Jay From Cleveland posted an interesting comment and question on the topic of parodies.  Veggie Tales products are known and loved by many children and adults, in large part because of their sterling use of parody and humor with a Christian worldview.

I do not know whether or not Big Idea (the company which owns the Veggie Tales mark) licenses the rights to use certain characters or concepts in its parodies.  If so, they are per se legal because license (permission) provides a complete defense to infringement.  Even without a license, U.S. courts tend to accept a fairly wide range of works within the parody defense, especially following the the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc (frequently called the "Pretty Woman" case because it involved a parody of the Roy Orbison song of the same name). 

The "batmanesque" LarryBoy provides a good example of parody.  Whether or not it qualifies for a full parody defense is a complex question not easily answered without more careful legal review than this blog permits, but we can use this character to examine another concept which forms a part of the fair use analysis:  the concept of "general characters or themes" which cannot be protected by copyright and therefore cannot give rise to infringement liability.

Copyright protection is not available for "general" character types or elements or for characters or character traits which have entered the public domain (meaning they are no longer protected by copyright).  For example, U.S. copyright law does not protect the undefined concept of "a super hero with special abilities" - otherwise known, at least here, as "Genericman."

Unlike Genericman, copyright protection is available for characters which have become so specific and well-defined that the public recognizes and knows them.  Copyright protection grows stronger as the author's conception and definition of the character increases in specificity and strength, with highly visible, well-defined characters receiving the most protection. Copyright law does not help "Genericman" but does protect "Bruce Wayne, wealthy bachelor whose parents were killed before his eyes, who had an unusual experience with bats, who assumed the identity of a bat-like superhero and who has spent his life avenging the deaths of his parents by driving evil from Gotham City" (to greatly summarize the Batman concept).

The range of superheroes between "Genericman" and "Batman" may or may not qualify for independent protection and may or may not infringe on the rights of an existing copyright holder depending upon the extent of the similarities and the extent, purpose and intent of the parody.

The description of LarryBoy placed on the Big Idea website demonstrates that LarryBoy is more than a straight "Batman" parody.  Larry the cucumber has been a popular (and highly defined) character within the Veggie Tales franchise for some time.  The fact that consumers recognize Larry and the Veggie Tales mark independently from "LarryBoy" make "LarryBoy" seem much less like an attempt to copy "Batman" than it might be if LarryBoy represented a first offering from Big Idea Studios. 

Larry is also known for taking on various identities in different situations.  Although each such parody would be interpreted individually with regard to the likelihood of infringement, this also weighs in favor of "LarryBoy" as an independent superhero rather than a "Batman" knockoff.

Moreover, LarryBoy has a job - he works for a local newspaper (A trait he shares with both Superman and Spider Man, but not with Batman. For those tracking similarities, Larry's job is that of janitor - another humorous twist).  Batman is independently wealthy.

These differences aside, a court would ask, as an initial question, whether the copyrightable similarities to "Batman" amount to an impermissible copying.  Similar non-copyrightable characteristics cannot lead to a finding of infringement. 

Non-copyrightable similarities (which do not count toward infringement because neither party can claim exclusive rights to a non-copyrightable attribute) would include elements common to superheroes generally (common to the "idea" of a superhero) or to superheroes of a certain type.  For example:

The fact that both "LarryBoy" and "Batman" are crime-fighters.  This is what superheroes do.

The fact that "LarryBoy" and "Batman" are both secret identities.  Superheroes have a long history of secret identities, which they protect for various reasons.

The fact that "LarryBoy" and "Batman" both wear costumes.  So do most other superheroes, and although the type of costume worn can set the hero apart, the fact that he wears one is closer to a "Genericman" attribute than a description of any individual superhero.

Both superheroes also wear masks.  A mask is almost a requirement for a 'secret-identity superhero' - because otherwise people recognize him.  The type of mask he wears may set him apart, but the fact that he wears one is a common, non-copyrightable element.

Copyrightable elements include the ones that set the character apart from others of his type, for example the features of a costume, the personal history or quirks of the hero and the specific "hero tools" he uses.

LarryBoy does not incorporate many of the fundamental copyrightable elements of "Batman," such as the traumatic death of Bruce Wayne's parents, the violent nature of Batman's crime-fighting (Batman is also commonly known as the "dark knight" in large part due to violence associated with the franchise) or the distinctive "bat-style" costume Bruce Wayne wears in his "Batman" identity.

Conversely, "Batman" is not known for teaching Biblical principles or for wearing a striking purple and yellow costume with what appear to be funnels stuck to the sides of his head - both major identifying features of LarryBoy.

The largest initial similarities between "Batman" and "LarryBoy" fall within the more generic elements of character development:  superhero status, special abilities, crime-fighting tendencies and the fact that both wear costumes.  This means that the success or failure of LarryBoy in an infringement sense depends more upon how Big Idea actually tells LarryBoy stories than on the character itself.

This entry should not be taken as a full legal evaluation or conclusion as to the nature of the LarryBoy character, but as a description of the difference between non-protectable general character elements and the more specific elements which are likely to lead to copyright protection and possibly infringement liability.