Movie quotes in a novel

[HeatherAB]

I have a character in my novel who quotes from movies, does bad impersonations, etc. Is this considered fair use?
On the downside:

1. Obviously a commercial work
2. Not a review or educational commentary on the original
3. My understanding of parody is that although my work is a comedy, it wouldn't be considered a parody of any of the specific works

On the upside:
5. only a tiny fraction of any given movie script is being used.
6. the movie quotes make up only a tiny fraction of what is otherwise an entirely original work
7. my work would in no way take away from the commercial value of the original. (ie. people wouldn't buy my work *instead* of the original)

I've seen Yes and No and You'll Have to Wait to Get Sued to Find Out around the Internet but none of those people are lawyers. One person said comedians are safe because of parody rules but novelists have no such protection. But it seems bizarre if you could do impressions as a valid career but the portrayal of a character like that in a book would be copyright infringement.

I'm Canadian but the book would be published by a NY publisher.

 

[HeatherAB]

*sigh* So no one has an answer to this?

Looks like I'll have to go with the don't-know-you'll-have-to-wait-until-you're-sued-to-find-out. The parts are already written now anyway. Guess I'll wait and see if my agent says anything about it when I send it to him.

 

[quincy]

Fair use is determined at the court level, so it is impossible to say whether a use is fair or not until a court says it is fair - and, of course, the problem with that is it means you have already been sued for infringement for this to occur.

When using someone else's copyrighted material, a copyright owner will decide whether they think the use is infringing on their copyright. If they sue over your use, a court will decide whether your use is a fair one or not by looking at the purpose and character of the use (whether it is a commercial use or educational use, for instance), the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion "borrowed" for use (in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole), and the effect the use has on the market of the copyrighted work.

Although it sounds to me like your use of copyrighted material would be a fair use, I am not the copyright holder and I am not a court.

Most authors, and publishers, take out insurance, to cover the costs of any lawsuits, should they arise over the content of the material published. Many authors and publishers will also contact the copyright owners to get permission to use the material, prior to using it and whether permission would be needed or not, to ensure no lawsuit will be filed against them.

Having an attorney review the content of your novel prior to publication is always wise.

For more information on U.S. copyright law, you can go to the official government website - www.copyright.gov.

Good luck.