I have a feeling the fanfiction side of this has been explored quite thoroughly, though it's slightly tangential to the heart of my question.
I was wondering about derivative works, specifically those under the criticism/parody side of things. Let's say, for example, that I decided to write a memoir from the perspective of Ranger Smith (of Yogi Bear fame), detailing the horror of decades of work spent trying to safeguard Jellystone Park from an essentially anarchic pair of woodland residents. The memoir would be a criticism of the worldview behind the Yogi Bear cartoon, and a (hopefully deeply humourous) parody of the relationship between the main characters.
I've seen obvious parodies published before (Bored of the Rings, The Va Dinci Cod) but I have no idea what route the writers took in order to avoid potential legal entanglements. Are publishers less likely to invest in something like this, because of the potential for lawsuits? Even though I'm fairly certain that this sort of thing would fall soundly within the fair use section of copyright law, what precautions should I take?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I'm sure fanfiction authors have the same sort of dilemma--and while fanfiction is seldom a for-profit business, sometimes it is.
Does anyone have any recommended places for me to start, some additional precautions I should take, or any insight on this?
Also: I'm rather new here, so if I ought to have posted this in a different section, I'll take correction with good grace. Thanks, all!
I was wondering about derivative works, specifically those under the criticism/parody side of things. Let's say, for example, that I decided to write a memoir from the perspective of Ranger Smith (of Yogi Bear fame), detailing the horror of decades of work spent trying to safeguard Jellystone Park from an essentially anarchic pair of woodland residents. The memoir would be a criticism of the worldview behind the Yogi Bear cartoon, and a (hopefully deeply humourous) parody of the relationship between the main characters.
I've seen obvious parodies published before (Bored of the Rings, The Va Dinci Cod) but I have no idea what route the writers took in order to avoid potential legal entanglements. Are publishers less likely to invest in something like this, because of the potential for lawsuits? Even though I'm fairly certain that this sort of thing would fall soundly within the fair use section of copyright law, what precautions should I take?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I'm sure fanfiction authors have the same sort of dilemma--and while fanfiction is seldom a for-profit business, sometimes it is.
Does anyone have any recommended places for me to start, some additional precautions I should take, or any insight on this?
Also: I'm rather new here, so if I ought to have posted this in a different section, I'll take correction with good grace. Thanks, all!
