The Massive Complexity Of Copyright Demonstrated In A Simple Question: Can Don Draper Make A Cameo In My Novel?

A few weeks back, I saw Mark Fowlers really excellent blog post covering more or less everything you need to know about the legality of incorporating fictional characters into a new work. It covers many of the stories and/or themes that we've discussed in the past, including the banning of Coming Through the Rye and the non-banning (almost banning?) of The Wind Done Gone -- both books that were...