Copyright and the parody exception : an analysis on the right to use protected material for the purpose of parody

Parody has always been a way for people to comment and criticize society, often using other people’s copyrighted work as a basis. This has naturally led to conflicts between the maker of the parodies and the copyright holders. To allow parodies to still use copyrighted material, both in Swedish and international law a parody exception have been introduced. In Swedish law it has until recently been through preparatory works and case-law that the parody exception has existed, without any explicit mention. In 2001 the EU signed the Infosoc-directive, meant to harmonize copyright law within the Union. It explicitly contains a parody exception in article 5.3k, but without any exact definition. In 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a central judgement for the parody exception which have affected several countries, even outside of the EU. Swedish courts have recently started to use this case which could change how the exception works in Swedish law. This thesis argues that the necessary prerequisites from the case is not clear enough and that a rule need to be set up. By looking at old and new case-law, international situations and other discussions around what the parody exception entails, attempts will be made to try and create this new rule. It cannot be denied that the EU through the Infosoc-directive have changed how the parody exception should be viewed in Swedish law