‘Can't Touch Me’: Television Cartoons and the Paraphrase of Popular Music

Abstract

This article explores the practice of altering familiar music for use on television, whereby producers dodge copyright law by hiring a composer to craft a new piece that evokes the work they wanted to use. This article will examine how composers navigate the delicate process of creating new pieces that unmistakably call to mind familiar tunes by providing a detailed overview of this practice in relation to two long-running animated sitcoms: The Simpsons and Family Guy.