robot chicken legal?
 

I'm wondering what's the rules on using toys and such for stop motion. I guess I wonder how the show "robot chicken" doesn't get in trouble for using copyright toys and such.

Do the companies not care or is it ok to do a show like that?

It's legal but only because it's parody, and parody is protected speech. Otherwise, you're appropriating likeness.

There are exceptions to everything, of course, but very roughly stated, the general rule is that if it exists in some tangible form and was created any time within the last 100 years, odds are somebody somewhere owns it and you need their permission to use it.

Regardless, parodies fall outside those regulations, but true in other cases, Steve.