How is it that people sell copyright cakes?? How does Mrs. XXX's Bakery down the road sell cakes with a pin prick transfer of Scooby Doo and get away with it?? Or better yet, a Super Bowl cake with the logos of the teams? I've also seen many people on the web with cake decorating businesses and you see in their photos that they have pictures of cakes with pin prick transfers of Bratz dolls or favorite sports teams. Is there a legal way to do this? I've always thought that these types of cakes are no-no's. I thought when someone comes in and asks for a Spongebob cake legally you are only allowed to do a generic design like maybe an ocean scene and let the party receiving the cake to buy figures and they place them on...... One of these days I would like to start baking cakes for people other than family and would really like to know the laws. I guess my question is ...... are pin prick transfers of cartoon characters and other copyrighted material ok to do for a cake you are selling??
The short answer is that many people don't know that copyright law applies.
The longer answer is that you are correct that legally you cannot use a copyrighted (or trademarked) logo or image on a cake, even if you make minor modifications (blue Barney, e.g.). Many people don't know this, have an incorrect idea of what is covered by copyright law, or know the law and figure that the chances of being caught are slim.
RedPanda
You would need to contact who ever holds the copyright or license to the design or character and make a request for permission. And be ready to pay, they will expect a pretty penny I am sure.
If it was little toys you were seeing most likely the bakeries bought them from www.bakerycrafts.com or www.decopac.com These companies both sell licensed kits to bakeries for resale. The companies that hold the copyrights/licenses to these characters have approved the toy and the design of cake for the kit. If you want to order the licensed characters from these companies you will need a tax id number for your business.
You would need to contact who ever holds the copyright or license to the design or character and make a request for permission. And be ready to pay, they will expect a pretty penny I am sure.
If it was little toys you were seeing most likely the bakeries bought them from www.bakerycrafts.com or www.decopac.com These companies both sell licensed kits to bakeries for resale. The companies that hold the copyrights/licenses to these characters have approved the toy and the design of cake for the kit. If you want to order the licensed characters from these companies you will need a tax id number for your business.
Ok, that is great information. I'm just glad to know what my options are now. Thanks again to all for your helpful information!! 
Or those places DO have the licensing and are doing everything right.
Can you get licensing for doing a pin-prick transfer (or even FBCT)? I know that there are cake kits and licensed edible printer sheets, but I didn't know you could get licensing for anything else.
I definitely am NOT an expert on this. (I know lots about copyright/fair use as it applies to an educational setting, but not how it applies to a cake setting!)
Can you get licensing for doing a pin-prick transfer (or even FBCT)? I know that there are cake kits and licensed edible printer sheets, but I didn't know you could get licensing for anything else.
Most likely not b/c the license holder can not control the end result of the picture. Just from my understanding
My suggestion is if you're worried, stick to using the cake pans in the shape of characters - the sale of them indicates that people will be using them, etc, etc, so that you can legally use them.
Chococherry, you can't use the Wilton character pans for cakes that will be sold. The pans are actually stamped with a notice saying that they are for home use only. The other pans (e.g. star, heart, baby carriage), which don't have this restriction can be used for cakes both for home and for sale.
It's my understanding that the only legal way to sell cakes with characters is to either 1) purchase the edible image, 2) purchase a cake kit such as decopac, or 3) purchase the toys at the store and place those on the cake. In each of these instances the copyright "owner" has been paid for use of the image/toy.
I have lots of licensed cakes on my website (most using the pin-prick method) and I'm in the process of creating a character cake page on my site with a bold disclaimer at the top of the page stating "samples-not for resale" and a blurb about copyright laws, etc., as I could be fined heavily for each instance. HOWEVER, nearly ALL of the licensed cakes on my site were done for free or in exchange for a service the customer could offer because they were friends or family members. Many were done for nieces/nephews or friends of my nieces/nephews, and are only on my site so customers can observe my workmanship. This still does not protect me if Disney or Nickelodeon (etc) were to come across my site, hence the disclaimers I'm adding.
NO MONEY can be exchanged for licensed character cakes or sports teams, etc. I'm more afraid of getting caught for character cakes than sports teams, but at the end of the day, they are one in the same.
So, we can't assume that all character cakes posted here on CC are being SOLD....and as indydebi stated, there may be some folks who can afford to purchase the copyright!
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