Guidelines For Licensed Characters??
Decorating By momoftwogirls Updated 16 May 2006 , 9:18pm by koolaidstains
Hello Everyone,
Yes the store does rent the pans for like $2.00 each.
They also rent Every Size and shape pan for wedding cakes, the pillars, plates, stands, & fountains. You name it, they RENT it. If they don't have it.. You probally wont find it locally.
But it does beat paying full price for a pan that you most likely wont use again.
~Sweet~ 
I'm really not trying to be a stickler but I really want to understand this.Lisa I noticed in your photos dora,spiderman,harley logo,koolaid.Are you saying you can' t sell any of those cakes?If that's the case why do BCT.
No...I can't sell any of those. If you're going to do a cake with a BCT of a copyrighted/trademarked image, legally you aren't allowed to sell it.
Sorry I haven't read the whole thread but basically I tell my clients that I can not charge for a character cake but that a bill will be drawn up for my supplies and time. Not sure if that gets around it or not. Luckily my sister and I don't really get requests for specific characters a lot.
OMG, I never even thought about the copyright enfringments! As i'm logged onto CC and browsing the forums, I am also looking on the web for Tweety,Dora and Hello Kitty pictures to use for BCT on cakes. Thankfully, they're for my own kids who's birthdays all fall within a week of each other!! I am so grateful that I came across this thread and that out of all the cakes i've done, i've never sold any with liscensed characters and I hope no one asks in the future because they will surley be turned down. Thanks all
It is not illegal to do the character cakes. You can do them for your family and friends.
BUT you can not do a character cake or any form of a character on a cake and legally sell it. This includes printing your own edible images, making fondant figures, color flow or FBCTs (ect.). This also includes doing a character and changing the colors of it so it isn't the 'exact' match.
It does suck, but I do understand the other side of it too. You couldn't take Micky Mouse and put him on a T-shirt and legally sell it, so why should a cake be any different?
You also legally can't accept money in any form for a character cake. I really don't think that "they paid me $20 for the box and the cake was free" would hold up in court, as well as the "they bought the pan and just paid me for my time." How ever you look at it you are taking money for it.
Now your average at home baker could probably do chracter cakes for the rest of her life and neve get caught, but then agian there could be that unlucky day and that huge fine comes with it. It's your personal choice to risk it, just like it is many of our personal choices to do cakes out of the home and risk getting in trouble for that.
Just make sure you have the information about it and know that you are taking a risk by doing them.
I usually only do cakes for family or friends. Or to give away for school functions. So I never really worry about it (since I'm not charging anything for them). I wonder what the rules are for the fundraisers they do at school though. i've baked character cakes that they've sold slices of...... Guess I should ck into that one....
Well, this is very interesting because my first wilton instructor who worked at a cookie place said that you could sell a character cake if someone asked for it, but you couldn't advertise that you sold them or display them in any way. Has anyone ever heard that?
As for the not accepting any money in any way for a character cake, does that include bartering? Say I can't take money for a character cake, but could that person agree to cut my lawn?
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%