Hello and Borahae!
I’m a 55-year-old, passionate, card-carrying member of BTS ARMY. Although my husband and I are currently on a shoestring budget and can’t afford the official membership, I still keep my membership card in my wallet always.
My journey with BTS began in 2019, during a tough time in our lives when we were homeless, living in a relative’s garage for almost two years. In August of that year, I was 230 lbs., deeply depressed, and battling dark thoughts that I kept to myself. Then, in September, these seven remarkable men found me and taught me how to love myself. Since then, our lives have done a complete turn-around. By November 2019, we moved into our own apartment.
Recently, I became a self-published author, creating children’s storybooks and coloring books for all ages through KDP, which provides a free ISBN. Over the past few years, I have lost about 75 lbs., and despite my health issues, I now manage small daily exercises. I am the proud author of three semi-illustrated children’s short storybooks and over 73 coloring/puzzle books. However, I still struggle to get my work seen, as we can't afford advertising yet.
I owe these positive changes to the seven selfless men of BTS who have sacrificed so much to bring healing to millions worldwide, including myself.
Here is my question:
I’ve created a coloring book titled "Unleash Your Inner Artist with ARMY Inspiration; 2024 11th Anniversary Edition: A BTS ARMY Coloring Experience." This book includes 80 ARMY fact tidbits and features mostly random ARMY life images to color. However, it DOES also contain seven portrait-type pages, one for each member. I want to know if I can legally use the one cartoon likenesses of each BTS member, ( as well as the BTS name in the facts) as I’ve seen many others do on Amazon.
As a beginner designer, my prices are already set low. I can’t give the coloring book away for free, as it needs to have a price for Amazon to print it, initially. How can I publish this book on Amazon without fear of copyright trouble? I love these guys deeply. They were there for me when no one else was, and they helped shape who I am today. I tried to combine my love for them with my passion for creating coloring books. I figured there might be less chance of a copyright issue by making it an ARMY coloring book (mentioning well-known BTS facts) rather than a BTS coloring book.
Any assistance in understanding this better would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely, A Confused and Struggling ARMY