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'''"Oh, Pretty Woman"''' is a song which was a worldwide hit for [[Roy Orbison]]. Recorded on the [[Monument Records]] label in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], it was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees. In [[1964]] the song sold more records in its first ten days in release than any other single in history.

The lyrics tell how the singer watches a pretty woman walk by.  He yearns for her, and wonders if, as beautiful as she is, she might be lonely like he is.  At the last minute, she turns back and joins him.  
The song was [[cover]]ed very closely by the group, [[Van Halen]] in 1982.  It was covered in [[ska]] style in 1986 by [[the Holy Sisters of the Gaga Dada]].

In 1989, the controversial [[2 Live Crew]] recorded a [[parody]] of the Orbison song, using the alternate title '''"Pretty Woman"''' for their album ''Clean as They Wanna Be''.  The Crew [[sample]]d the distinctive [[bass]] line from the Orbison song, but the romantic lyrics were replaced by talk about a hairy woman and her bald-headed friend and their appeal to the singer.

Orbison's publisher, [[Acuff-Rose Music Inc.]] sued 2 Live Crew on the basis that the [[fair use]] doctrine did not permit reuse of their [[copyright]]ed material for profit.  The case, ''[[Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music]]'' went all the way to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]].  The lyrics of both songs are reproduced below as they are found in the Supreme Court analysis of the use of [[parody]] as fair use in a commercial context.

The Supreme Court decided in 2 Live Crew's favor, greatly expanding the doctrine of fair use and extending its protections to parodies created for profit.  It is considered a seminal fair use decision.

The original Orbison song, "Oh Pretty Woman", was also used for a film  called '''''Pretty Woman''''' starring [[Richard Gere]] and [[Julia Roberts]] (1990).  The film had to license the song from Orbison, but since titles cannot be copyrighted, neither Orbison nor 2 Live Crew had any claim on the title of the film.  Oddly enough, observers noted that the film's poster could become involved in another sampling issue.  Since Julia Roberts' head is superimposed on an anonymous model's body, the model has the right to demand a release for reproduction along with Roberts, and Richard Gere, who is also shown.  

''NOTICE: The lyrics reproduced below are as they were published as an appendix to the reasons of ''[[Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music]]'' by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] and are only being posted here for research and study of the concepts of [[fair use]] and [[parody]] an evolving area of [[copyright law]]. It is claimed that such posting is in itself [[fair use]] as are various photographs and images found on Wikipedia (an educational resource) and has not been created for any commercial purpose.''

=="Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison and William Dees==

'''From Appendix A of rendered opinion in ''[[Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music]], [[Supreme Court of the United States]] (1994)'''''
Original text � Acuff-Rose Music Inc.

:Pretty Woman, the kind I like to meet,
:Pretty Woman, I don't believe you, 
:you're not the truth, 
:No one could look as good as you
:Mercy

:Pretty Woman, won't you pardon me,
:Pretty Woman, I couldn't help but see,
:Pretty Woman, that you look lovely as can be
:Are you lonely just like me?

:Pretty Woman, stop a while,
:Pretty Woman, talk a while,
:Pretty Woman give your smile to me
:Pretty woman, yeah, yeah, yeah

:Pretty Woman, look my way,
:Pretty Woman, say you'll stay with me
:`Cause I need you, I'll treat you right
:Come to me baby, Be mine tonight

:Pretty Woman, don't walk on by,
:Pretty Woman, don't make me cry,
:Pretty Woman, don't walk away,
:Hey, O. K.

:If that's the way it must be, O. K.
:I guess I'll go on home, it's late
:There'll be tomorrow night, but wait!
:What do I see

:Is she walking back to me?
:Yeah, she's walking back to me!
:Oh, Pretty Woman. 

=="Pretty Woman" as Recorded by 2 Live Crew==

'''From Appendix B of rendered opinion in ''[[Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music]],[[Supreme Court of the United States]] (1994)'''''
Original text � 
:Pretty woman walkin' down the street
:Pretty woman girl you look so sweet
:Pretty woman you bring me down to that knee
:Pretty woman you make me wanna beg please
:Oh, pretty woman

:Big hairy woman you need to shave that stuff
:Big hairy woman you know I bet it's tough
:Big hairy woman all that hair it ain't legit
:`Cause you look like `Cousin It'

:Big hairy woman
:Bald headed woman girl your hair won't grow
:Bald headed woman you got a teeny weeny afro
:Bald headed woman you know your hair could look nice

:Bald headed woman first you got to roll it with rice
:Bald headed woman here, let me get this hunk of biz for ya
:Ya know what I'm saying you look better than rice a roni
:Oh bald headed woman

:Big hairy woman come on in
:And don't forget your bald headed friend
:Hey pretty woman let the boys
:Jump in

:Two timin' woman girl you know you ain't right
:Two timin' woman you's out with my boy last night
:Two timin' woman that takes a load off my mind
:Two timin' woman now I know the baby ain't mine

:Oh, two timin' woman
:Oh pretty woman

==External Links==

*[http://www.benedict.com/audio/crew/crew.asp Legal analysis], including the background, comparative lyrics, and information on the anonymous model's rights.

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Pretty_Woman" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Woman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Woman], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]