of the music itself. If it is copied to parody the original, wouldn't that be classified as infringement?

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The law includes musical/melody arrangement's also.

If we remember AL's Eat it, based on Michael Jackson's Beat it and also his I lost on Jeopardy, based on Greg Kihn's (Our love's in) Jeopardy. Both AL and the original songs were the SAME melody.

Of course AL has stated he obtains copyright permission first. The case link I cited was a 1995 USSC case, so up until then IF any artist wanted to cover a song with a parody, jurisdictional law probably prevailed OR they sought permission.

One thing a "little" off topic is, George Harrison was sued for plagarism/copyright infringment because his My Sweet Lord was said to be a cover of He's so fine. The tunes, other than 3 syllables in the titles have no melodic similarity, at all, yet he lost in court??


I understand his was NOT a parody, but an entirely different composition, so it was not protected, but I see absolutely NO comparison in melody to have sustained an infringement suit???



I do know TITLES can NOT be copyrighted though. I know of 3 top songs titled My Love. Petula Clark's, Paul McCartney's and Lionel Ritchie's.

Megadeth had a cover on their 1985 debut album of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots" with modified lyrics. Apparently she only knew about this much later, and threatened to sue based on offensive lyrics (ie, cursing); They must have come to an agreement, since later re-releases of the album still include this version of the song but with a "beep" sound over the cursings.