7 Parody Songs That Led to MASSIVE Lawsuits

#7: “Like a Boss”

The Lonely Island

This was one of the earliest songs dropped by this comedy troupe, initially released in 2008. It’s a parody of a track with the same name by Slim Thug, released 3 years prior. In 2011, two producers who worked on the beat claimed they weren’t paid for their work. Initially, a deal allegedly gave one of the producers, Aleric Banks, 50% ownership of the tune. The corporation Universal Music Group supposedly only let him own 25% of it, but he wasn’t paid a penny for it anyway. It wasn’t the only track they said Samberg took from them, he also used their song “Shy Ronnie” which was even awarded for an Emmy. So the pair filed a lawsuit, then about a year later, Samberg left SNL entirely. The result isn’t publicly known, so we may never learn what came of it. In recent interviews, Samberg stated he left SNL because of the intense schedule, so his legal issues probably weren’t the dominant factor in the decision.

#6: “This Land!”

JibJab

This is one of the earliest examples of a political parody song uploaded to YouTube. It was originally released in 2004 on the JibJab website. It became wildly famous in the 2000s, at least by internet standards. Supposedly, it’s even been watched in outer space and Antarctica. The comical track was a parody of “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, being sung by caricatures of George W. Bush and John Kerry. After blowing up almost instantly, a music publisher called Ludlow Music Inc. threatened to sue JibJab, as they said they owned the original tune. In the end, JibJab did the suing, wanting to ensure their work was considered fair use. They came out on top, with it turning out that “This Land Is Your Land” had been in the public domain since 1973, as Ludlow didn’t renew their ownership of the track.

#5: “When Sonny Sniffs Glue”

Rick Dees

Rick Dees is a well-known American DJ who has been active since the 70s. He’s known for his comedic tracks, like his most famous tune, “Disco Duck.” His most controversial might be this parody of “When Sunny Gets Blue” by Marvin Fisher. At first, Dees asked Fisher if he could make a spoof version, but Fisher refused. That didn’t stop Dees, who sampled it and turned it into a 30-second track. In response, Fisher claimed it was copyright infringement, and a legal battle began. The conclusion was that Dee’s track was fair use, and it has since become a historic example cited in a ton of future cases. It wasn’t the end of his legal battles, though. In 1991, a court case made him pay $10 million in damages, but it wasn’t related to any of his parodies. Instead, it was on account of his siphoning profits from a show.

#4: “My Poops (Getting Loopy Off My Poopy)”

Poopsie Slime Surprise

One of the hottest tracks of “2005” was “My Humps” by the acclaimed Black Eyed Peas. Years later, the group got into legal trouble with the toy brand MGA Entertainment. This was on account of a Poopsie Slime Surprise toy commercial parodying “My Humps.” These toys can sell for between $100 and $300, making them a fairly lucrative product, which is a fairly high price for unicorns that excrete sparkly slime. The group’s music publisher, BMG Rights Management, believed they were owed $10 million in damages, so they filed a lawsuit to claim it. According to BMG, they owned 75% of the commercial’s theme, with them stating the vocals sounded “very similar” to Fergie from the original track. A settlement was reached in October 2023, but the details are not public information, so we may never know who won this case, or whether they ever agreed it was a parody.

#3: Family Guy’s “When You Wish Upon a Star” Parody

Peter Griffin

“Family Guy” is rarely afraid to shy away from edgy humor, which has been the case since its original airing in 1999. One of their series 3 controversies related to the episode “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein.” It was criticised for being anti-Semitic, which meant Fox refused to air it at first. It included one track which was a parody of “When You Wish Upon a Star” performed by Peter Griffin. The original track is the property of the Bourne Company, which filed a sizable lawsuit against Fox in 2007. They were understandably offended by their song being twisted into something offensive. Eventually, in 2009, “Family Guy” won the case with the judge ruling that it was fair use and they weren’t forced to pay a penny. Bourne Company probably wasn’t too happy with the result, as they didn’t publicly reveal their opinions on it.

#2: “More Trash from Mad No. 4”

Mad Magazine

Decades before YouTube, parody songs would be published in magazines. They wouldn’t be properly composed tracks; it would be a handful of lyrics you could sing to specific melodies. This is what Mad magazine chose to do in 1961, when they published a songbook that included a selection of 57 parody lyrics. 25 of them became the focus of lawsuits, with Irving Berlin as the plaintiff, whose song “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” was parodied. A whopping $1 per copy of the songbook was requested, which came to $25 million in total. After inflation, that’s over $250 million in today’s money. Mad’s publishers won the case, with the court deciding they counted as fair use. It’s easily one of the most historically significant cases in parody law, paving the way for future cases. After the ruling in 1964, Mad decided to double down and published tons more parody songbooks over the rest of the 60s.

#1: “Pretty Woman”

2 Live Crew

An arguably more historically significant copyright case was first argued in 1993, then concluded in 1994. The topic was whether 2 Live Crew’s parody of “Oh, Pretty Woman” was fair use, since the hip-hop group had commercialised their parody. The original song was released by Roy Orbison in 1964. Before making a spoof version, the group asked for a license to use the track, but when it was refused, they decided to go ahead and make it anyway. The case ruled in 2 Live Crew’s favor, unanimously determining that “Pretty Woman” was covered by fair use. This was the first time an American court decided that commercial parodies can use copyrighted material without getting permission prior. The legacy of this case can still be felt today. For instance, Weird Al famously requests permission for all of his parodies, despite him not being legally required to at all.

Were there any more high-profile parody lawsuits we didn’t mention today? Let us know in the comments below!