I know that this has been touched on SEVERAL times in our forums but what I found interesting is we cannot use any licensed character even if drawn free-hand unless we pay royalty fees. I found this browsing around on several cake decorating supply websites.

[quote]A note from Wilton Enterprises on copyright issues

LICENSING GUIDELINES ON PRODUCT USE

All licensed character shaped cake pans, candy molds and cookie cutters are for consumer home use only. Stores/shops cannot make cakes, cookies or candies from our licensed products and sell them to consumers. These "mold making items" are strictly prohibited for any type of commercial use since the licensor has neither the method to control the quality of the reproduction of the character nor the ability to earn royalties on sales of the "finished" product. This applies to both baked and craft type products.


Free-hand or copied character designs cannot be drawn or iced on top of a cake, cupcakes, or cookies and sold for any type of commercial purpose.
Once again, the licensor cannot control the quality and is not earning a royalty on the product created around their character.


Licensed pans cannot be rented to consumers by stores since the licensor is not earning a royalty from the transaction.


Generally, creating any type of image that looks like a licensed character that is sold for commercial purposes is prohibited unless there is a specific licensing agreement with the licensor for that product and royalties are paid each time the product is sold

Yep. And as mara used to say, "making a pink dinosaur doesn't stop it from being Barney".

I totally understand the policy, but that totally STINKS!!!!!!!!!!

Not that i'm about to become a professional baker or anything, but what would it cost to get the licensing agreement? Are we talking thousands of dollars??

You can make them you just can't SELL them.

So bake the cake and throw in the decorations for free!

'throw in the decorations for free' isn't going to protect you either. If your trade money or barter for the copied design, you have 'stolen' the character. Many people do it, but I won't risk my business.

The best you can do is purchase the toys or likeness and use that. The companies are protecting the 'image' of the character.

Where do the edible images fit in all this copyright mess?

Typically cake or grocery stores that sell them should carry an agreement, if they do not, their supplier should.

Mizzou Tigers is big here and I looked into doing cakes, etc for it. I called the university, tracked down the right people. $100 application fee, 8% of goods sold. Doable if you had a huge honkin order.

When it comes to character or licensened theme cakes, I typically make the background and the customer purchases the characters. My castle cake in the photos I have done a few times, customer bought the disney princesses and placed them on the cake, My Little Poney is hearts and butterflies and rainbows, "generic" customer bought the ponies to place on top. Same with Cars, generic desert, road, they placed the car.

All of my clients have been more than happy with this arrangement and no one has given me a hard time over it.

How clever

OK, I don't mean to single anyone out by any means. I just found this cake in the gallery and was wondering what the "rules" would be on something like this:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-photo-202013.html

Thanks for the info!

Bert & Ernie are licensed characters, as long as you make it for your own family or give it away you are fine. The minute you sell it, barter it, or donate it with the INTENT to drum up business, ie have your business cards there, etc. You are copyright infringing. I believe it starts with about a 2,500K fine. IRS is very picky about this sort of thing. if it is the property of someone else and they have gone to trouble to copoyright it, it belongs to them and they are due any financial gain.

What about the pans that are shapped to look like Micky Mouse and so on? You buy the pan, they surely don't think a person will buy the pan and then not make the cake????

Let's say you are a professional with a website and you make a cake for your kid that is a spiderman bust. Is it copyright infringement just having it on your website? Even if you say that you can't make one but it shows your work??

Wow! this is all great information! And IT IS TRUE! My grandmother prints business cards, stationary, greetings cards from her home and she has her own site and sells on Ebay. Well, she had been doing it for a while with things like Betty Boop, NFL stuff, and celebrities photos...she got an email warning her that if she didn't take that stuff off she would get a fine! She did take it off but, yes...it was because she was selling. They give you a brief warning and then they can do anything after that!
Great Topic!

Even if you did a spidermant bust for you kid, if you put it on your PROFESSIONAL, key work here, website, any reasonable person (that is how it is worded in court) could construe that you are selling it. So unless it is a personal website, no.

Thats right, just because you buy the pan, it does not give you license to resell the likeness. Licensed character pans are for "home" use only.

I almost cannot stand to go to craft fairs anymore becuase the MAJORITY of people are selling work that is clearly licensedand I play by the rules.. I asked one lady about her handpainted grinch ornaments and she said something to the effect of "as long as it isnt EXACTLY alike" Horse Pucky. The standard is.....

If any resonable person (ie the judge!) or jury can tell that what you have does is a reasonable likeness, it is infrigement.