Re:The Onion defends right to parody in Supreme Court brief
by beej71 on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @11:09AM
(#33081480)
> I don't really see any harm in having some kind of safeword for fake news
They address this:
"Third, the Sixth Circuit’s ruling imperils an ancient form of discourse. The court’s decision suggests that parodists are in the clear only if they pop the balloon in advance by warning their audience that their parody is not true. But some forms of comedy don’t work unless the comedian is able to tell the joke with a straight face. Parody is the quintessential example. Parodists intentionally inhabit the rhetorical form of their target in order to exaggerate or implode it--and by doing so demonstrate the target’s illogic or absurdity."
Plus First Amendment issues, and implementation details. If I make one satirical statement in an otherwise non-satirical essay, must I tag that sentence? Must all "it should have been clear I was joking" statements be tagged to avoid the risk of running afoul the law?
They address this:
"Third, the Sixth Circuit’s ruling imperils an ancient form of discourse. The court’s decision suggests that parodists are in the clear only if they pop the balloon in advance by warning their audience that their parody is not true. But some forms of comedy don’t work unless the comedian is able to tell the joke with a straight face. Parody is the quintessential example. Parodists intentionally inhabit the rhetorical form of their target in order to exaggerate or implode it--and by doing so demonstrate the target’s illogic or absurdity."
Plus First Amendment issues, and implementation details. If I make one satirical statement in an otherwise non-satirical essay, must I tag that sentence? Must all "it should have been clear I was joking" statements be tagged to avoid the risk of running afoul the law?
It's a serious can of worms.