The fact that my husband likes Spiderman is partly true and partly a joke. He says that if Spiderman had a cape like the other super heros that fly then he'd like him better. But I digress. I feel this is a perfect opportunity to discuss a little matter that not a lot of people know about; licensed images.Superman, Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, Cars, Elmo etc etc are licensed characters their likeness belonging to Marvel, Disney etc etc. For a baker to use an image they have to purchase a license. What about the cake pans that you can buy from the bulk barn in the shapes of these characters? Well, as a business owner I cannot use these pans and sell the cakes I make from them, that would be an infringement of copyright. I can buy one and make a cake for a family member or for fun, but not for re-sale.
If you would like a cake reflecting a licensed character and don't want to make it yourself, what do you do? Well, you go to a toy store and buy little figurines which we will happily put onto a cake in the relevant colours, but we will not, cannot, make figurines from sugar in the shape of these little characters.
Well, what about all the cakes you've seen on line with these characters on? Good question. Either they are cakes that have been made and not re-sold or they are cakes made by bakers who have licenses (as in the case of large supermarkets as these licenses are expensive) or bakers who don't care or don't know about copyright laws.
