Copyright, or what can and cannot be used

As you may or may not know, I had to replace Archie Andrews with Sonic the Hedgehog for Revenge of Lavan. I know that Archie Comics doesn't want fanfiction written about their characters for fear of making Ol' Carrot Top OOC, but that's just it: fanfiction, as legally gray as it stands, is techincally protected under Fair Use as a derivative work kind of thing. Just because some random, obscure play had out there ideas (*couch*GayArchie*cough*), that doesn't mean that Archie Comics Publications had to lay down a Fanwork Ban on their canon. But that's just my opinion. I want to hear your take on the situation, but remember: for Celestia's Sake, be civil.

Just in case you missed it, here's Revenge of Lavan's TVTropes page.