Jennifer Lopez has to pay license fee to imitate Flashdance
05-10-03, 11:41 AM
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Yeah, the J-Lo thing is clearly a remake, not a parody.
As to Weird Al, it's not clear that he does have to ask permission to do an actual parody--parodies are, to a certain extent, legally protected. However, he normally gets permission because it removes any potential legal problems.
Complicating matters is the fact that many of Weird Al's songs are not parodies that comment on or lampoon a song, but rather just copies of popular songs with different, silly lyrics. For example, "Eat It" doesn't directly mock Michael Jackson or "Beat It;" it just replaces Jackson's lyrics with some funny lyrics about food. You can see how an artist could claim that's just a ripoff, not a parody. Which is why Al normally plays it safe and gets permission.
As to Weird Al, it's not clear that he does have to ask permission to do an actual parody--parodies are, to a certain extent, legally protected. However, he normally gets permission because it removes any potential legal problems.
Complicating matters is the fact that many of Weird Al's songs are not parodies that comment on or lampoon a song, but rather just copies of popular songs with different, silly lyrics. For example, "Eat It" doesn't directly mock Michael Jackson or "Beat It;" it just replaces Jackson's lyrics with some funny lyrics about food. You can see how an artist could claim that's just a ripoff, not a parody. Which is why Al normally plays it safe and gets permission.
