Question About The Legality Of Parodies

[Way_Moby]

OK, that's a relief. I'll have to add my stuff to iTunes then!

[minnick27]

You are still using someone elses music. I would honestly call a music lawyer.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Here's an interesting article on parodies and royalties.

9.1 cents per song per unit.

[Way_Moby]

So, If I sold an album with 3 parodies on it, I'd have to pay 27.3 cents for royalties? That's easy. I can do that. But here's the real kicker. Where do I send the money to?

[Seva]

Well, I guess we forgot the BIG, if not HUGE difference between simple uploading a parody song on some web-site and ISSUING IT UNDER THE OFFICIAL RECORD LABEL. If you record a song and add it on your website, the original artist probably won't even care about it - or else those one-hit YouTube wonders parodyin' everything in sight would spend the rest of their lives on the street. But if you issue your song with some record label for the official sale, that's the completely other thing - you're about to sell it in music stores, it's far more official and expensive, too. So, I think it's normal if in that case an original artist WOULD ask to be paid for using his music. So there.

SEVA.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

So, If I sold an album with 3 parodies on it, I'd have to pay 27.3 cents for royalties? That's easy. I can do that. But here's the real kicker. Where do I send the money to?

To the copyright holder of the music. Good luck figuring out who that is. And btw, that's 27.3 cents for each copy you sell (or each individual download, I suppose).

[M_Robertcop]

Tony is on iTunes through CD Baby...because we're under an independent label.

We don't pay royalties on parodies.

I dunno this thread is starting to get confusing... I'm going to check into this stuff further.

[Way_Moby]

I'm just deathly afraid that I'll get sued with some $ 250,000 lawsuit because I didn't pay somebody.

[Well, Well, Well]

Well this is interesting.

[Corey]

if parodying was illegal, our hero would be behind bars right now