Quote:
Originally Posted by FansCity
It also depends in what context to use the name.
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Generally, copyright law uses four principles: purpose and character (educational and reviewing often are exempt), nature of the copyrighted work (spoofs or parodies can be acceptable), the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effects upon the potential market.
Just a name is fairly safe, unless the fictional character really resembles the real Tom Hanks. If your depiction is very clearly disrespectful, and you're a person of wealth, then a celebrity may decide to sick their lawyers on you for slander or defamation. Like many things, it depends on the size of your audience. They're not going to come after you for anything under like 100,000.