Use of Obama audio clip in song??

[Grudunza]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

Hi there. I'm a full-time kids/family musician (Eric Herman) with a question about a track on an upcoming album. A section of the song refers to the president of the United States interrupting television broadcasts and declaring a national emergency in order to tell the protagonist of the song to take a bath. I'd love to have an actual clip of Pres. Obama saying "I approve this message" come right after that part.

I know that the use of any audio clip that someone else created is not normally allowed without permission or some type of mechanical royalty arrangement. But I wonder about that in this case, because I've seen this same kind of thing used all the time in comedy shows or talk radio bits, where they'll use excerpts from actual political speeches or interviews or other recorded media and re-contextualize them for comedic or satirical purposes. And that would be the purpose in the case of this song; a re-contextualization for comedic purpose. But before I commit to using that (it's a placeholder in the song for now), I'd like to know if the men in shades and black suits will be coming for me, or worse yet, the team of high-priced lawyers.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

Hi there. I'm a full-time kids/family musician (Eric Herman) with a question about a track on an upcoming album. A section of the song refers to the president of the United States interrupting television broadcasts and declaring a national emergency in order to tell the protagonist of the song to take a bath. I'd love to have an actual clip of Pres. Obama saying "I approve this message" come right after that part.

I know that the use of any audio clip that someone else created is not normally allowed without permission or some type of mechanical royalty arrangement. But I wonder about that in this case, because I've seen this same kind of thing used all the time in comedy shows or talk radio bits, where they'll use excerpts from actual political speeches or interviews or other recorded media and re-contextualize them for comedic or satirical purposes. And that would be the purpose in the case of this song; a re-contextualization for comedic purpose. But before I commit to using that (it's a placeholder in the song for now), I'd like to know if the men in shades and black suits will be coming for me, or worse yet, the team of high-priced lawyers.

For parody purposes, small portions of copyrighted material can be used without permission granted from the copyright holder. The use can be considered "fair use" of the material (although it is important to note that "fair use" is an affirmative defense to infringement and not permission to use copyrighted material).

And works prepared by US government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain, free for anyone to use without prior permission.

However, a person's voice (as well as other aspects of his persona) has protection under publicity rights laws. The use of another person's image or likeness or voice or mannerisms in a commercial fashion can infringe on these publicity rights. As a most general rule, you cannot give the impression that someone supports, endorses, or is in any way connected with your commercial product or service if they are not (although you can use select famous dead people to promote your product/service).

It would be smart for you to have your song and its lyrics personally reviewed, to better ensure you do not get a knock on your door by men in shades and black suits, but it sounds to me as if you are on fairly safe legal ground, based strictly on what you have posted here.