Supreme Court Case / Reasoning of the Court

Supreme Court Case / Reasoning of the Court
The District Court granted summary judgment for 2 Live Crew because the 2 Live Crew’s version of “Pretty Woman” was a parody which quickly breaks into a play of words, substituting the original lyrics with more shocking ones to show that the original song was pretty bland in comparison. 2 Live Crew had taken no more than was necessary to bring out the original in order to parody it and it was extremely unlikely that 2 Live Crew’s song could affect the market for the original. The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed and remanded because it assumed for the purpose of its opinion that 2 Live Crew’s song was a parody, they had put little emphasis on the fact that every commercial use is presumptively unfair. This is where the court case Sony Corp. of America v Universal City Studios comes into play. In this case, Sony Corp made beta max and sold it to the public; then people would then take these devises and record Universal City Studios productions that were broadcasted on television which could possibly harm the commercial use of these productions. The Court of Appeals ruled that by taking the heart of the original and making it the heart of a new work that 2 Live Crew had taken too much. After this ruling, the effect on the potential market for the original and the market for derivative works is the most important element of fair use, “Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v Nation Enterprises. “ The Court of Appeals ruled that its blatant commercial purpose prevents this parody from being a fair use. The Court Appeals eventually came to the conclusion that the 2 Live Crew’s version will never replace the original since the two version serve different markets. Not only a parody, but also has “rap music”, so there can’t be a potential harm of commercial use of the original. The Court of Appeals then stated that this gives 2 Live Crew defense of fair use, reversed and remanded.