: Re: In a parody of a short children's story, is copying a couple of lines word-for-word going to present legal problems? I've written a parody of a famous children's book, the original being a

@Jessie137

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Fair Use is really tricky because it's impossible to know for certain whether something squarely falls under fair use unless you go to court.
The less you copy, the greater chances you have of qualifying under fair use. I wish we had a more specific rule than this... but the doctrine is, unfortunately, ambiguous.
You're copying 3% of the poem, which puts you under the 10% rule of thumb. But remember that this rule of thumb has no legal teeth. But the majority of cases where works copied less than 10% of the source material (and satisfied all the other conditions of fair use) won in a court of law.
So, you're probably ok. But you'll never get a more specific answer outside of a courtroom.
Want to make 100% sure you're safe? Send your work to the copyright owner and ask for permission to publish it.

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