Does anyone know the rules of selling charcter cakes (Disney or Sesame Street Characters)? I have heard you can get by with it if you change a couple of the colors and I have heard absolutely NOTHING goes!! I just started in this business and want to protect myself but I have had ALOT of requests for these cakes. Thanks for your help.
Shara 
Welcome to CC shara!
If you want to go by the book you need a licensing agreement with the owner of the characters or you can not reproduce the characters for profit. Disney is very agressive in protecting their brand and won't hesitate to go after even the little guys. And they are very picky about who and how their characters are represented.
If you are a licensed business you can buy the cake kits without a separate licensing agreement.
And red Barney is still Barney! 
If the character is recognizable it's still the character.
But you can make a cake in the colors of a character and the purchaser of the cake can place their own toys on the cake after it leaves your hands.
Good luck with your new venture!
Thanks so much for your advice. I just acquired over 100 character pans from someone who went out of business over half are disney or sesame street characters. I just found out that a small bakery not far from me is getting sued by Disney so now I know to NEVER go that route. Thanks again.
Shara 
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