BSA 103 Parody examples

Five examples of parody

"Weird Al" Yankovic's, Eat it, a parody of Michael Jackson's Beat it

This example is not copyright infringement under the fair use act, as it is marketed as a parody. Additionally, Weird Al had contacted Michael Jackson prior to making Eat it and was given permission to parody his song.

Space Balls (1987), a parody of Star Wars (1977)

This example is not copyright infringement under the fair use act, as it is marketed as a parody. Mel Brooks had permission from Lucasfilms Ltd. to do the parody on the condition that no merchandise (in the form of action figures) be made, on account of the superficial similarity of the protagonists of both films.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), a parody of Arthurian legends

This example does not fall under copyright infringement as the original material (Arthurian legends) were created nearly 900 years before "The Holy Grail" was filmed, and the characters and themes have since become public domain.

Tom Lehrer's The Elements song, a parody (or pastiche) of The Major General's song from The Pirates of Penzance

Tom Lehrer's cover does not fall under copyright infringement, as Lehrer had never claimed the tune as his original work. Lehrer's cover has since inspired other "list songs" using the same tune (e.g. Every Major's Terrible from the webcomic xkcd, listing the faults of undergraduate degrees).

Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1992), a parody of the Robin Hood folklore 

This example does not fall under copyright infringement as the original material (Robin Hood folktales) were created nearly 600 years before "Men In Tights" was filmed, and the characters and themes have since become public domain.