copyright trademark
&quot;Jingle bells, Batman smells, etc&quot; -- any copyright or trademark problems in that now-famous song lyric?
<p>&quot;Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin's laid an egg&quot; -- any copyright or trademark problems, <em>per se</em>, in that now-famous song lyric?</p>

<p>The original Jingle Bells song was first published as a Thanksgiving Song in 1857 and has lapsed into public domain.   The Batman lyrics constitute parody which would further put their singing under fair use.   You may sing it as part of your own musical arrangement with little discourse from Warner Bros, the current copyright holders of Batman and related properties OR the original parody lyricist, who has not to my knowledge done anything to protect his copyright claim to the song.   You may not sell the version of the Batman version as sung by Mark Hamil in the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series episode &quot;Christmas with the Joker&quot; without permission of Warner Bros.</p>

<p>Any original work is protected by copyright, though in the case of a parody, only the newly created elements of the work are protected, that is those parts of Smells Like Nirvana that aren't copied from Smells Like Teen Spirit. Th underlying music in the Batman song is not protected by copyright (copyright has lapsed). The lyrics could be, except that we don't know for sure who first composed the lyrics in the 60's. The names Batman, Robin and Joker are not protected by copyright.</p>
