united-states copyright
Am I allowed to put an illustration based on Simpsons on the cover of my book?
<p>Imagine I write a non-fiction book, in which I make references to Simpsons characters, starting with the title.</p>

<p>I assume I can't take a picture from the cartoon and put it on the cover without running into legal difficulties (correct me, if I'm wrong).</p>

<p>But I could hire an artist, who would draw a new, original picture of the characters. The results of the artist's work would be my intellectual property. Let's assume the artist does everything right and sells me the image he or she created for me (i. e. didn't sell it to multiple people; I'm the one and only owner of the image). Then I could put that illustration on the cover of the book.</p>

<p>If I start selling this book with this cover on Amazon and SmashWords, how likely am I get in trouble with American legal system on a scale of 1 to 10?</p>

<p>1 means nothing will happen. 10 means that 5 minutes after I publish the book, black helicopters will take me to Guantanamo.</p>

<p>The work by the artist is a derivative work and the right to make derivative works rests with the Simpson's copyright holder. It is no different to a photograph of the character: that is also a derivative work.</p>

<p>Unless your use is fair use (it isn't) then you are in breach of copyright.</p>
