What are the legalities of writing/publishing a book?

Question

If for instance you want to write about the psychology of comic book villains and heroes (already written), what do you have to do to use characters not your own? In this example you’re applying theories already used, but for example, if you analyze batman as being schizophrenic – Can you use the name “batman”, do you have to pay DC for using the name, do you have to get permission, etc.?

Thanks for the feedback!

Answer 1

First of all, I am no lawyer, so I am only basing this on what I have been told.  If you are writing a critique or review of the comic and give proper credit to the copyright holders, you can use the names with no problems.

If you are writing a new story using these established characters (ie. "fan-fiction"), then you must have permission from (and pay royalties to) the owner of the copyrights if you try to sell the story.

Almost all fan-fiction is never sold for money for this reason.  Consequently, if there is no money in it, the original copyright holders generally ignore the fan-fic stories as not worth the law-suit.