Does Weird Al have to ask permission from the real artists to do a parody of a song?

Answer 1

no but hey rappers can get away with making women dress skimpy so whats the diff

Answer 2

Wierd Al did a parody of Snoop Doggs Gangsta's Paradise and called it Amish Paradise. According to the report W.A. Doesn't need permission if enough of the words are changed and the music is raised or lowered one key from the original recording. B.T.W. Snoop Dogg was ticked off about the whole thing.

Answer 3

No...but he does anyways to make sure he doesn't get into trouble and respect....Michael Jackson thinks his parodies are great......Prince has denied him to do any paradies of his music...he thinks his parodies a re demeaning of the artists work.

Answer 4

No, but he only needs their permission if he wants to put it on a cd. (copyright, etc.)

Answer 5

He doesn't need permission if he changes it enough.

Answer 6

No, here's why:
Under the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law – affirmed by the United States Supreme Court — one does not need permission to record a parody.[21] However, as a personal rule, Yankovic has always requested permission from the original artist before recording his parodies, as a means of maintaining good relationships within the music community.[5] While artists are generally pleased with Yankovic's parodies, there have been a few notable exceptions.


Positive
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana said that the band felt they had "made it" after Yankovic recorded "Smells Like Nirvana", a parody of the grunge band's smash hit, "Smells Like Teen Spirit".[5] On his Behind the Music special, Yankovic stated that when he called Kurt to ask if he could parody the song, Cobain gave him permission, then paused and asked "Um...it's not gonna be about food, is it?" Yankovic responded with "No, it'll be about how no one can understand your lyrics."[22]

Michael Jackson is also a big fan of Yankovic. Jackson has twice allowed him to parody his songs ("Beat It" and "Bad" became "Eat It" and "Fat"). When he granted Yankovic permission to do "Fat", Jackson allowed him to use the same set built for his own "Bad" video from the Moonwalker video.[23] Though Jackson was a good sport about "Eat It" and "Fat", he requested that Yankovic not record a parody of "Black or White", because he felt the message was too important. However, Yankovic has performed a concert-only parody "Snack All Night" in some of his live shows.[20] Yankovic also has a cameo appearance, along with many other celebrities, on Jackson's music video for Liberian Girl.

The song "The Saga Begins" (a parody of Don McLean's "American Pie") accurately states the entire plot of The Phantom Menace, despite being written before the film's release. Yankovic got the plot details from rumour websites. He was slightly unsure about Anakin proposing to Amidala, so he attended a $500 screening to confirm. McLean was pleased with the parody, and even told Yankovic that the parody's lyrics sometimes enter his mind during live performances.[24] Additionally, George Lucas loved the song and a LucasFilm representative told Yankovic "You should have seen the smile on his face."[25]

Chamillionaire also put Weird Al's parody "White & Nerdy" on his official MySpace page writing, "He's actually rapping pretty good on it, it's crazy [...] I didn't know he could rap like that." He also wrote "It's really an honor when he does that. [...] Weird Al is not gonna do a parody of your song if you're not doing it big."[26]


Negative
One of Yankovic's most controversial parodies was 1996's "Amish Paradise", based on "Gangsta's Paradise" by hip-hop artist Coolio. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Yankovic the impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but Coolio maintains that he never did. Complicating the issue further, "Gangsta's Paradise" already samples heavily from a Stevie Wonder song, "Pastime Paradise." While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action never materialised, and Coolio accepted royalty payments for the song. After this controversy, Yankovic has always made sure to speak directly with the artist of every song he parodied. At the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Yankovic and Coolio made peace. On his Website, Yankovic wrote of this event, "I don’t remember what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly… I doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."[27]

In 2003, Yankovic was denied permission to make a video for "Couch Potato", his parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself":

"Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career."[28]
For the Poodle Hat Al TV special, Yankovic raised the question of artistic expression in a false interview with Eminem. As always, Yankovic edited the footage of a previous Eminem interview and inserted himself asking questions such that it made Eminem sound like a hypocrite on the matter of an artist's right to free speech.[29]


Refused parodies
On numerous occasions, Prince has refused Yankovic permission to record parodies of his songs. However, Yankovic has stated in interviews that he has "approached him every few years [to] see if he's lightened up."[30]

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is a self-proclaimed Yankovic fan, but when Yankovic wished to create a polka medley of Led Zeppelin songs, Page refused.[31] Yankovic, however, was allowed to re-record a sample of "Black Dog" for a segment of "Trapped in the Drive Thru."[32]

Paul McCartney, also a Yankovic fan, refused Yankovic permission to record a parody of Wings' "Live and Let Die", entitled "Chicken Pot Pie" because McCartney is a vegetarian.[33] However, like "Snack All Night", "Chicken Pot Pie" has been performed numerous times in concert.[20] This is not unusual for Yankovic, as his concerts often feature parodies for which the artist did not give permission or could not otherwise be released. However, all these "concert only" songs remain unreleased by Yankovic.

In 2006, Yankovic gained James Blunt's permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful". However, after Yankovic had recorded "You're Pitiful", Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, rescinded this permission. The parody was pulled from Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynwood due to his label's unwillingness to "go to war" with Atlantic. Yankovic released the song as a free download on his MySpace profile, as well as his official website, since it was not Blunt himself objecting to the parody.[34] In the "White & Nerdy" video, Yankovic's character is seen vandalising the record label's Wikipedia entry with the exclamation "YOU SUCK!" After the video was released online, Wikipedia's Atlantic Records article mirrored the video with numerous "vandals" editing it. Yankovic has said that he does not approve of the vandalism, though he admits being amused by it. The page has since been semi-protected by Wikipedia.[35]

Answer 7

if he is using the same tune, yes he does, it is copyright infringement, intellectual property. the words maybe not....

Answer 8

Yes,he doesn't always get an OK.

Answer 9

no legally he doesnt but he does to be polite....prince STILL wont let him cover one of his songs...

Answer 10

I should think so.