Copyright

Hi… I understand your frustration… there have been similar topics in the past… here is a link to a recent one… hope it helps…
https://cakesdecor.com/replies/on/581710

A link to an article on Cake Boss.
http://www.cakeboss.com/Cake-Stuff/Articles/Copyrighted-Cakes

Thank you, I have read the cake boss article hence my decision not to make them, but as such high profile cake decorators are constantly making character cakes I thought I must be missing something! :-)

The other thread is helpful too!

Yeah.. balancing the risk against profit? Risk may be small for you, but your customer certainly won’t offer to pay a huge fine!

No exactly! :-)

I’m with you inspiratacakes – the risk may be small, but unless you’ve paid the license fees – its illegal.
I’ve never infringed on copyright for an order, and I spent a few thousand on legal advice to make sure there wasn’t a loophole I was missing.
I lose a couple of orders a week to requests for themes I won’t replicate, but I’m not willing to take the chance.
I did do “Angry Birds” sugar work for a dear friends’ birthday present, and recently my nephew’s birthday gift was a “Nemo” cake, but my conscience is clear ‘coz I didn’t sell them. But I can’t post pictures of them on my website or FB page, even as showpieces, ’coz then people ask for them!
:/

I have seen some high profile cake decorators make character cakes, I actually asked Shawna McGREEVY how many cakes she takes on each week and she told me, never more than one cake. She also will often post if the cake is for a family member, which I know the Sculpted Minnie cake was for a family member….so…I am again assuming she did this cake for her own personal use and it was not sold to a client. I can only imagine that is the case for many of these high end cake decorators who are very much in the public eye. Other high profile cake decorators such as Fernanda Abarca actually is commissioned by Disney and Pixar to make character cakes. I think in other instances a license may have been granted in order for some cake artists to make character cakes. I frequently make character cakes for my family and friends but no money changes hands in these instances…I have made a few “inspired by” designs for customers- but those cakes don’t contain any material that I would assume is a copyright issue.