Under California law, workers in the motion picture and broadcast industry are considered employees. An employee's creative work belongs to the employer. Thus, you have no copyright ownership of your creative work, unless the employer and you entered into a contract in which it was agreed you would retain your intellectual property.

Assuming that you did not enter into such a contract, then you cannot sell your own Simpson's artwork without an express license from the employer. Otherwise, you would be committing copyright infringement.

It's certainly possible that the employer may agree to sell some of your artwork as signed by you and share in the profits -- but, the only way that can happen is for you and the employer to enter into a contract for the express purpose of jointly producting and marketing your artwork.

Note: You can always sell your own artwork that does not look like Simpsons characters. Your prestige as a Simpsons illustrator will enhance your likely income. But, it can't be Simpsons artwork without permission of the copyright owner.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks you for the answer. I understand that I can't sell Simpsons artwork as my own. My question was about how I could go about acquiring the license to legally do so. How do I do it? I can't directly approach the subtracted studio I work for. They don't own the property either. So what's the best way to contact Fox Consumer products in order to get the license.

A: I would just contact them directly (see this link). Tell the receptionist who you are and ask to speak with someone in licensing. You'll probably have to spend several days searching for the right person. Once you get them on the phone, tell them what you have in mind, vaguely, and try to get a face-to-face meeting. That's really all you can do.

And, if I sign a book and draw in it, I'm not technically selling the signature or the art but the book that just so happens to have a drawing by me.

A: If you purchase a book at retail, sign it and then put it back up for sale, then under the "first sale" doctrine, you can do this without any permission from the copyright owner. You're reselling what you purchased, and your signature is your creative work, so no one can stop you.

Well...maybe. You may have signed something in conjunction with your employment that makes any intellectual property created within the scope of employment belongs to the employer. This could conceivably fall within that prohibition. I doubt it, but there is no way for me to evaluate that in this forum. You would need to take your employment contract to an intellectual property lawyer and have it reviewed.

Also, is the Simpsons style copyright-able?

A: If artwork would be obviously a Simpsons character to an ordinary person, then it's copyright protected.

Anyone can draw a mouse and not violate Buena Vista's copyright on Mickey. But, if everyone knows the drawing is Mickey at first glance, then it's Mickey, no matter what the artist intends, and it's copyright infringement.

Hope this helps.

NOTICE: My goal here is to entertain while educating the public about the law. I hope my answer is useful and informative to you. During our conversation, the website may ask you to rate my answer. If you rate my answer lower than the middle rating, then the website retains your entire payment, and I receive nothing. It is entirely your choice as to how you rate my answer. However, because your payment to me is in the nature of a donation/gift, rather than as compensation for any services rendered, you are entitled to know how your rating affects the final distribution of your donation.

If you need to contact me again, please put my user id at the beginning of your question ("To Socrateaser"), and the system will send me an alert. Please Click the following link for IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION. Thanks and best wishes!