Is this plagiarism?

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Shadow_Ferret

Shadow_Ferret

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Or just satire? And what's the difference? How much leeway is a writer allowed in using someone else's words or ideas in satire?

If I knowingly take another writer's "words" and intentionally use them as a "contemporary" reference for humorous effect, is that plagiarism or is it OK?

Example:

A question came to mind and I spoke it without filtering it. "How did you become a werewolf?"

"That's old news."

"Not to me."

She smiled; it had a sad, wistful quality to it, something totally out of character. "It happened in college. I was dating this boy that I was very much in love with. One night at his place we were making out. He became a little too aggressive and I wasn't ready to go that far. I told him so. He persisted.

"It became a fight and ..." She paused, her eyes focused on the past.

I put my hand on hers and said, "You don't have to talk about it."

She glanced at me and the momentary melancholy was gone. "No. It's OK. It's been years. Suffice to say he forced himself on me and in the process he bit me. I found out he was a carrier the first time I turned."

"What happened to him? Did you report it?"

"No, I didn't report it. They laughed at date rape in those days. I hunted him down and killed him, then I ate his liver washing it down with a nice Chianti."

I tried to read her to see if she was kidding. "Seriously?"

"No!" She said with a laugh. "I hate Chianti. I actually had a nice Bordeaux."
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icerose

icerose

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Watch all the Scary Movies, and every movie Mel Brooks puts out, then watch the movies they took their material from. That will give you an excellent idea of what can be used as Satire.
 

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icerose said:
Watch all the Scary Movies, and every movie Mel Brooks puts out, then watch the movies they took their material from. That will give you an excellent idea of what can be used as Satire.
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Those are parodies; for bizarre reasons, copyright laws allow parody, but not satire. From a literary point of view, some of the ideas/definitions about parody and satire in title 17 are, well, reversed.
 

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Shadow_Ferret said:
Or just satire? And what's the difference? How much leeway is a writer allowed in using someone else's words or ideas in satire?

If I knowingly take another writer's "words" and intentionally use them as a "contemporary" reference for humorous effect, is that plagiarism or is it OK?

Example:
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That's an example of allusion, not plagiarism; it's OK. If you have lots and lots of recognizable lines from the same film, you might have a problem, but the way that's used, you're cool.
 

Jamesaritchie

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satire

Medievalist said:
Those are parodies; for bizarre reasons, copyright laws allow parody, but not satire. From a literary point of view, some of the ideas/definitions about parody and satire in title 17 are, well, reversed.
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This has bugged me for years, and no one has ever given what I consider a good answer as to why the law allows one and not the other?
 

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Jamesaritchie said:
This has bugged me for years, and no one has ever given what I consider a good answer as to why the law allows one and not the other?
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Me too. I think there are two separate issues, first, why one is priviledged, and second the definitions the law uses, both stated and implied.

I've been an expert witness on a few copyright cases involving parody, one of which, the Babie/Aqua trial, was . . . bizarre, and every single time I have to deal with the fact that the definitions, such as they are, that lawyers and the law use are just plain wrong.

And then I have to prove that something is or is not, in my judgement parody, and a lot of times the jurors are just not familiar enough with pop culture or lit to really get it--so I end up teaching.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Satire

Medievalist said:
Me too. I think there are two separate issues, first, why one is priviledged, and second the definitions the law uses, both stated and implied.

I've been an expert witness on a few copyright cases involving parody, one of which, the Babie/Aqua trial, was . . . bizarre, and every single time I have to deal with the fact that the definitions, such as they are, that lawyers and the law use are just plain wrong.

And then I have to prove that something is or is not, in my judgement parody, and a lot of times the jurors are just not familiar enough with pop culture or lit to really get it--so I end up teaching.
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I'm very happy not to have been in your shoes during these times.
 
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