Re: obscure derivative works question

> Drewsquire[_at_]aol.com asked about 2LiveCrew and Roy Orbison re "Pretty
> Woman"...

• The Copyright Website has a pretty good discussion of the history of this dispute, including lyrics from both versions of "Pretty Woman" and soundclips one can download to judge for one's self.

     http://www.benedict.com/fairuse3.htm#case

The song does, as you suggest, talk about the type of women the singers were likely to encounter in their neighborhood. I think you are right to suggest that the lyrics don't parody the original song per se, so much as they parody their neighborhood; but on another level one could plausibly suggest that the lyrics do parody American culture, with the original song representing an American culture different from that experienced by 2LiveCrew and therefore an appropriate vehicle by which to express their view of that different reality.

Tom Dunn
Northeastern Law '98
tdunn[_at_]slaw.neu.edu
tel/fax (617) 247 - 1040 Received on Sat Nov 16 1996 - 19:37:04 GMT