They may not own the "universe" but they might own portions of the games... My understanding is that stuff is really complicated. Since it takes no extra bother to send another email, it doesnt hurt to be safe rather than sorry.
No.... IP is intellectual property... that would cover all created product (concept art, coding, engine, finished artwork, voice-over, music, etc) as well as 'conceived ideas', as in Title, setting, brands (like Nuka-Cola or Vault-Tec) etc....
This is part of the reason why Interplay is having to start from the ground up with FOOL (and perhaps a reason why the project could fail). Not to get too off-topic, anyways.... You're right, it won't hurt to contact Interplay, but I wouldn't expect much of an answer.
In the end, tribute projects that are not intended for personal gain, are free game and fall into the same category as Fan Fiction. Fox won't sue you over a fan-fic of Family Guy (unless you try to sell it), and Bethesda/Zenimax won't sue you for a song that uses some soundclips (unless you try to sell it).