The show Venture brothers does satire of pop culture characters. The Fantastic Four, Johnny Quest and Scooby Do characters have been shown. In some cases the names are changed and in others not but it is clear who they are representing. Twisted versions yes but still.
What are the legalities? And if it's clearly satire will most producers be afraid to deal with it or am I being overly cautious and the producers will judge the screenplay on the merits and have their lawyers change anything that might be worry some.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
To be honest I would imagine that its just a case of aarregance where they dont care because they are a big production company with a lot of finance behind them.
I wouldnt advice an independent film producer to try it on account that they would be much more vunlrable to legal action.
Either that or the likes of Stan Lee and the other creators of the characters simply see the funny side of the satier.
Cleary.
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On this note, would this count for say movie, novel, video game characters too?
Say I have a film where a guy is dressed in a gorilla suit and he runs across the camera. Say a character references and says something like "Who invited King Kong" or "Watch out for Donky Kong," is it necessary to get the OK from whoever owns the rights to those characters?
Or is it similar to product placement where you only need to get the OK if what you are referencing or showing them doing might be considered risque or outside of the intended roles?
Venture brothers is not exactly from a big production company but I see your point. I *think* there is the right to satire as long as you are not trying to use the characters as if they were your own. That's a fine line though. I think Mattel sued Aqua over their song Barbie Girl and lost but still the threat of a lawsuit can be scary.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
I suppose some times they just have to be daring/cheeky enough to try it on and push the boundaries of acceptance, in which case, like CI said, Its probs more to do wiv how you portray that character.
Cleary.
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Parody is fair use.
Take that how you will, you can still be vulnerable legally depending on how you do it (they can argue imitation rather than parody), but you are legally able to parody a character or story.
What about a building. Did the makers of Godzilla, Cloverfield, and Independence Day have to contact the owners of the Chrysler building before smashing it on film? If I wanted aliens to smash up the Chrylser Building at the NY NY casino would I need the casino's permission? Assuming I don't need actual access or anything.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
I would imagine not on account that you dont requier a persons permission to film their property/building unlessyou are on their property or inside it.
Also I dont think that blowing it up counts as negative representation.
Cleary
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