The second factor, the nature of the copyrighted work, was not very helpful in this case, according to the Court, since a parody is, by its very nature, based only on an “expressive” work. This article is not legal advice. You should consult a lawyer if you have legal questions related to your specific publishing issues and projects. Although the law treats parodies and satires differently when it comes to defending fair use, it struggles to distinguish between them. Parody and satire use humor to comment and criticize, but they serve different purposes. UK copyright law, which implements the EU Copyright Directive, provides for an exception to copyright “for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche”. This means that it is in principle possible to create parodies that reuse copyrighted works without having to obtain permission from the rights holders. However, it is important to note that the use of copyrighted works for parody purposes is only permitted to the extent that it can be considered “fair dealing”. The extent to which copying a work is fair or unfair is a question that is ultimately decided by a court, taking into account the interests and rights of the copyright owner, as well as the freedom of expression of the person invoking the parody exception. In making this decision, a court usually considers a number of different factors, such as the quantity of works copied. First, a copyright owner can still sue for copyright infringement if the parody “conveys a discriminatory message.” For example, if the parody changes the main characters of a copyrighted film into members of the KKK, the rights holder has the right to ensure that their work is not associated with this type of image or message. Weird Al Yankovic`s song “Smells Like Nirvana” is an example of parody. Yankovic uses the instrumental composition of the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as the basis for his own lyrics, which mock the band Nirvana.

Using a song to make fun of the band that wrote it is a parody because there is a direct relationship between the original work and the adapted work.