Ultimately, the definition of fair use is pretty nebulous and deliberately so. One of the biggest distinctions, however, is that in order to qualify as a parody, the work must be used to mock itself. Beyond that, fair use does extend to the use of the original product being mocked. In fact, the courts have even gone so far as to rule that it is perfectly legal to profit off of it so long as your transformative work is a parody.
Of all the options under the Fair Use umbrella, parody receives the widest lenience. So long as it's provably meant to make fun of the original material, you can do just about anything.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.As far as I can tell, it's actually a legal grey area with arguments both for and against.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Yes, it is. If it wasn't, reviewers wouldn't be permitted to include footage from the content they were reviewing, and remember: parody is given more copyright leeway than reviews are. Fair use boils down to four factors:
- Purpose and character of use. To qualify as fair, it must contribute something new to our understanding of the material, of the arts, of society, etc. It can't just be doing the same thing over again. This is where the work's nature as a parody comes into play, because it explores new angles and ways of looking at the same characters.
- Nature of the original work. This is where copyright holders of fictional materials hold an advantage but, as noted, being a fictional work does not by itself prohibit fair use.
- Amount and substantiality. How much of the original work is being used? Courts have ruled in favor of copying some or even all of the original work in a copyright dispute so long as the secondary user copies only as much as is needed for their intended use. Bear in mind that what footage TFS does use is often heavily edited by Kaiser.
- Effect upon the work's value. This is where the kicker lies. In order to successfully file legal action against Team Four Star for violation of copyright, Toei would have to be able to prove that their use of the material has had an adverse effect on Dragon Ball's marketability. That they have made the IP less popular and harmed the company's profits.
Like I said, there's a reason a Cease and Desist order has never arrived at TFS's doorstep. It's not that Toei tolerates them just enough but likes to troll them from time to time. It's that Toei has no legal ground to stand on.
edited 7th Apr '17 9:25:16 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Considering there are people who believe the Abridged version is superior and either never watched, or never will watch the original series and/or films, and will probably never purchase any DVD's/collections...
...meanwhile Team Four Star probably benefits from t-shirts and similar merch...
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!Pretty sure the stuff for merchandise only goes to helping the series, and they don't profit from it in any other way. I think they've mentioned that more than once. If that wasn't the case they probably could be sued, and even if not, they don't seem like they'd actually want hurt the name of Dragon Ball.
And people can believe whatever they want. I have various issues with a lot of the ways people claim this is "better", but in the end people like what they like.
Under Fair Use, you are allowed to profit off parody works. Affecting the value of the work is only a one-way street.
Given that TFS members keep getting hired to do voice work for official products, proving that they've harmed Dragon Ball's marketability would be an uphill battle.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Hell, it's entirely possible that Xenoverse got a small boost in sales once it was learned that Taka was in the game. A rather small boost but still a boost.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!It is true I don't do shit about "supporting the official release". I have almost no interest in the original material.
To be fair, I probably wouldn't have ever had any interest in it without the abridged series to begin with.
The amount of original material I consume is pretty limited to begin with.
Influence aside, I'd image that most people who have an interest in the abridged were at least aware of the real thing first, if not actively interested in it, but that's probably a safe bet too.
The only thing that really bothers me is when people act like only liking abridged because it's "better" is some sort of badge of honor.
This series is why I got into Dragon Ball in the first place.
I'd seen some stuff of it before, but the problem is that it's not a very approachable franchise.
Abridged is a great starting point if you want to get into it and don't know where or how to start.
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone elseI really don't see how Dragon Ball isn't very approachable. Especially once Kai got made.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Plus, like, there's a lot of cultural differences you gotta get past and a lot of Pop Culture Osmosis that already colors your perception of the show.
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone elseThat's true about any popular work from a country not your own. Although, in the case of Dragon Ball, the only thing from the Saiyan Saga onward (and maybe even before that) that would be lost due to cultural differences is Chi-chi's bit about Goku turning Gohan into a delinquent.
Also, I have no idea why Pop Culture Osmosis would have anything to do with you not watching something unless the only thing you knew about was "It sucks."
edited 9th Apr '17 5:12:52 AM by Zelenal
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!At least in the original Dragon Ball, shit actually happened instead of being dragged out for four or five episodes.
They didn't have to come up with any "Kai" version because they didn't fuck around.
Your momma's so dumb she thinks oral sex means talking dirty.

I'd like to point out that, from my understanding, abridged series actually don't count as fair use.
Fair use protection for parodies extends to things like using the same plot, setting, and characters as the work being parodied, but not reusing the same audio-visual recordings. If DBZ Abridged were exactly the same, except they animated their own drawings instead of taking clips from DBZ episodes, then they'd be entirely within the bounds of the law. But since they're actually using someone else's drawings without their permission, yeah, that's a violation of copyright.