Can somebody please give me input on creating licensed characters and images on cakes!? I've heard multiple different things to not care about the risk, but also to absolutely not do it without approval. I'm just lost. I would love to be able to do anything that somebody requests. Let me know what you all do or your opinion on this topic.
When you make a cake using a licensed or trademarked image for which you have not received permission or paid for use, you are stealing. It's really that simple.
You are making money off of the backs of the person/company that spent time and money to create & market the original. They have every right to expect to continue to derive income from it, and you are depriving them of that income. A customer who asks you to do it is asking you to steal for them.
If you do it, you are complicit and you are opening yourself up to risk. Will you get caught? Maybe, maybe not. If you are caught, you need to be prepared to spend a lot of money on lawyers [no insurance policy will help you in such a case]. Depending on how you've set up your business, you may lose it, or lose other personal assets.
If you like to live with risk, then it's your choice, I guess.
That's what I thought. I've chosen not to because everything I read online says what you just mentioned. Thanks for clarifying!!
If you buy toy figurines that can be put on top of a cake I think you are allowed to do that because you are paying for the licensed characters that you are sticking on top of your cake. Correct me if I am wrong, those of you who know the ins and outs of this issue.
I know of one shop owner who even refused to place a purchased toy on a cake because of the risk. They would sell the cake and toy separately and the customer had to place the toy on. I'm not sure if they had reasons - like knowledge of someone having gotten 'caught' or a lawyer's suggeston.
You can make all the cakes/cookies, cupcakes you want w/anything on it but canNOT SELL them.
and you would want to avoid putting pictures of them out to the public on the web or in a portfolio in your shop --
now not you or your question, amandagregoryyy -- but this copyright stuff annoys me -- i adhere to it -- don't get me wrong -- but i wish fair use was not such a thing of the past -- all bakeries used to do all the copyrighted stuff and it's sad to me it's so strident now --
sniff
K8memphis I totally agree!! I've seen so many people doing it, not to say they don't have the permission, but it's crazy because I'm sure not all of them do. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks of it this way :)
Oh believe me there are MANY of us who don't think it is right for them to be sooo strident for sure. It is up to the company who ownes the copyrite to police the use of it. That means if the company wants to employ/use lawyers to sue you they are totally within their rights. Some of the big companies feel it is worth the expense.
copyright owners have to police their own products -- pre-internet days there was no photography overload constantly bubbling up on top of itself like so many effervescent boogery noses loading and unloading in a day care in january -- like there is now in one big happy place right here on the old world wide web -- so if they brought suit against someone pirating their product -- the pirates could show where they let all these other people pirate it i guess -- i don't know -- i'm not a legal beagle but suffice it to say it sucks now --
there's nothing like random prosecutions to put the big chill on pirating copyrights --
but the further point is it wasn't considered pirating when i started doing cakes -- wah wah
And unless you have been trained by professionals, I don't think decorators realize that they are violating copywrite laws. I sure didn't until reading posts here. My instructor didn't mention it.
unless and until you hear and are convinced about the prosecutions you're not a believer -- because it is so widespread --
Your instructor probably was Wilton? Of course they would not mention it because Wilton is in the business of selling product mainly directed to the homemaker........that is mom etc who makes cakes for thier family and dosen't SELL
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%