Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Is it legal to sell cakes in the design of characters who are probably trademarked? E.g if one plans to make and sell Minnie Mouse cakes, are Disney going to come asking for royalties? I’ve heard of companies sending letters via lawyers because they’ve seen people displaying/selling cakes on their websites.

Hello rb

Here is an answer from David Brice http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/copyright-issues
There is more discussion on this topic on the site if you type in the above search box ‘copyright’

No it is not legal and it’s not just the copyright or trademark owner who might contact you but Trading Standards as well. You can approach the company and ask for permission of course and smaller companies might be happy to say yes but you are unlikely to get anywhere with the likes of Disney. It’s worth doing a bit of research though, for example it’s not just Mickey Mouse you can’t copy but also the outline/silhouette of his ears. On the other hand, although Nemo will be licensed, Clownfish in general aren’t (as far as I know!).

If I get a request for a licensed character I will use a licensed plastic toy on the cake. It doesn’t show off my modelling skills but a five year old doesn’t care plus he gets to keep the toy! I use it as a challenge to design a cake which is a stunning background for the toy.

There’s a good article here: http://www.cakeboss.com/Cake-Stuff/Articles/Copyrighted-Cakes