I have a question and hope it is not stupid...though my questions usually are...!Ha! 
I am just beginning to make cakes for practice and was just wondering...when selling cakes, is it okay to use other people's ideas (from here, magazines, etc.) as a starting point. I know no two cakes are exactly alike, but is it wrong to mimick other designs or tweak them for sell? Just wondering! Thanks.
Of course it is. We all use other's designs for inspiration. I think as long as you are not claiming anyone's design as your own, you are fine. I practice all the time by trying to replicate cakes I've seen here and in books and magazines.
I would take it as a compliment if someone wanted to copy my cake! I just always give credit where credit is due!
Chances are your cake won't turn out exactly like someone else's cake, and I don't feel that it's wrong to use someone's design but you must give credit where credit is due. Whether you are explaining it to someone or publishing it here on CC you should say 'Orginal design by....' or 'Design inspired by....'. I've had one of my cakes copied here and I was a little disappointed that they didn't mention me, but when you put cakes out there for others to see you are also sharing ideas and designs. But I wouldn't copy anything that has an actually copyright attached to it. Hope this helps.
Welcome to CC!!!
I would take it as a compliment if someone wanted to copy my cake! I just always give credit where credit is due!
Completely agreed. Most people see it as a compliment if their design is reproduced. Of course, as mommaof3cuties pointed out, it is just common courtesy to give credit for the design to the original designer. The only time it's not cool is if you take a picture of someone else's cake and try to pass it off as something you did.
That's how you learn!! If you want to be on the safe side though, tweak the design a tad and make it yours -- change the circles to squares, change the color, add lace behind the bead border, etc. And have fun with it!! 
Even if you never saw another person's design, you might come up with something similar anyway. I mean, if you told 200 different people to make a jack-o-lantern cake, you might get several that are very similar, even if there was no sharing of ideas. I know we all like to think we're very original, but there are very few truly original things left under the sun......whether you're talking about fashion, music, or ........yes, cake. Haven't you ever seen any of the discussions of music where they show the same note progression in a popular song from the 90's, the 70's, the 20's.....clear on back to Mozart or Beethoven? And yet all of these songs are presented, and accepted, as 'original'.
Most cake decorating books out there actually expect the person who reads the books to recreate their design. They are publishing their books as "how to" projects or give step by step instructions or tips so it is definitely ok.
Even wedding magazines that have cakes featured are publishing those to give brides ideas for their cakes as well as for designers or cake decorators to use for inspiration.
For the most part I believe CC members are doing the same thing when they post their pics. They want to share inspiration AND get inspired. Out of common courtesy I would agree with PP to always give credit where credit is due for a unique style or technique or colour combo used if a cake really inspired it, even if it doesn't look exactly like it.
Personally (IMHO) for me, if I was to actually outright copy a design (so it's easily recognizable as a copy of the design even if a few details were changed), then I would definitely also PM the member who's original design it is and make sure they at least knew.
**edited for typo & clarification**
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