Parody Is No Joke

Sigh. I wasn’t intending to come back today and write more about copyright, but I had to point out this story coming out of TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival).

From today’s Hollywood Reporter:

The People’s Joker, Vera Drew’s debut feature about a trans woman working in a comedy set in the Batman universe, has been pulled from the Toronto Film Festival for further screenings after its world premiere.

The headline attributes this to concerns “over ‘rights issues.’”

The easiest way to understand what they’re talking about is to watch the trailer, from filmmaker Vera Drew’s YouTube:

I have downloaded the video and I will upload it if YouTube takes it down; in the meantime, I want to use her link.

Polygon has a piece out which claims Warner issued a cease-and-desist, and also fills in a lot of the background information on the project.

Other outlets hadn’t mentioned the c-and-d, so some clarification may be forthcoming, but some of the online reaction is already very much in line with the propaganda the media industry has fed the younger generations for the last 20 years. In a nutshell, the received message is that copyright is sacrosanct and inviolable, that there is no such thing as Fair Use, and that the corporate productions that overwhelm our culture can only be spoken about with extreme caution—ideally with permission—lest you inadvertently track mud onto someone’s Intellectual Property.

The industry achieved this in part by conflating “copying” with “stealing” and by aggressively attacking artists who attempt to use their “property” for the purpose of parody and commentary. YouTube has both hurt and helped in the education of consumers—implementing take-downs at the request of corporate lawyers as well as attempting to stand up against particularly egregious censorship.

But let’s be clear. Parody is protected speech under the Constitution of the United States. The issue has gone to the Supreme Court which declared that parody is protected. It’s one of the explicit carveouts in the caselaw on Fair Use. Now, Toronto is in Canada, which has different rules—but an international film festival is a shitty place to split hairs and an emboldened Warners might attempt to press the issue elsewhere. If they do so in relation to this film in the US, it’s knives out, girls.

One more thing—this film looks fucking hilarious, for those who appreciate Tim & Eric style ironic trash comedy. And it’s not merely a spoof—it’s a brilliant use of superhero tropes to tell a coming-of-age story of trans identity. I can’t wait to watch it.