Would I need to get permission to have stuffed animals of characters like Alf, Stimpy, Beavis, etc. in the background of a film? They'd possibly be interacted with. Would it matter if they are verbally referred to in the film? If yes how do you find out whom to contact for stuff like a My Pet Monster?
Also, is there any issue if a character wears a t-shirt that is a closeup of Wolverine's face?
I similarly wouldn't know wear to begin to find out whom I would need to contact to get permission for this.
Would it be crazy to just chance using this stuff without permission? Is it based on level of success? Like once you make a certain money bracket people will take notice? Would it be a minor retroactive fee kinda thing?
You need to hire an entertainment lawyer to "vet" your script and your film, because each thing needs to be evaluated in the context used, and the answer to whether you're violating someone's rights is "it depends." Interacts how? Refers how?
Rightsholders asked for licenses want to see how their characters are being portrayed so they can control, as is their right, their images. They don't have the right to control all uses, and certainly some references and uses don't confuse any consumers about an affiliation between your film and their character (the essence of trademark infringement) and are ok without permission required, but no rightsholder wants to see their character disparaged or degraded, and no rightsholder is going to tolerate anyone else trading on their hard-won fame.
Have you noticed that some films avoid showing any identifiable brand name products at all, to avoid these issues? Have you noticed that some filmmakers capitalize on the uses by getting rightsholders to pay product placement fees to showcase their products? The rightsholders may have significant input into how their products are shown, but a filmmaker may find ways to do this without impairing the creativity of their work or of the brand they want to use so everyone benefits.
Obviously if hardly anyone sees your film, then copyright and trademark infringements and violations of privacy, publicity and contract rights would go unnoticed by the rightsholders. So it's true that the more you profit from someone else's IP, the more likely they'll be to sue you. The general rule is that it's easier to ask for permission than to beg for forgiveness, and it's almost certainly true that the price of permission is going to be less than the cost of forgiveness. Plan on success, otherwise don't bother making your film. And take care of the rights issues now.
As usual, Attorney Koslyn is spot on.
As she said, for your particular project, it sounds like you need to sit down with an entertainment lawyer and fully "vet" the project. Keep in mind that a project such as yours not only has copyright issues, but likely trademark and possibly right of publicity concerns as well, those copyright issues are only going to be one facet of the intellectual property concerns you are likely to encounter.
As an example, even considering the characters you have identified. You may need permission from a studio to use branded products, and the underlying rights holder to use the images period. With copyright in the entertainment business, there is often a "chain of title" that needs to be addressed when attempting to utilize protected content in the first place.
A qualified experienced entertainment lawyer (such as Ms. Koslyn) will be able to assist you in acquiring the subset of rights necessary to make your movie without fear of later repercussions. That said, my mentor procured the initial trademark rights for some of the characters you identified above. He may be a good start.
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