Parody Videos in Online Marketing -- Fair Use or Illegal?

ReelSEO.com's Grant Crowell's "Is That Legal?" video series, where he answers questions submitted by fans on legal issues with online video for business or other professional use. Jared Ganem of the YouTube channel, TalentRelationsShow, sent in this question:

Hey Grant,

"I'm making a parody video of professional wrestling, which makes fun of what goes on behind the scenes.

Some of the stories are based in fact, but all of them are ridiculous and over the top.

My question is, I'm not using their company name, I'm not using any of their logos or characters; all I'm doing is mocking certain people within the company such as Vince McMahon or other executives.

"Can you please tell me if I'm going to end up in trouble over this?


ATTORNEY GORDON FIREMARK SAYS:

Parody is among the kinds of things that we as a society have decided are worthy of the very highest level of protection. Parody falls under the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and freedom of the press. When you create a parody, what you're doing is criticizing, commenting, poking fun at the thing you're talking about. You are using irony and humor and sarcasm, essentially, to foster a discussion of issues that arise from the thing in question.

So that kind of discussion is very important for a free society to have and therefore we have given it a great deal of First Amendment protection. Parody is also a part of the fair use defense to copyright infringement. What that means is that if you are poking fun at a film or a photograph or a song, it is OK to use that work of art, that copyright protected work, as a part of the parody. You need to use it in order to make fun of it. So parody is a defense to the claim of copyright infringement.

As long as the parody is creating the commentary, it is ok that it bends the truth a little bit, but it has to be very clear that what you are doing is a parody. If there's a sense that you are making a true statement about a person and that statement is false, it could be construed as defamation, -- libel or slander. (In the case of an online video, it would libel for recorded materials._ So you have got to be very careful that what you say is either true or an expression of opinion, and that is what parody really does.

GRANT CROWELL'S VIDEO MARKETING TIPS:

Keep in mind that these are my own tips as a marketer, and should not substitute for the professional advice of a qualified local attorney! But that being said, I've seen these done often for that extra legal "insurance:"

1) Include a disclaimer -- I recommend doing this at the beginning of the video, like in the example here. For some extra safety, you can include some information in the end of your "description" field on the disclaimer, and link to a disclaimer page on your website.

2) Contact the original enterprise. It doesn't hurt to let the enterprise or professional individuals of whom you're doing the parody of know of your intentions. That's a goodwill effort, and they may even find it humorous and share it amongst their own colleagues.

3) Not sure? Consult with an attorney in your state who is qualified to handle matters on intellectual property, new media, entertainment law, and rights of publicity issues.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ECW
• Grant Crowell ReelSEO
• wrestling
• parody
• fair use
• WWE
• legal video
• Funny
• Comedy
• Humour
• Sketch

[stealingyourlaughs]

Very helpful here