The Right To Parody Comparative Analysis of Copyright and Free Speech

In The Right to Parody: Comparative Analysis of Free and Fair Speech, Amy Lai examines the right to parody as a natural right in free speech and copyright, proposes a legal definition of parody that respects the interests of rights holders and accommodates the public's right to free expression, and describes mechanisms to ensure that parody will best serve this purpose. Combining philosophical inquiry with robust legal analysis, the book draws upon examples from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Hong Kong. While it caters to scholars in intellectual property and constitutional law, as well as free speech advocates, it is written in a non-specialist language designed to appeal to any reader interested in how the boom in online parodies and memes relates to free speech and copyright.

Part I: 1. The natural right to free speech and parody; 2. The natural right to parody copyrighted works; Part II: 3. The parody/satire dichotomy in American law; 4. Canada's potential parody/satire dichotomy; 5. The (deceptively) broad British parody exception; 6. The broadening French parody exception; 7. A parody exception for Hong Kong in crisis; Conclusion.

Amy Lai has a background in law and literature and was educated at the University of Cambridge and the University of British Columbia.