Copyright Question Re: Characters / Themes
Decorating By caprica Updated 23 Jul 2007 , 1:09pm by loree001
Hi. I am trying to find out what the laws are regarding cakes, allow me clarify. Up until now, I have shied away from character cakes because I wasn't sure if you need permission (unless you are using a molded pan, etc).
For instance, if I want to design a cake around a movie theme or book- are there laws against that?
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks-
You can't SELL any duplicated character or image, whether it's a character pan, edible image, FBCT, or whatever. You can make these for gifts or for your personal use. You can also purchase items to put on the cake. For instance, you could buy plastic sesame street toys to put on a cake, but you could not make fondant figures of those characters.
It's my understanding that for any trademarked characters that you want to put on or make out of cake you have to use licensed products due to copyright laws. For example, if I wanted to use winnie the pooh on a cake and sell it to make a profit from it for myself, I would need to use a licensed figurine, a licensed edible transfer, a licensed character pan etc.. By using licensed products we don't infringe on copyright laws because the makers of those products have paid licensing fees and perhaps pay royalties to the trademark holders. By not using licensed products and hand drawing, or sculpting a replica we open ourselves up to a possible lawsuit from the trademark holders. If I make that same winnie the pooh cake for one of my children, friend or family member and am not charging for it then no problem because I have not profited from their product. You can also create a cake in the theme of the character you are wanting to use then have the customer provide,( or purchase and add to the cake price) a figurine to add to cake.
For example, if I wanted to use winnie the pooh on a cake and sell it to make a profit from it for myself, I would need to use a licensed figurine, a licensed edible transfer, a licensed character pan etc..
If you're referring to the Wilton licensed character pans, those are licensed for home use only, not for us to be able to sell character cakes made in them.
The OP is asking about movies tho... like Die Hard for instance... no licensed characters specifically... I don't have an answer, but I'm sure they have their butts covered there too. If you want to play it really straight don't do anything that isn't generic.
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