Aye, I see where you are coming from. Copyright is very grey though and for good reason. As it stands many people belive that their actual ideas and the way they are formatted are the copyrightable material but it is actually the artist's way of "expression" that it copyrighted. Fair use doe protect us and give us an avenue, but you are right that it is no guarantee. I think if fair use is followed within a varied boundry one is in the clear. There is almost no court in the country that will not decide in favor of Fair Use so long as it is not a blatant rip-off. Parodies and Satires vs. the original material they are drawn upon are almost as far as the moon is from the sun. One must remember I could sue just about anyone for copyright infringement for some of the most mundane things, but my chances of losing are greater than my adversary since the burden of proof is upon me and I must prove beyond distribution and copying that they have infringed upon my rights. Copying and distribution does not necessarily mean willful intent. Parodies and Satires, however, are not copies of the original but may contain similar or some content of the original. In their own right, most, are a separate expression of someone else's idea which, in fact, makes them less a derivative and more of an original since it's not the idea that is copyrightable.