Chapter Twenty-Six:
Fair Use Parody, Researched and Written
Back in the Wikipedia Castle Library, Meggy was still looking through various books with SMG4, trying to find what they needed, even though their search appeared to come up fruitless. However, there was always a way to find what you needed.
SMG4 noticed a computer close by and accessed it, typing in "parody law" into the search engine. In a second, a book floated off the shelf and into SMG4's hands. The meme man opened the book, finding what he needed; a section dedicated to Parody Law, all in the pages of a book on Fair Use regarding intellectual property.
"Ok, Miss Law Student, you're up." SMG4 said to Meggy, handing her the book.
"You found it? Great!" Meggy gave SMG4 a thumbs up.
She then took the IP law book and looked at the Parody Law section, reading it over very thoroughly; 'In Australia, Parody Law allows the use of an already-owned intellectual property in any form of medium. Falling under fair use, Parody Law allows an IP to be portrayed in a way that can make it distinct from the source material without being entangled in a legal dispute with the IP's owner.'
Meggy thought about it all as she read every last sentence, her mind formulating a contract. She could already see it, once she and SMG4 worked it out and once it had been passed to a judge and Nintendo, then just maybe it would work. It had to, otherwise, there was no way home and nor would she and SMG4 be safe.
Without a second to lose, Meggy looked to SMG4 with a pencil already in hand. "Quick! I need paper!" She requested without haste.
To her surprise, SMG4 pulled out a roll of toilet paper, sheepishly explaining that it was in case if he needed to relieve himself during wacky adventures. Meggy rolled her eyes and took the bundle, peeling off a big enough layer to write on.
She laid the paper down on the book near the parody law page and began writing, recalling what she had thought up after reading the entire section in the book. During her time at college in law class when she was an Inkling, Meggy had seen how laws were formatted and written down, every detail and every paragraph.
She would be as formal as possible, her mind was working a mile a minute, she wrote without error, writing every line decently as SMG4 watched, even with all the chaos of books flying around them and the pressure upon them.
Anxiety, uncertainty, so many feelings of dread. Every minute that ticked by towards a near inevitable DMCA-signing meant that there was no time to stop and think, Meggy wrote as hard as she could until she had written the last paragraph in the contract.
Meggy finished writing and SMG4 looked around the room, then he looked at Meggy with a half-nervous look.
"Are we protected?" He asked.
"Almost." Meggy replied, sheathing the newly-written parody law contract in her inventory, "We need to get this in front of a judge, then we'll be protected. But the contract's perfect enough, so it's likely that it'll work."
"Then we better get going." SMG4 said, "Chances are we're almost out of time."