Legalities of doing a parody show?

iamstop

So basically myself and my mate have spent the last few months slowly putting together a hilarious stop motion (planning 6 episodes) show where the very famous protagonist of the show dies a different way each time. It's full of jokes and parody and not intended to be dark or morbid in anyway. We use dolls and clay mostly.
Anyway, recently we've become aware and a little cautious that there may be some legal issues to be aware of. We really don't want to get sued for something which we probably won't make money on, despite all the effort we're putting into it. (I feel like it's turning out really good, it's super fun to do too.)
So, should we be worried? We've changed the spelling of the famous people in the show but it's obvious who they are supposed to be. Pronounced the same mostly.
Any and all advise would be much appreciated.

flas

Can I get a job on your show?

Peregrinus

There's no fundamental legal problem with parodying an existing work.

If the parody refers to living people, you'd want to be sure that it's not defamatory (the same as with any work of art/literature that refers to living people). (If what you're saying is defamatory of someone, changing the spelling/pronunciation of their name is not going to help you very much.)

You'd want to be sure that you're not making use of trademarks or other intellectual property that belongs to the owners/creators of the work that you are parodying.

eeguy

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission

Peregrinus

eeguy wrote: »

It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission

. . . although the consequences, if the request is refused, may be more severe!

eeguy

Peregrinus wrote: »

. . . although the consequences, if the request is refused, may be more severe!

But probably not. Rosenstock, Callily and McSavage among others have paved the way

Peregrinus

I think it's very unlikely that the object of a parody would sue or that, if they did sue, they would win. But much depends on exactly how your parody is problematic, and on who you are parodying/whose rights you are infringing. TBH, I don't think the practical danger in most cases would be defamation proceedings; the bigger risk would be something like trademark infringement, passing off, that kind of thing. And that's relatively easy to avoid, if you make up your mind to avoid it.

Of course, I haven't read the script for the OP's parodies, and I don't know who's being parodied. Some people are quicker to sue than other, and some will sue not because they expect to win but simply to silence you. (I'm looking at you, Donald J. Trump.) If the OP is thinking of exploiting his parody commercially, he should take yer actual paid legal advice before releasing his creation to a waiting world.

dr.fuzzenstein

Make sure to include a solicitor amongst your characters. His line would be "do you want me to look at it, or should I just say no now?"

Victor

Peregrinus wrote: »

I think it's very unlikely that the object of a parody would sue or that, if they did sue, they would win.

Reminds me of ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aRor905cCw

(contains swearing)

Pat Mustard

eeguy wrote: »

But probably not. Rosenstock, Callily and McSavage among others have paved the way

And Waterford Whispers News, who showed that if people can't or won't defend their satire, they must prepare to eat humble pie in the face of threatened litigation from a wealthy serial litigant.

iamstop

Thanks for the replies. I don't think we have anything to worry about. Might just run it by a law talking guy to be sure to be sure though.

iamstop

Going to releasing episode 1 on Jan 1st. Getting excited.

nuac

MOD
Be advised by your own lawyer before going public