Untitled Document


Licensed Character Cakes

Due to copyright laws, Marys Delicacies is unable to make cakes using licensed characters (ie. Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon..etc.) unless a copyright release has been received from the copyright owner. If you would really like to order a cake with licensed characters you have two options:

1) Contact the copyright owner to obtain a release for the one time use. Please note that this may take some time and may be very expensive.

2) Choose a cake design from DecoPac. DecoPac has hundreds of licensed character designs that we can legally create, the only requirement is that the cake be designed exactly as they have pictured. Feel free to visit www.decopac.com and let us know if you are interested in a specific design. Please give us at least two weeks notice since we do not have all designs in stock.

When searching online for ideas for your cake, you may run across countless galleries from bakeries with beautiful licensed character cakes but unfortunately these cakes were either made with the copyright release which can run in the thousands of dollars, or without the copyright owners consent (illegally). Please note that we can try to match the theme of your party as much as possible using colors and you may purchase accessories to place on the cake when you get home.


More Information Regarding Copyrighted Characters

The following was taken from Carolyn at mycakeclass.com:

Character Pans/Character Images
All licensed character shaped pans, candy molds and cookie cutters are for consumer home use only. Stores/Shops/Decorators cannot make cakes, cookies or candies from licensed or copyrighted images and sell them to consumers.

These "mold-making" items are strictly prohibited from any type of commercial use since the licensor has neither the method to control the quality of the reproduction of the character nor the ability to earn royalties on sales of the "made" products. Free-hand or copies of character designs cannot be drawn or iced on top of a cake, cupcakes or cookies and sold for any type of commercial purpose. Once again, the licensor cannot control the quality & is not earning a royalty on the product created around their characters.

Specifically, creating any type of image that looks like a licensed character that then is sold for commercial purposes is prohibited unless there is a specific licensing agreement with the licensor for that product and royalties are paid each time the product is sold.

Additionally a customer cannot bring a character pan/mold they have bought or a toy topper for a cake to a decorator or store/shop, and ask them to make the cake/candy/cookie in exchange for money. This is considered the same thing as above, because money is exchanging hands without the licensor earning royalties.

Edible Images
A copyright protects an original work or creation and gives exclusive right to that work or creation to its author. Copyright law protects the author's/creator's work by prohibiting anyone else from using or profiting from that creation in any way without the owner's permission.

In reproducing copyrighted figures, it does not matter if the character is drawn by hand, added using an image projector, or put on a cake with a computer cake machine. If the item carries a © or ® or symbol, then it is protected. Although most copyright materials will contain either © or ® or , U.S. law does not require it.

Can it really hurt?
The answer is yes. Some copyright holders may be satisfied with a cease & desist order, others could choose to file a lawsuit. Ignorance of these laws will not dismiss the suit, or get you out of trouble with a cease & desist order. The court could find you guilty and award financial damages plus attorney fees. The copyright owner can collect damages without having to prove that your infringement actually cost them monetary harm. Fines can vary. Some may only ask for a low fine but some well known companies are very aggressive in going after anyone and be as high as they feel their image use is worth.

How will they know?
In actuality they may never know if I were to do a copyrighted image on a cake. Some companies though do have legal teams dedicated to searching out their images being used with out permission. There are some well known companies who do focus on the cake decorators industry. In turn let me ask, how do I know you are not part of one of those legal teams who are testing me to do your image? I pride myself in my work, and running my business in a legal fashion. If you are part of a legal team looking for me to break the law, please rest assured its not going to happen at this place of business.

Why can you do a Character Image from the Deco Pac book?
Deco Pac has arranged to cover the cost of royalty fees for use of their products. Because of this the cakes MUST be recreated exactly as shown in the book.