Supreme Court Case/ Issues Of The Case

The issues of the case are what determined fair use is when it comes to making a parody. 2 Live Crew created a parody called “Pretty Woman”, which used a guitar lick written by Roy Orbinson in his original version of the song. 2 Live crew released the song commercially against Acuff Music’s wishes because they believed that 2 Live Crew was in violation of the fair use laws. The question is what is “Fair Use” and how do we define it? Well, according to the U.S. Copyright Office this information can be found in section 107 which contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research, also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair. They are: 1) The nature of the copyrighted work. 2) The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work. 3) The amount of substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. 4)the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
In Section 107, it states that it provides that “the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism or comment is not an infringement. The common law tradition of fair use adjudication and requires case by case analysis rather than rules and guidelines. The statutory examples of permissible uses provide only general guidance. The four statutory factors are to be explored and weighed out together in light of copyright’s purpose of promoting science and the arts.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-1292.ZS.html
2 Live Crew released this song in July 1989 on their album “As Clean As They Wanna Be”. Shortly after this album was released, the movie “Pretty Woman” was released. The soundtrack contained the original Roy Orbison version, but the movie took the 2 Live Crew version of the title. The movie producers were required to license the Orbison version of the song, but since titles cannot be copyrighted, the producers would not be liable to either Orbison or 2 Live Crew for the use of “Pretty Woman” for the movie title. http://www.benedict.com/audio/Crew/Crew.aspx
To be associated with 2 Live Crew at the time was considered to be demining because most of their music was lewd and explicit. Acuff Music didn’t want to be associated with 2 Live Crew for their infamous reputation. http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Campbell:v:Acuff:Rose:Music.htm