Hello,
I was hoping to receive some feedback about a parody project am I planning, and whether or not I have grounds for fair use of the music portion of it. Specifically, what I am looking to do is create an 8-bit, retro-style video game parody of a TV show and want to appropriately parody the tv show's original, instrumental music in an 8-bit fashion for use in the game.
I believe my plan for the story/characters/gameplay elements will align nicely with laws regarding parody and fair use, but the music parody aspect has me looking for council and, hopefully, reassurance. My question is, would creating 8-bit, NES-style music parodies of the show's original musical themes constitute as fair use, exonerating me from having to receive permission from the music copyright holder? You see, I am afraid of asking the music publisher for permission because they might say no or request an amount of money that isn't feasible for this low (pronounced "no")-budget, fan initiative. I am afraid to put tons more work into the project only to be asked (threatened) to take the game download/stream offline due to the similarities in the music content. I know that parody is protected under fair use, but do my music plans sound like they'll be protected under fair use?
Regarding the music parodies themselves, I would start with a pretty faithful cover of the source material (to elicit the tone of the tv show's original music and make the reference clear), only I would be using an extremely limited palate of sounds to emulate the original NES video game console hardware (only four, mono synth voices). I would be turning music composed of organic string and piano instruments, as well as a whole range of traditional instruments, into a limited four-voice 1980's-era, sound-card composition. I would then change the melodic rhythm patterns and program some creative arrangement tricks to make the music more closely resemble the hardware limitations of an NES game. Chords will be expressed with single note leads, while perhaps one or two omitted chord notes could be expressed in a supporting rhythmic pattern. The 'joke' or 'parody' aspect of these music covers would be in the expression, context and instrumentation of the music. By imposing recording limitations of obsolete 1980's computer hardware, in addition to introducing new musical elements such as rhythm, timbre, tempo and original arrangement transitions, the intent of the music (on its own and especially within the context of the parody game) would be to parody the original music in a sci-fi and retro-video-game style (of which, the music is neither) and would not attempt to compete with the original music or pass as a wholly original work. Would such instrumental music parody be considered transformative enough to be considered fair use?
Is there any precedence of the factors that constitute a fair-use parody of an instrumental song? If changing the lyrics and intent of a pop song is a pretty standard formula to define fair-use of a parody song with vocals, how could a fair-use parody of a piece of instrumental music be defined? The music parody formula should not be exclusive to representation with lyrics. Have there been any related court decisions that can be referenced to help define an instrumental parody?
Could a relaxing classical movement parodied in a hardcore rap or metal style so long as the parody doesn't attempt to be passed as anything other than a transformative work (I'm not talking about using music samples, but rather, new recordings)? Could a classic science fiction musical piece be covered in a western-cowboy motif in an expression and context that is clearly parody and be considered a fair use?
Also, how much might financial gain weigh into a ruling of this type of situation? Could someone expect to sell western-cowboy-style parodies of Star Wars music without permission from the Star Wars property? I must admit, I think litigation would follow quickly in that example. Going back to my scenario, do you think my music parody within my video game parody would be fair use if the game I made was online and free for all to play and/or download? Essentially, I want to make a game for fans of the tv show and video game genre. If I can't expect to sell this game for profit (which I'm not holding my breath for), I'd still very much like to make it for all to enjoy. I would, however, like to run a Kickstarter campaign to assist with making the game a reality. Does anyone think I could get away with a Kickstarter campaign to raise development/creation capital to make a free-to-play game that pledges to include parody music based on the show's music, or would I be a pretty big target, just asking for trouble (again, only regarding the music)? I think I would prefer to go the free-for-all, Kickstarter route, as I suspect it might be easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission (though I'd be crushed if I had my Kickstarter campaign cut short due to the embedded music examples I would include on my campaign page as a preview of what would be included in the full game). Any advice, thoughts or predictions regarding my Kickstarter plans?
Assuming that a parody song is fair use, and therefore permission from the music copyright holder wasn't needed for creation, would one still need a mechanical license to distribute the fair-use parody song? What about a sync license to sync the fair-use parody song to video or video game? In other words, if someone records a song parody that is safely considered to be fair use, and therefore did not require the original owner's permission to create it, would mechanical and sync licenses still be necessary to distribute and sync the fair-use parody song, or does the fact that it is fair use kind of exonerate it from requiring one or both of those licenses related to the original work?
I know that I rattled on about a range of topics. I hope I painted a clear enough picture of my situation and my law-understanding gray areas. Thanks for any and all information, advice and related discussion! I've done my fair share of internet research, but couldn't find clear answers to these questions. I understand that law isn't always a clean cut, but I appreciate very much any conversation that can emanate from this post! How would you proceed if you we're me? I can't thank you enough for your time!
I was hoping to receive some feedback about a parody project am I planning, and whether or not I have grounds for fair use of the music portion of it. Specifically, what I am looking to do is create an 8-bit, retro-style video game parody of a TV show and want to appropriately parody the tv show's original, instrumental music in an 8-bit fashion for use in the game.
I believe my plan for the story/characters/gameplay elements will align nicely with laws regarding parody and fair use, but the music parody aspect has me looking for council and, hopefully, reassurance. My question is, would creating 8-bit, NES-style music parodies of the show's original musical themes constitute as fair use, exonerating me from having to receive permission from the music copyright holder? You see, I am afraid of asking the music publisher for permission because they might say no or request an amount of money that isn't feasible for this low (pronounced "no")-budget, fan initiative. I am afraid to put tons more work into the project only to be asked (threatened) to take the game download/stream offline due to the similarities in the music content. I know that parody is protected under fair use, but do my music plans sound like they'll be protected under fair use?
Regarding the music parodies themselves, I would start with a pretty faithful cover of the source material (to elicit the tone of the tv show's original music and make the reference clear), only I would be using an extremely limited palate of sounds to emulate the original NES video game console hardware (only four, mono synth voices). I would be turning music composed of organic string and piano instruments, as well as a whole range of traditional instruments, into a limited four-voice 1980's-era, sound-card composition. I would then change the melodic rhythm patterns and program some creative arrangement tricks to make the music more closely resemble the hardware limitations of an NES game. Chords will be expressed with single note leads, while perhaps one or two omitted chord notes could be expressed in a supporting rhythmic pattern. The 'joke' or 'parody' aspect of these music covers would be in the expression, context and instrumentation of the music. By imposing recording limitations of obsolete 1980's computer hardware, in addition to introducing new musical elements such as rhythm, timbre, tempo and original arrangement transitions, the intent of the music (on its own and especially within the context of the parody game) would be to parody the original music in a sci-fi and retro-video-game style (of which, the music is neither) and would not attempt to compete with the original music or pass as a wholly original work. Would such instrumental music parody be considered transformative enough to be considered fair use?
Is there any precedence of the factors that constitute a fair-use parody of an instrumental song? If changing the lyrics and intent of a pop song is a pretty standard formula to define fair-use of a parody song with vocals, how could a fair-use parody of a piece of instrumental music be defined? The music parody formula should not be exclusive to representation with lyrics. Have there been any related court decisions that can be referenced to help define an instrumental parody?
Could a relaxing classical movement parodied in a hardcore rap or metal style so long as the parody doesn't attempt to be passed as anything other than a transformative work (I'm not talking about using music samples, but rather, new recordings)? Could a classic science fiction musical piece be covered in a western-cowboy motif in an expression and context that is clearly parody and be considered a fair use?
Also, how much might financial gain weigh into a ruling of this type of situation? Could someone expect to sell western-cowboy-style parodies of Star Wars music without permission from the Star Wars property? I must admit, I think litigation would follow quickly in that example. Going back to my scenario, do you think my music parody within my video game parody would be fair use if the game I made was online and free for all to play and/or download? Essentially, I want to make a game for fans of the tv show and video game genre. If I can't expect to sell this game for profit (which I'm not holding my breath for), I'd still very much like to make it for all to enjoy. I would, however, like to run a Kickstarter campaign to assist with making the game a reality. Does anyone think I could get away with a Kickstarter campaign to raise development/creation capital to make a free-to-play game that pledges to include parody music based on the show's music, or would I be a pretty big target, just asking for trouble (again, only regarding the music)? I think I would prefer to go the free-for-all, Kickstarter route, as I suspect it might be easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission (though I'd be crushed if I had my Kickstarter campaign cut short due to the embedded music examples I would include on my campaign page as a preview of what would be included in the full game). Any advice, thoughts or predictions regarding my Kickstarter plans?
Assuming that a parody song is fair use, and therefore permission from the music copyright holder wasn't needed for creation, would one still need a mechanical license to distribute the fair-use parody song? What about a sync license to sync the fair-use parody song to video or video game? In other words, if someone records a song parody that is safely considered to be fair use, and therefore did not require the original owner's permission to create it, would mechanical and sync licenses still be necessary to distribute and sync the fair-use parody song, or does the fact that it is fair use kind of exonerate it from requiring one or both of those licenses related to the original work?
I know that I rattled on about a range of topics. I hope I painted a clear enough picture of my situation and my law-understanding gray areas. Thanks for any and all information, advice and related discussion! I've done my fair share of internet research, but couldn't find clear answers to these questions. I understand that law isn't always a clean cut, but I appreciate very much any conversation that can emanate from this post! How would you proceed if you we're me? I can't thank you enough for your time!
