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[william taylor]

Is it legal to avoid paying royalites to producers, in this case Disney Theatricals or Broadway musicals, by adding jokes and such to the lyrics and script of a musical play, then calling the result a parody.  If the lyrics and script are parodied, wouldn't the composers still be due their royalty?  Thanks for any assistance on this...

[Isaac]

It's not quite that simple.

Some parody is considered fair use, but just adding a few
jokes probably isn't enough to create a parody.  A parody
would have to distort the material enough to make fun of the
original but keep enough of the original to invoke the
desired reaction as a joke on the original material.

If the "parody" is simply a substitute for the original
material, you're probably describing an infringing derivative
work rather than a parody.