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  1. #1
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    Default How Loose is the Definition of a Parody of a Public Figure

    I was wondering how loose the definition of a parody is in terms of using a parody of a celebrity likeness in your work, and if this extends to fictional characters as well as real celebrities. For example, if I made a commercial video game character named "The Governator" and he resembled Arnold Schwarzenegger, would changing the name and portraying him as an exaggerated caricature of the original person constitute a parody? And for an example of a fictional character, if I were to have a character named Donald McRonald, and made him a scary evil clown, would that fall under a parody and fair use? Obviously anyone could still try to sue me over it, so I'm not asking for legal advice, just for clarification on what is protected under fair use and how a parody is defined, and your thoughts on those hypothetical examples and how the law would apply to them.

    Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: How Loose is the Definition of a Parody of a Public Figure

    You're a bit late on The Governator. For Schwarzenegger, think Rainier Wolfcastle or Jorgen von Strangle.

    How would a scary clown called "Donald McRonald" be a parody of Ronald McDonald?.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: How Loose is the Definition of a Parody of a Public Figure

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    You're a bit late on The Governator. For Schwarzenegger, think Rainier Wolfcastle or Jorgen von Strangle.

    How would a scary clown called "Donald McRonald" be a parody of Ronald McDonald?
    I see, so much more loose is obviously safer. It's just difficult to portray such a loose representation in my work, because my characters will be nothing more than a name attached to an avatar, a fairly undetailed avatar at that.

    A scary clown resembling ronald mcdonald could be a parody that criticizes the evilness of fast food? Haha...

    According to everything I've read over the past few hours (which mostly consisted of this: http://apps.americanbar.org/litigati...06_outline.pdf), parodies are protected under the fair use clause, because they are a platform for criticizing something, which is an act protected by free speech (under numerous conditions of course).

    South Park is a good example of a form of media that parodies many celebrities, and much more blatantly than I plan to. However, their claim that it is a parody is a bit more obvious than my own, and I just wonder if artwork that exaggerates their personas in a parodical way would suffice...

    Meh, maybe I should just try and stray as far from the original celebrities as possible, but it kind of makes all of what I wanted to do less effective. My profits aren't being generated by their likeness, nor by the selling of the game containing their likeness, but rather by virtual items purchased within the game that have nothing to do with any of them. It also wont contain anything that a reasonable person would consider libelous. Either way, nobody wants to fight a lawsuit as the defendant, even if they will win, so perhaps the Jorgen von Strangle route would be better.

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