Parody in trademarks and copyright: has humour gone too far?

When approaching the topic of parody, questions usually arise as to the boundaries
between parody and the original work, namely in the context of copyright. 'he legislative
technique for settling those boundaries within the copyright context is not uniform
throughout Europe. In particular, difficulties can be detected at the primary level, concerning issues such as the nature of parody. Despite the uncertainties that surround the subject of parody in the field of copyright, parody is no longer confined to that domain
and has in fact found its way into area of trademarks. Other unresolved problems also
exist. In particular, whereas a common rationale concerning parody can be established
for both copyright and trademarks, that rationale represents merely a starting point
when it comes to ascertaining the limits of parody. 'he weighing of interests at stake and
other relevant criteria are considered in this article with the intention of clarifying this
matter. A comparative study of three chosen jurisdictions is also undertaken in order to
shed light on this issue. 'he primary goal of this article, then, is to establish common
standards in the specific context of admissible parody, thereby providing some guidelines
for future disputes.