SeventyOne
Platinum Member
Well I would think they could make fun of whatever they wanted really...they made fun of Pirates of the Carribean..but yes Disney does indeed have the contract..I think
That's actually the problem--they DIDN'T make fun of PotC. They simply had a dead ringer for Capt. Jack Sparrow (better than any I've seen in WDW) reciting lines in Sparrow's character using a close approximation of Johnny Depp's voice to advance the plot of their show. It's hard to argue that was a "parody" rather than just using the original character.
The trend now seems to be using characters who are clearly parodies, to avoid any potential confusion (or lawsuits). Instead of Capt. America in the stars and stripes, Capt. Mexicano in green and red. An overweight, grumpy "post-marriage" Edward. Smurfette in the movies is 3 apples high and sounds like a perky Katie Perry? Make her 5'11" and have her talk in a sultry, Marilyn voice. Changes so that the characters are still recognizable but not so much that anyone could actually believe they are the original.
It's not as much of an issue with real people--ok, technically "public figures"--because it's a lot harder for a living person to sue over something like this than the owner of a copyrighted character. Hence Anthony Weiner, Sarah Palin, Paul Revere...