Some good news for artistic free expression: A US District Court judge ruled that David Adjmi’s play 3C, a parody of the hit TV sitcom Three’s Company, does not infringe on that program’s copyright. As Deadline Hollywood reported, “The ruling ends nearly three years of court tennis during which playwright David Adjmi was prohibited from publishing the script of his black comedy and pursuing new productions.”
The ruling found that Adjmi’s play was a legitimate case of fair use, “a highly transformative parody of the television series.”
As NCAC noted back in 2012, the playwright was supported by the Dramatists Guild–one of our participating organizations– which “issued a forceful statement in support of Adjmi and artists’ right to creatively parody and critique cultural products, whether they are corporate property or not.” Their statement is worth a look; we can be sure that this isn’t the last time an artist will face this kind of legal challenge.