Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters). A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that “Vape: The Musical”, which mocks 1978’s blockbuster film “Grease,” was fair use. It did not infringe copyright rights.

Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain from the Manhattan federal court stated that Sketchworks Industrial Strength Comedy of Atlanta, which created “Vape,” transformed the “Grease” era by updating and outlining its misogynistic tendencies.

In 1971, the Broadway production of “Grease”, which was originally written in 1972, ran until 1980. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and Olivia Newton-John.

“Grease” portrays the changing relationships of Danny Zuko (Dumbrowski) and Sandy Olsson, among their friends as they traverse senior year at Rydell High School. It was set in late 1950s.

“Vape” featured the same characters as in the original film and had a similar story.

It had many variations, however, such as the use of millennial slang to highlight how teenage characters spontaneously burst into song, dance, and “looked at minimum 30”, changing “Greased Lightnin” to “Prius Lighting” and blaming the “happy end” in which Sandy went through a drastic makeover to win Danny’s affections.

Swain stated in a 22-page ruling that he kept the plot and characters of “Grease”, while changing the lyrics and script, and “Vape,” “comments on the evolution and continued existence of misogynistic tendencies since “Grease”.

The case was distinguished from one involving Andy Warhol, who violated federal Copyright Law by using a Prince photo for a series images. These images were not transformative.

Swain stated that “Vape” when viewed holistically constitutes a parody to ‘Grease…and thus is fair use.”

Sketchworks was sued by Jim Jacobs (Grease) and Warren Casey (Sketchworks), who sent them a cease and desist letter. This led to the August 2019 cancellations of the “Vape” performances in Manhattan.

An attorney representing the defendants was unable to respond promptly to our requests for comment. Sketchworks’ lawyer didn’t respond immediately to our requests.

In its 2022-2023 term, the Supreme Court will address Warhol’s dispute.