Attached Link: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/manship1.htm

Took me a while to dig this out of the copyright forum. I wrote most of this over a year ago in response to a similar question :-) *she could slap a lawsuit on you for copyright infringement.* Technically no. There are two separate areas of law that come into play. Trademark & right of publicity. A celebrity or character portrayed by a celebrity can be trademarked. The actual person is what is protected by the right of publicity[1]. Unless you could show that a specific work was being infringed, copyright wouldn't apply. As an example. Harrison Ford plays Han Solo in the Star Wars movies. The character Han Solo is trademarked by LucasFilms Ltd. and they control how & by whom it is used. Mr. Ford, however, under the right of publicity, has control of how his likeness is exploited. My personal opinion on creating poser models of famous people? It's always easier to ask 1st, rather than having to deal with cease & desist letters, subpoenas, legions of briefcases, & legal pads. Currently the laws are written to control *COMMERCIAL* use of a deceased celebrity likeness. There are no specific provisions prohibiting non-commercial use (there have been individual cases [Comedy III vs Saderup] where non-commercial use HAS been deemed a violation but this hasn't been codified as of yet). However, before you jump on that as an excuse to make a Poser Mariah Carey & put it up in freestuff here, realize that the definiton of "commercial" can be very broad. If I were a lawyer representing Ms Carey, I would argue that freestuff itself as well as the banner advertising is a vehicle to draw traffic to an online store & therefore the free distribution should be prohibited. Another arguement would be that the free distribution of a Poser figure could damage the commercial viability of the property by "watering it down". The hotlink above is to an excellent analysis of fan websites & the right of publicity. It's a bit dated (1999) however much of the information is still valid. Other References: http://www.supnik.com/first.htm http://www.fwrv.com/articles/artrud25.htm http://www.lexopolis.com/salsb/slj/vol-xii/pittman.pdf http://www.jurisnotes.com/acriticalexam.htm http://www.schleimerlaw.com/ELF2Synthespians.htm [1]California Civil Code Section 3344(a)(aka "Right of Publicity")... *"Any person who knowingly uses another's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person's prior consent, shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof.* Standard Disclaimer: Although based an extensive research the above is only *MY* opinion so if you get sued don't bother going to court & say "Well, cooler said it was okay". If this is a project you plan to attempt, research it on your own, consult an attorney, or ASK PERMISSION FIRST!