It might be a "fair use," but that will have to wait for another article.
Is the test tight enough to be useful to people who want to think about fair use before finding themselves in a federal court case?
Neither does it say that it's not a fair use.
The court also held that fair use did not apply.
If the characters were simply being used to make a funny book, he said, that would not be fair use.
When taking all factors together, the court held that the book was not fair use.
And then there are people that talk about fair use.
No one has so far mentioned about either fair use or the reach of the public domain.
If you're looking for certainty, fair use is not going to help you sleep at night.
What you are talking about it pretty much fair use.