Hey! I have a question. Is it allowed to use celebrities real names and faces for things like cartoons (made by cartoonist) or real muppets? What can happen if I will for example make a funny cartoon series with some real celebrity characters inside and publish it on the web? I know that there is probably no clear answer but I want to discuss it.
Honestly, if you just publish for viewing, aka FREE. I think it should be fine. But if you're selling it, then some legal issues might arise. Not sure though.
I mean when Im not selling this stuff as a product. But off course I mean earning from ads, t-shirts and other streams, but not selling it as a official DVD. Just some youtube channel or something like that.
It depends. In the United States, many celebrities live in states where there is a recognized legal concept known as a right of publicity. The right of publicity basically says you cannot commercially profit from the celebrity's name, image or voice. The right of publicity in most states even survives the death of the celebrity and passes on to his or her estate or heirs. Earning from the sale of ads, versus the sale of a product with the image imprinted on it, would usually still violate the right of publicity.