Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994) was a United States Supreme Court copyright law case that stands for the proposition that a commercial parody can be fair use. That money is made does not make it impossible for a use to be fair; it is merely one of the components of a fair use analysis.

Related Topics:
510 U.S. 569 - 1994 - United States Supreme Court - Copyright law - Parody - Fair use

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The members of the rap music group 2 Live Crew, Luther R. Campbell, Christopher Wongwon, Mark Ross, and David Hobbs, composed a song called "Pretty Woman," a parody based on Roy Orbison's rock ballad, "Oh, Pretty Woman." 2 Live Crew's manager asked Acuff-Rose Music if they could license Roy Orbison's tune for the ballad to be used as a parody. Acuff-Rose Music refused to grant the band a license but 2 Live Crew nonetheless produced and released the parody. Almost a year later, after nearly a quarter of a million copies of the recording had been sold, Acuff Rose sued 2 Live Crew and its record company, Luke Skyywalker Records, for copyright infringement. The District Court granted summary judgment for 2 Live Crew, holding that its song was a parody that made fair use of the original song under § 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, (17 U.S.C. § 107). The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding that the commercial nature of the parody rendered it presumptively unfair under the first of four factors relevant under §107; that, by taking the "heart" of the original and making it the "heart" of a new work, 2 Live Crew had taken too much under the third §107 factor; and that market harm for purposes of the fourth §107 factor had been established by a presumption attaching to commercial uses.

Related Topics:
2 Live Crew - Luther R. Campbell - Christopher Wongwon - Mark Ross - David Hobbs - Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman - Acuff-Rose Music - Luke Skyywalker Records - Copyright

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