 I've researched & used the search function, but still have a couple questions
Ok, I'm new here and actually joined really to find out if it was at all feasible to pursue my idea.
Without getting into the details of it, I want to take well-known fictional characters and do all original artwork of them and sell them. From my research it appears that this would be completely illegal unless it is meant to be a parody, which is a grey area in and of itself. So, my questions are; how can I do this legally? Is the only way to contact the owner of the characters and buy/license the rights? If so, is it usually a fee or is it likely that you can set-up a deal where they receive a percentage of profits? Is there any legal way to do it without it being an obvious parody or is it always illegal to use licensed characters?
I am new to this and have never printed any t-shirts before. I also have very little money, so officially licensing well-known characters is not what I'm looking to do (unless there is a way to do that for free).
Thanks in advance for your help. | 
