My understanding (and I am not a lawyer or anything) is that when you buy a decopac, you are paying all the fees that are associated with the use of those plastic figures. So, you can buy the decopac Princess stuff from Disney (or the companies that license with Disney) and then you can make different princess cakes and different castle cakes and put the princesses on them. However, you can not use the plastic princess pieces in a derogatory or disrespectful manner, because that would be casting Disney and it's characters in a bad light.

Hope this helps!
Marci

.......can anyone clarify if the licensing means you can only make the cakes as shown in the decopac catalog? No freelancing?.....

That's my understanding also. Every tip & color stated on the card that comes w/the plastics *must* be used *exactly* as show. You can't even make a different size or shape cake.....it *must be exactly as stated*.

Also using an "Edible Image" is legal. There you do have 'artistic license' "Edible Image" is a copyrighted name of printed frosting sheet pictures. The homemade ones are not to be called "Edible Image' but you can call them a 'frosting sheet pic'.

From my understanding from friends who work in local bakeries the Decopac items are used for certain cake designs and you can't change from those. They're not supposed to build the cake a different way (though they do...)

I know Decopac will NOT let me order licensed characters from them, as I am not authorized to do so. (You need a federal tax ID.) I can order basic supplies from them (tips, bags...) I can get Decopac kits at the local cake store, though. I have gotten some grocery stores to sell me the kits as well.

I could be totally wrong, but my understanding is you have to be a Decopac "provider" to sell cakes with kits on them, though it's not hard to become one.

I remember reading a thread about decopac before and someone called a representive and was told you did not have to do design exactly as they pictured. And not everyone has access to what there design ideas are. Especally when buying from a cake supply. I agree with the deragatory comment, but can't see how they can dictate where each princess is placed. YOu could be doing a round or doing a castle.

Hmmm. Any ideas about the Stanley Cup? (NHL trophy, for non-hockey fans out there.) I know Duff and crew did it, and a prominent local bakery here has a shot of a Cup cake (haha) on its Web site ... but it seems like that would be a no-go.

There's an idea. Cup cakes cupcakes. I like it.

DH wants me to make a Cup cookie cutter, which would be a huge hit around here.

I've already figured the local sports team logos are out of bounds. Should I start a business -- a big "if" anyway -- and get requests for them, I've thought about swirled teams colors with a cutout of, well, the critter the city is named for ...

This is a great thread. I also read the other thread that was linked. It is definitely a complicated topic!

Two more questions...

Can you use copyrighted images / trademarks in a cake competition?(Does it make a difference if the competition does not have any prizes, just ribbons?)

Also, what if you purchase a cake decorating book that shows you how to make a character cake? (Such as Debbie Brown's books?)

Any guidance is appreciated!!

Just to throw in another wrench:

I once posted a question about whether it was OK to use a licensed character if I wasn't SELLING the cake to anyone (just making it for neice/nephew, etc), and I was told that I could NOT use it even then.

The analogy I was given was: say I go to a book store and buy a book (i.e. the licensed material). I bring it home and decide to copy it (photocopy) for a friend or relative without asking them to pay for the paper, the book, or anything else. It's still illegal to reproduce and distribute this book, even if I am not charging the recipient any money for it, because it is copyrighted material whether I accept money for copies of it or not. Am I making sense?

Anyhow, that's what I was told in response to "can I give away a character cake if I don't take any money for it?"

Not to go off on a completely different subject but I was just working on my Myspace page and went to PimpMyProfile.com. There are literally hundreds of copyrighted material on that sight? So what about a sight like LimeWire where you can download music, movies, software etc..

Why are these people flying out in the open and I have to worry about making a child happy with a character cake.. Crock of BS

And what about Patterns on China? Or Photographs used for reference material? Where does it really end?

Michael Anthony

The book analogy is different.. you aren't making a copy of the toy and keeping the original for yourself and giving the copy away. When you copy a book or a DVD or a CD for another person you are taking away a potential sale because you are keeping your copy and giving someone else the copy you made. With a toy, you are buying it and giving it away completely. If you wanted to toy too you'd have to buy another one.

You paid the royalties when you bought the toy.. you can put it on a cake and give it away no problem. You can make a fondant mickey mouse if you wanted to and give it to someone. You can make a fondant Mickey and Minnie doing "derogatory things" and give it away. You just can't make money off a homemade copyrighted character since the company isn't being paid royalties for your homemade creation.

This is my understanding.

I spoke to a local lady who has a shop. She sells copyrighted images on cakes, her theory is the "cake" price is the same with or without the image. So in her mine she is not charging for the image, so she would not be in trouble. Mind you these are just pictures she has printed, not images from decopac or anything.

Jill---

Duff's cake was most likely made in conjunction with the organization that holds the Stanley Cup since they brought the cup to his shop to view. Behind the scenes, he must have gotten permission. As far as making the cutters, you would most likely have to just contact each organization and get written permission to keep on file. I'd start there, first.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. I'm betting that was the case. Boy, I'd looooove to know if the local bakery (a very, very reputable one around here) got permission ...

I may still look into getting permission to make the cutters, simply because I do think they'd be a huge hit!

I see a ton of Star Wars cakes on the Web, too. Some were surely gifts, but some are unquestionably professionally done. Wonder how that works, since I thought George Lucas was pretty proprietory with his characters.

For those out there who've acquired permission to use various licensed characters, how did you go about it?