Use of images of cartoon characters in iPhone app

Question

I have an app idea which is based on the use of cartoon characters, I would like to include a single image of cartoon characters with their names, the app will be purely for reference and free.

However I'm worried that as most cartoon characters are copyrighted I could be subject to legal action or am I covered by fair use?

I know there are some cartoon characters which can be used as they are in the public domain however they are very limited.

Any advice would be appreciated, Sami.

Answer 1

I definitely would not use any cartoon characters which might be copyright protected, you could try to build similar characters like some sort of parody, this would probably get you around the copyright thing...

Hope it helps :-)

Greetings