Re-using copyrighted code

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:40 AM, Mark Janssen <dreamingforward at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Weird Al can be a complex case, because sometimes his songs are true parodies, and sometimes they're more satires.  Parody has a pretty firm history of being protected under fair use, and Weird Al's MJ-inspired songs ("Fat" and "Eat It") are clearly parodies.  (As is his more recent Lady Gaga sendup "Perform This Way", while his Star wars saga "The Story Begins" and Coolio-esque "Amish Paradise" are more like satires).
>>
>> So in the case of Weird Al's Michael Jackson parodies, he would be protected under law if MJ had decided to sue.
>
> Not entirely.  The use of the musical tune is not a parody, only the
> lyrics.  But if, like you say, he did get permission, then he is safe.

Citing once again Gilbert and Sullivan, it's definitely possible for a
tune to be a parody. Compare "Poor Wand'ring One" from G&S's Pirates
of Penzance with "Sempre Libera" from Verdi's La Traviata - the former
is most definitely a parody of the latter. (And the song name is
reminiscent of the opera name, too.) There are other parodies in
Gilbert and Sullivan, of both lyrical and musical forms; sometimes
both, like when a set of warriors take off their armor before a fight,
set to music similar to that used in Handel's works for warriors
*putting on* armor.

There's plenty of room to make direct or indirect references in music.
Sometimes all it takes is a bar or two, and everyone knows what you're
parodying. That's even tighter than words!

ChrisA