Hi,
A question if I may...
I am writing a parody (stage play) of a famous children's story (book). Do I have to gain permission/pay royalties/pay a fee to the original author's estate if the show gets made for public performance?
Thanks v much
Lou
Right to parody
I would have thought that being a parody you are not actually using anyone else's material. It is all your own work.
I think the only one you need to be wary of is "commercial harm" i.e. if your work harms the reputation of the original enough to affect its use/sales etc.
The sphincter controlling musical parodies relaxed only recently, you've probably see a gush of then on YouTube. As for children's stories, I'm not sure other than it's best to avoid sphincters. 
Thanks all, sounds like it's all systems go then!
This should answer all your questions:
I believe you'll be fine.
But you do need to be aware of libel, slander and the above mentioned "commercial harm"
Quote: Lazzard @ 8th June 2015, 10:13 AM BSTBut you do need to be aware of libel, slander and the above mentioned "commercial harm"
Taken from the document I've linked to above:
"What if someone uses my work for something derogatory or
distasteful?"
"The changes to copyright law have no impact on the law of libel or slander,
so you would be able to sue if a work were defamatory. In addition,
copyright law expressly protects an author's moral right to object to"
derogatory treatment" of a work. Copyright law defines what amounts to
"derogatory treatment" and this remains unaffected by these changes. If a
use amounts to derogatory treatment, rightsholders will still be able to take
legal action to prevent that use."
Quite.
It was a little buried, so I thought it worth re-iterating.
The changes mainly affect mash-up video artists and YouTube spoofers, from what I can see.