Would this count as parody?

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Stormhawk

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I'm 90% sure this won't be covered under the safe label of parody, and more likely be a defamation suit, but when telling someone about it last night, they were convinced that it would be safe.

I want to have a "demon" take the guise of Cookie Monster in order to convince my slightly-out-of-it MC to do things. (She's um...addicted to cookies. No, seriously, she is. The first thing when she does when she gets the power to basically conjure anything is conjure a cookie).

It's going to be obvious from the outset and all the way through that it's not him, but I'm still sure that the muppety lawyers from Sesame Street would come after me. >_>

Example dialogue.

MC: ...Cookie Monster?
CM: What? Oh right. I'm...no, that's not right. ME Cookie Monster.
MC: You gave up the pro-cookie agenda, you-
CM: No me didn't?
MC: Oooh...so it was a conspiracy, that's what I thought, I-
CM: PAY ATTENTION MORTAL! *tosses a cookie at her*
MC: Okies...
CM: Now, Cookie Monster want to make special cookie. You wanna help?
MC: *nods while munching cookie*
CM: Special cookie require special ingredients...now go get me the blood of innocents!

Now I'm assuming it would be a lot safer to use a generic off-brand version of said blue muppet, but then again, there was that scene in American Gods where Lucy comes out of the TV and offers to flash her boobies...
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Instead of 'cookie' why not named him 'brownie' monster....?

Or something else on this order. Maybe make a twist on the name 'cookie monster'. Ah...fat cookie monster. Sweetie cookie monster. Chubs cookie monster. Maybe even something like....Pete, the cookie monster.
 

Ageless Stranger

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Instead of 'cookie' why not named him 'brownie' monster....?

Or something else on this order. Maybe make a twist on the name 'cookie monster'. Ah...fat cookie monster. Sweetie cookie monster. Chubs cookie monster. Maybe even something like....Pete, the cookie monster.


Mr C. Monster?
 

hammerklavier

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There's parody and then there's really bad parody.
 

tehuti88

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I apologize I haven't an answer but Family Guy, on TV, does stuff like this all the time, while using the original character names. That's obviously parody and they're obviously getting away with it. That's a well-known TV show and not a book, though. I'm just mentioning it out of puzzlement about the suggestions for changing "Cookie Monster" to something more generic, which IMO would remove the humor I found in the bit of dialogue posted. (I thought it was funny. *shrug*)
 

CynicalRyan

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I apologize I haven't an answer but Family Guy, on TV, does stuff like this all the time, while using the original character names. That's obviously parody and they're obviously getting away with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy#Lawsuits

Out of the three cases presented there, one has been thrown out of court, one seems to have been settled out of court or is still working its way through the legal system, and the third seems pretty weak (though, it doesn't seem to be parody in the stricter sense, either).

However, the question if something is protected as Fair Use or not can only be answered by a specialized lawyer, and not even then (since I'm sure that the Family Guy producers get the OK from Fox's lawyers first and/or get the permission).

Weird Al Yankovic can do parodies, even without licensing the music, though.

Anyway: IANAL, and check with one if you want to be sure you are on the legal side of things.
 
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