Fair Use With Dr. Seuss

The famous children’s books by Theodor S. Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, feature rhyming couplets, colorful lettering and fanciful characters. Because of their unique style and wide appeal, elements of Dr. Seuss’ books have been borrowed by other authors who claim their works are a parody and therefore protected fair use.

This article reviews fair uses cases involving Dr. Seuss’ books to provide helpful guidance on how the fair use defense applies to parodies.