I am curious to know if it is illegal to make cakes themed about a brand or company. I have made Ferrari themed. Foo-Fa (from Yo Gabba Gabba), Mario, Captain Morgan Rum, Ciroc, Juicy Couture, Camaro, Dexter, Eeyore, The Little Mermaid, Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs, Jersey Shoe, Philadelphia Flyers, Halo, Star Wars, Steelers, Sutter Home, Tinkerbell, Twilight.. These are all over my website. Am I in legal trouble? How does this work?

Yes, it is illegal to make cakes that have copywrited or trademarked items such as all of the ones you mentioned, unless you have received permission from the holder of that copyright or trademark.

My advise is to remove the pictures from your website, especially if you have not received permission. More likely than not you will not be in any legal trouble, but that is always a posibility.

could you not call the company that holds the copyright and ask them permission? kind of a "i'm a baker and have been asked to make an eeyore cake and a tinkerbell cake (example) wanting to know if it would be alright and if i would be allowed to showcase them on my bakery's website". in all honesty, you WERE asked to make these cakes...they just don't have to know WHEN you were asked...JMO...

It's not illegal to make them, just to sell them. If you put them on your site, you have to also say you aren't allow to sell them.

So unless you just want to show off your work, there's no other reason to have them on your site.

You need two different permissions...one to make the cake with their image on it and another separate permission to use a pic on your website. One does not include the other.

Sometimes they are more likely to give permission for the cake to your customer. In general, they are less likely to give it to a baker. I think it's even less likely that they will give you permission to use pics on your website, since you would then essentially be advertising that you make cakes with their images. But it never hurts to ask.

It would be very unusual for Disney to give you any permission to do anything. They are extraordinarily strict with control of their images. Disney contracted a party planner to design the opening night party in Madison Square Garden for the re-release of The Little Mermaid movie. The party planner contracted with me to do an artists rendering of their design plan, which included life-size sculptures of the characters as well as a giant Ursula that hovered over the entrance. These renderings were going to be used only to show Disney what the plan was so they could approve it.

Disney supplied me with an inch thick book for each of the characters that would be included in my renderings. They gave strict instructions that I must follow the specific guidelines for each character or the renderings would be destroyed and not considered. Each character came with a palate of very specific colors that could be used, specifics as to how thick and black lines in the drawing should be, pages and pages of specific facial expressions and poses that were allowed.

All this for some paintings that would never really be seen by anyone except me, the planners and Disney.

So then why would they sell character pans if it is illegal??

The pan makers pay Disney for the right to use the image in a pan that they can then sell to you "for home use only" which is labeled in the pan. You are allowed to make a cake for your kids...that's it. It's agreed to and paid for with Disney.

I think the spirit of the law is that you cannot replicate for sale something that would cut into somebody else's business. However, making a Gucci purse cake isn't going to cut into Gucci's purse business, because they don't sell cake.

I have stopped being concerned with copyright as far as cake goes because I've looking into it, and I am pretty certain there isn't much grounds for a suit. If it's illegal to make a cake that looks like a Gucci purse, then wouldn't it also be illegal for a painter to paint a portrait of a woman holding a Gucci purse? Or for a photographer to sell professional photos of someone wearing designer duds? If the images (or cakes) are done for the purpose of personal use (or to eat) and not mass marketing, then it's highly unlikely there is any harm done to the company - especially if it is something the company doesn't do (such as make cakes!)

I think the only issue may come by posting the pics on a website. Because then it almost could potentially be seen as endorsement (like you are using their images to market your cakes). Small chance, but still there.

So to me, I think the risk of getting busted for MAKING a copyrighted cake is almost non-existent, however the risk in posting those photos to your website is only slightly greater. I am comfortable taking that risk, but you have to decide what your comfort level regarding a potential lawsuit is.

not meant to sound off or anything, just my thoughts in typing...if the copyright laws are so strict that you can't even make a cake in your home without buying something specifically from disney, then wouldnt there be someone from all the companys trolling sites like this one for people using their images? to me, if i had a hunch that my image was being used by someone i would start with bakery sites and then to image sites like flickr and photobucket...JMO...

I work for a really big consumer product company which shall not be named (not Disney though) and we have an entire floor full of lawyers who specialize in intellectual property. It's a huge issue that we focus on a lot. Part of our business model is partnering with major companies (Betty Crocker, Wilton, American Greetings, etc.) who then put our images on cupcake wrappers, home-use cake pans, sugar decorations, napkins, plates, etc. so that consumers can enjoy our IP in their homes and, of course, we get paid a cut of every cupcake liner, box of icing, or cake pan sold. It's how companies make money.

Is it likely that someone's going to hunt you down because you made a cake with a character on it? No. There are MUCH bigger fish out there. But you are violating patent and trademark law. Sorry.

Artscallion, you're EXACTLY right about the rules in place for IP though. Our bread and butter are those characters. If we give someone permission to use them we'll be very prescriptive about colors, facial expressions, what they can be doing, holding and saying. It's what we call "brand essence."

God I need a new job.

Hi! Whenever I get a request for these types of cakes, I just email the companies who own the rights and request permission. I'm allowed about 50% of the time. If I'm not, I give the customer other options (i.e. making a background for their characters, etc.), or they go somewhere else. I just don't like taking the risk. I did a character cake for a donation for which I did not get permission, but I got a legal opinion in writing and felt comfortable with the risks. I think it's up to each person's risk tolerance and ethics.

I put Lalaloopsy cupcake toppers on Etsy and was told by their lawyers to remove it.

Mahal, just curious..what is "etsy?"

www.etsy.com is kinda like ebay but for homemade items.