Parody and Fair Use: Campbell v Acuff-Rose Music (1994)

This case set an important legal precedent for what courts consider fair use in relation to musical parody.In Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. filed a lawsuit against rap group 2 Live Crew and their record company, Skyywalker Records, claiming that 2 Live Crew's song "Pretty Woman" infringed on Acuff-Rose's copyright of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman." Below are two YouTube videos of Orbison performing his original song live and audio of 2 Live Crew's parody:Roy Orbison Performing "Oh, Pretty Woman" LiveAudio of 2 Live Crew's Parody, "Pretty Woman"A United States District Court granted summary judgment for 2 Live Crew, holding that its song was a parody that made fair use of the original song. However, a Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed this decision, holding that the commercial nature of 2 Live Crew’s parody made the song's use presumptively unfair. This case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which had to determine whether or not 2 Live Crew’s commercial parody was a fair use within the meaning of the Copyright Act of 1976.According to an article on Oyez.org about the case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of 2 Live Crew. In a unanimous opinion delivered by Justice David H. Souter, the Court held that a parody's commercial character is only one element to be considered in a fair use enquiry. The Supreme Court also held that not enough consideration was given to the nature of 2 Live Crew’s parody in weighing the extent to which it copied Orbison’s original song.That same Oyez.org article also says the Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeals “erred in applying the presumption that the commercial nature of the parody rendered the song presumptively unfair.” This was due to a lack of evidence regarding the character and purpose of the use and the market harm to Orbison’s original song.​