# Does Nancy Cartwright need permission to use Bart Simpson voice for Scientology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306 "2009-01-27T23:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/1 "2009-01-27T23:39:25Z")
[Ay, Caramba! Bart Makes Robo-Call for Scientology](http://www.newser.com/story/49129/ay-caramba-bart-makes-robo-call-for-scientology.html) > [@](#): > > Cartwright, the voice of Bart on The Simpsons, is featured on a robo-call announcing a church event, the Village Voice reports. The actress peppers the invitation to the “Mecca of technical perfection” with her Bart Simpson voice and trademark laugh. > > Cartwright starts the call saying “this is Bart Simpson” in character and, after assuring listeners it is in fact her, launches into her spiel In general, does a voice actor need to get permission to do this type of thing (assuming the voice actor does not own the character in question)? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/2 "2009-01-28T00:09:58Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > [Ay, Caramba! Bart Makes Robo-Call for Scientology](http://www.newser.com/story/49129/ay-caramba-bart-makes-robo-call-for-scientology.html) > In general, does a voice actor need to get permission to do this type of thing (assuming the voice actor does not own the character in question)? INAL but I’d have thought “sounding” like BART Simpson shouldn’t get you in that much bother (esp if you have a couple of hundred scientology lawyers on hand). But saying “This is Bart Simpson” definitely could. Then again presumably Scientology could afford to keep Fox tied up in the courts for years (and any subsequent damages). That said I notice when they get voice actors to replace real hollywood actors in computer games after they they failed to get the real actor (such as Al Pacino in the Godfather game), they make sure the voice actor sounds NOTHING like the original actor, ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/3 "2009-01-28T00:49:45Z")
I heard Nancy Cartwright interviewed on the radio once. They asked her to do the Bart Simpson voice, but she refused because (she said) she didn’t legally own that voice. It sounded suspect to me at the time. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/4 "2009-01-28T01:03:36Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I heard Nancy Cartwright interviewed on the radio once. They asked her to do the Bart Simpson voice, but she refused because (she said) she didn’t legally own that voice. It sounded suspect to me at the time. I thought when they had the Simpsons cast on “In the Actors’ Studio,” they said the same. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/5 "2009-01-28T02:11:29Z")
How do you suppose Nancy Cartwright would respond if FOX sued the church of scientology? Could FOX find a replacement? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/6 "2009-01-28T02:17:39Z")
Bart would get [Chucked](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrotherChuck?from=Main.ChuckCunninghamSyndrome). ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/7 "2009-01-28T02:21:49Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > How do you suppose Nancy Cartwright would respond if FOX sued the church of scientology? Could FOX find a replacement? We could at least hope that both entities implode in the resulting conflagration. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/8 "2009-01-28T02:27:56Z")
Harry Shearer did Simpsons voices on the Actors Studio, not sure why the other actors did not. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/9 "2009-01-28T02:47:09Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Harry Shearer did Simpsons voices on the Actors Studio, not sure why the other actors did not. WAG - Perhaps Harry owns “his” voices while the other voice actors do not own theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/10 "2009-01-28T02:59:28Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Harry Shearer did Simpsons voices on the Actors Studio, not sure why the other actors did not. Harry Shearer, Dan Castellanata, Nancy Cartwright & Hank Azaria all did the voices on camera on their “Inside the Actor’s Studio” appearance. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/11 "2009-01-28T03:01:19Z")
Yes. Though that would probably get permission, anyway. I’ve also seen Cartwright do Bart on talk shows. As long as she’s not specifically identifying herself as “Bart Simpson,” she’s in the clear. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/12 "2009-01-28T03:20:48Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I thought when they had the Simpsons cast on “In the Actors’ Studio,” they said the same. They pretty much all said they didn’t have rights to do the voices outside the show and then did the voices for the Actor’s Studio, and I assumed they had permission. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/13 "2009-01-28T03:27:07Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Harry Shearer, Dan Castellanata, Nancy Cartwright & Hank Azaria all did the voices on camera on their “Inside the Actor’s Studio” appearance. Yup, I was going to say that Harry Shearer did a great promo here for a public/community radio station, in the voice of CM Burns, which went something like “This is Monty Burns, and I KNOW you’re a layabout, because you listen to 3RRR-FM”. (If anyone can link me to an audio file of this, I’d be very appreciative!) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/14 "2009-01-28T03:29:07Z")
In one of the many, many Simpsons DVD commentaries, I think Nancy Cartwright tells a story about doing Bart’s voice over the PA system on a plane while she was on vacation. I’m sure she wouldn’t have had any legal trouble there even if she does not have the rights to do that - but it brings this “they don’t have the rights” thing into question, I think. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/15 "2009-01-28T03:48:01Z")
With some of the more versatile cast members, it’s doubtful any voice they use isn’t that of some one-off character on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/16 "2009-01-28T05:59:40Z")
Poor Yeardly Smith only does one or two voices and sounds like Lisa Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/17 "2009-01-28T07:42:41Z")
In an interview I once saw with Cartwright, it was stated that she was _limited_ in the things she could say as Bart, which I took to mean that if she used the voice, in a public manner, she had to either repeat something that had previously been said by Bart, or had been cleared by the brass. Which makes sense, if you think about it. For example, when Butterfinger was using the Simpson’s characters in their ads, it would be a _real_ pisser for one of the actors to be recorded (while using the character’s voice) saying that they just _lurve_ a competing product. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/18 "2009-01-29T20:17:51Z")
> **[Live Feed](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/e/live-feed/)** > [@](#): > > “This is not authorized by us," said “Simpsons” executive producer Al Jean. “‘The Simpsons’ does not, and never has, endorsed any religion, philosophy or system of beliefs any more profound than Butterfinger bars.” (Okay, it’s not Jean’s wittiest line). > > The move is not only unauthorized, of course, but almost certainly violates Cartwright’s contract. Though Fox is remaining mum on the subject, and their legal department is very much looking into the matter, the “Simpsons” characters are owned by Fox. Sure, Scientology is a non-profit group (ahem), but it doesn’t matter (a Fox vs. the Church of Scientology lawsuit over the misuse of Bart Simpson? Oh-please, oh-please, oh-please…). ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/19 "2009-01-29T20:53:56Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > I heard Nancy Cartwright interviewed on the radio once. They asked her to do the Bart Simpson voice, but she refused because (she said) she didn’t legally own that voice. It sounded suspect to me at the time. A very curious thought to think that a person may not own their own voice. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306/20 "2009-01-29T20:58:10Z")
Cartwright definitely does not own the character of Bart Simpson. In her book she states she is limited to what she can say, and she cannot use the voice _commercially_ to make a profit from it. Whether this is a _commercial_ use of the voice is for the courts to decide. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-nancy-cartwright-need-permission-to-use-bart-simpson-voice-for-scientology/483306.md?page=2)