zlacker

Jim Carrey made his career by impersonating celebrity voices. So did Rich Little.

>>Walter+(OP)
Pop goes the weasel.

>>Walter+(OP)
Did Jim Carrey provide a service for anyone to impersonate a voice?

>>Walter+(OP)
Parody is covered under fair use.

>>rawraw+81
As pointed out upthread, fair use is an exemption for copyright. You don’t need fair use for something that isn’t copyrighted (and, indeed, isn’t even copyrightable).

>>Walter+(OP)
"I think it's fine for a profit-driven corporation to impersonate people on a large scale without their permission. Jim Carrey did it..."

>>sneak+42
The voice and expression is copyrightable, that's just how audio books are under copyright protection.

>>Walter+(OP)
When Jim Carrey is impersonating, it's clear that it's Jim Carrey impersonating someone for comedy-sake, not providing a service in lieu of someone else. In other words, Jim Carrey isn't getting paid to stand in for Jack Nicholson for example. Otherwise, it looks more like the Midler vs Ford Motor Co. case[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midler_v._Ford_Motor_Co.

>>ugh123+11
Sure. How do you think he made money at it?

>>Walter+(OP)
Are you referring to doing impressions where the act lasts for a few minutes, or are you saying that Jim Carrey actually impersonated other celebrity voice for like a whole movie or interview? There is a difference, I think. One feels like “fair use” while the other would seem more like “plagiarism”.