What about all the character cakes sold at the local grocery stores. I've seen cakes that are frosted to look like cookie monster or elmo??? Does that fall under the same copyright laws??? I've also ordered cakes from a very well known bakery on Long Island with a famous "disney princess" airbrushed unto a piece of fondant which was then placed on top of the cake. I'm confused as well....
Personally, I think you did a very good thing and ought to be very proud of yourself.
And BTW...
While I understand interpreting this in German as translated by Tuggy, when used in this context it is a word borrowed into English from Yiddish, where it is pronounced quite differently from the German and is NOT a nice word and definitely not something that can apply to a lady (or even a woman). Use at your discretion, but know what you are saying....
A character pan sold by Wilton is for HOME USE ONLY as stated somewhere on the insert that means that you can bake and decorate it for your little DNA unit, but not for sale or resale.
There are Lic. Edible Images and cake kits for sale that will allow you to give your customer what he or she want's but they are basically sold in quantities only.
If your cake supply company has them in stock they are usually somewhat expensive.
You can by all means decorate a cake in the "GENERAL THEME" that your customers like...
for instance, if you wanted to do a SESAME STREET CAKE, you could do a primary colored "STREET"
if your client wants SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS you could do a colorful underwater scene.
Those of you that chose not to make the Copywrite cakes are in the right and HUGS for you and tons of admiration for those of you that chose to do the right thing.
Those of you that feel that a large coorporation is too big to be bothered by the little bakers "stealing" from them...well, just because you can or do get away with it doesn' t make it right.
But, this is a matter for each and every individual heart to ponder and to do as they think they should do.
I would rather show my kids to do the RIGHT thing by DOING the right thing as much as possible.
does this make me a better person than someone that bends the laws to benefit them? NOPE
Just makes me someone that won't do copy write cakes.
No better, no worse...
Believe me, if my customer wants it, they will find someone that will do it for them, it just won't be me, no matter how much I need the money.
I think it is good that you stuck to your guns and did what you believed in. Remember the florist is in business too and would surely understand where you are coming from?
I think everyone else has covered the character copyright stuff, but I did want to put my 2 cents in about kylielam2005's question. Firstly, I looked at your blog and have seen your work in various magazines and it is just lovely! About the copyright stuff, if you are having problems with people saying you are copying them, ask if they are lawyers and tell them to take a hike!!! While I have seen many similar cupcakes and ideas (I have this womens weekly cupcakes cookbook and thought of it when I saw some of your cupcakes), yours are definitely unique.
As I understand it (and I have looked into it a lot), copyright doesn't extend to an idea. So if you use a certain technique to decorate your cupcakes, you are fine. But I know the actual design is a bit of a grey area, even for those in the know. The general view is that as long as it is your work you are fine. That means if you make it yourself and take your own photo, its ok, its when you use someone else's photo (or product) as your own that it becomes a problem. So if I decided to copy one of your cupcakes exactly and take my own photo and sell it myself, it would be ok as far as copyright goes (not that I would, just an example).
Hopefully this helps a bit. I am not a lawyer or anything, but I have called and emailed so many people about all this that I have a bit of understanding about it! I think the problem with researching cupcakes for years prior to making your own is that it is such a new craze - the last 5 years for a real designer craze, so there is a lot that have popped up since. The other thing is that it is possible for two people to have the same idea, there are so many people in the world!!!!
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