question on books

[Tac00]

i wanted to make a collection of parody comics of video games which ive done of various video games and sell them at my local comic book store. i was wondering because its parody if im alowed to do so and not get sued up the butt.because its parody

for example http://notanothervgcomic.comicgenesis.com/

[Bustertheclown]

I say screw the money-grubbing corporate bastards, and their intellectual property. Your cartoons aren't taking money out of their pockets, or disparaging their good names. Print the books.

(On a more helpful note, what constitutes fair use under parody is not described through statute, and tends to be decided on a case-by-case basis. You wouldn't really know if your work is technically fair use as parody, unless the owners of the IP discovered the usage, took issue with it, it went to legal action, and there was a judgment made. You could check out other cases that have come up, and try to judge based on precedent whether you'd be alright. However, precedent does change, and even if you're safe under the umbrella of Copyright, it doesn't mean you'd be safe from Trademark disputes. And don't even get me started on jurisdictions.)

By the way, a lot of your gags are pretty cute.

[Jin-roh]

I thought a lot of them were clever. I bit like VG cats, except clean.

[Tac00]

thanks pals. yea im just afraid of getting sued. i think keeping it clean makes it a little smarter. its so easy to make it dirty to make it a joke so i figure this way makes it harder.

[Bustertheclown]

The particulars are this:

You're going to be printing on an extremely limited level, to be sold locally, and a case could be made that your work is somehow fair use under parody. I doubt very much you'll be noticed, let alone sued. If you are noticed, they'll threaten you with a letter from a lawyer before they take any real action, and then you'll know to stop. It isn't going to be worth it for them to come after the few dollars you make from this, if you make any money from it at all, which, in independent publishing, is far from a guarantee.