Has anyone had any troubles stemming from copyright infringement (i.e. Mickey Mouse cake)? I have heard horror stories and refuse to make them in my business. I have made copyrighted cakes for friends. Going through the galleries here you see tons of copyrighted images on cakes. Just wondering about some of your thoughts...

I won't mess with Disney. They will sue anyone any time. Recently, I've been doing some college sports teams.

Not all the pics in the gallery with copywrited characters were sold. Many of them were given as gifts or were birthday cakes for the decorators' own children or whatever.

As a general rule, I would only do a cake with a copywrited character, logo, etc. if I were doing the cake for free. It is not worth taking a chance on getting caught (no matter how slim a chance it may be).

I have heard that Disney has "spies" to call bakeries to see who will make copyrighted cakes w/o permission.
I will only make copyrighted characters for people who don't pay-friends and family.

I once called to ask to use the Patriots logo for a cake and they said they didn't care. Go ahead and use it she said. So I asked for it in writing and they sent me a letter saying it was fine.
Disney on the other hand I wouldnt mess with. I did have a call once from Nickelodeon and I thought OH NO the Jacks Music Party cake I did. so I removed it. It was a employee wanted a cake for her mother and she did mention I should remove it.

I only do cakes for my family and occasionally friends. No charge (I'm not licensed yet, but working on it).

Once I become licensed, I don't think I would risk doing a copyrighted picture without permission.

There are some copyrighted images in my photos section, but all were done for my own kids, or as gifts. If I felt ok selling cakes as an uncertified baker, I could probably make a bit of money. *lol*

I've not had any problems because I don't do them for customers. I'll do them for my nieces/nephews or for my grandchildren as a gift.

I'm making a dog house for a groom's cake (famous doghouse that the little white dog sleeps on top of!). I was asked "Isnt there a name plaque above the doorway? Can we put that on?" I said, "If we put the name on the doghouse, then it's no longer a generic doghouse and (artist) will expect his cut. No name plaque."

I only do the kit cakes that I purchase from Decopac and Bakery Crafts which are the ONLY ones you can sell as when you purchase the kit you are purchasing the right to use it for sale. 3D cakes of copyrighted images or characters I won't do except for my family which I do for free.

I am a decorator in a small town. There is another decorator that is selling all of the character pan cakes there are. I won't do that, some customers understand and others don't, but I tell them I can do something similar but not exact and they are usually ok with that. I wish she would have to stop because right now she has more money than I do so she advertises and all I have is word of mouth, which is paying off but am afraid after V-day things will slow down. I don't have a shop but I have a seperate kitchen and display my wears in a local donut shop. Right now I have 120 iced sugar cookies to do a rice crispies teddy bear, and 3 cake orders. So not to bad huh? You may not be able to do "Mickey" but that doesn't mean you can do some cute little mice out of gumpaste or my fav, modeling chocolate. So hang in there, there are always options.