Using Licensed Characters

Business By duchess1120 Updated 9 Oct 2009 , 4:51pm by cakesdivine

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duchess1120 Posted 4 Oct 2009 , 6:48pm
post #1 of 14

How do we go about legitimately making cakes that feature characters such as Mickey Mouse, Dora, etc.

13 replies
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costumeczar Posted 4 Oct 2009 , 7:00pm
post #2 of 14

Either buy the Decopac kits, or go directly through the owner of the trademark. I've been contacting the local colleges and some pro sports teams to find out what I need to do to use their logos, and some are very flexible and some aren't. You just have to check on a case-by-case basis.

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agentdorkfish Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 2:02am
post #3 of 14

What if you're not being paid for the cake? Does that make any difference when using a character?

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costumeczar Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 2:41am
post #4 of 14

I am NOT a copyright attorney, but it's my understanding that if you don't sell the item it's okay. However, if you take money for the cost of ingredients only I'd bet that you'd be in grey territory, and some companies wouldn't be happy about it (I'm thinking Disney.)

If you make a birthday cake for your kids it's one thing, if you're giving cakes to the neighborhood kids in exchange for "contributions" that's something else.

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goddessa12 Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 2:58am
post #5 of 14

My sister is a lawyer and gave me "non -official" legal advice. If you do it for friends or family, no money changing hands, then it is ok to do copyrighted images. If one cent is paid you can be in violation. SOme people and groups are easy to get the ok to do them, other (notably Disney and Warner Bros.) will sue for anything and everything if you get caught.

Be on the safe side, either gift it, or don't do it. It's not worth the immense hassle and fines that come with it if you get caught. Just my two cents of course icon_smile.gif

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agentdorkfish Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 4:02am
post #6 of 14

The reason I was asking is because I am going to enter a Halloween cake decorating contest at the end of the month. I want to do mine based on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The cakes are going to be auctioned off to benefit a local charity.

Opinions?

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goddessa12 Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 4:16am
post #7 of 14

Dorkfish~ I'm pretty sure, and I am by no means an expert, but I'm almost positive that since it is a donation and you would receive no payment for it, it's perfectly fine to do the Charlie Brown Cake. Donations and charity items don't count.

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agentdorkfish Posted 5 Oct 2009 , 4:20am
post #8 of 14

Thanks, goddessa. I was beginning to rethink my design!

And duchess, sorry I robbed your topic! icon_smile.gif

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agentdorkfish Posted 8 Oct 2009 , 9:47pm
post #9 of 14

I'm bumping this because I have another question. What if you buy the cake pans of a character? Could you sell those cakes?

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jhuntl01 Posted 8 Oct 2009 , 10:31pm
post #10 of 14

No the pans are sold "for home use only" and therefore you cannot sell them. It was explained in another post that the reason is that they cannot guarantee the quality of the design like they can with the decopacs.

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indydebi Posted 8 Oct 2009 , 10:38pm
post #11 of 14

Not if it's a copyrighted character and it's one of the pans that states "For Home Use Only".

See ButtercupMama's post on this thread: http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6575436#6575436

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agentdorkfish Posted 9 Oct 2009 , 12:59am
post #12 of 14

Sorry, I didn't realize it had been addressed in another topic. I only have one character pan, and I bought it over 10 years ago, so I didn't realize it had said "for home use only"

Thank you for your answers! And sorry I ask so much. I'm learning!

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indydebi Posted 9 Oct 2009 , 1:04am
post #13 of 14

I never realized those pans said that either, when I bought all of mine (and at one point, I probably owned 30 of them! icon_eek.gif ). When I bought most of them, the idea of selling cakes just didn't exist, so it didn't matter at the time.

Old dog .... new tricks .... yes it's possible! icon_biggrin.gif

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cakesdivine Posted 9 Oct 2009 , 4:51pm
post #14 of 14

Don't fret dorkfish...it's all good. I mean most of us don't do a topic search prior to asking a question, I know I don't, too much trouble to sort through and see if your question is actually answered. Ask on girl! icon_smile.gif

However, I do get miffed a bit if the same question is asked in the same forum within hours of each other and the first one who asked it's thread is right there on the first page of topics...I can understand if it isn't on the first page, but when it is right there, yeah that is annoying icon_wink.gif

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