I want to make something, and see if it sells...what do you think?

[drgnfly30]

I personally wouldn't mess with a company with the legal power that Disney possesses... IMO Disney won't tolerate it, and it's not worth the risk.

As an aside, my sister wanted to get a b-day cake for my niece with Peter Pan airbrushed on it... the grocery store refused saying they could be sued... instead, she took a picture of Peter Pan that my niece had drawn (with little likeness to the actual PP) & only then did the store agree to it.

 

[Brianne]

But the real question is, would it be worth it? Would it be worth the stress of knowing you *might* be sued at some point?

I'm all for starting a business (I've done it--even painting stools & selling them at craft shows), but I'd hate the idea of "looking over my shoulder" worried about being sued.

You'd have to decide that yourself.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I personally wouldn't mess with a company with the legal power that Disney possesses... IMO Disney won't tolerate it, and it's not worth the risk.

As an aside, my sister wanted to get a b-day cake for my niece with Peter Pan airbrushed on it... the grocery store refused saying they could be sued... instead, she took a picture of Peter Pan that my niece had drawn (with little likeness to the actual PP) & only then did the store agree to it.

Now, my grocery store has the licensed pictures, but you can also bring in a picture of anything, and they will put in on a cake. I brought in a picture of the Hulk from a magazine, and they transferred it onto the cake, and then sold me the cake. Not Disney, but isn't that copyright infingement?

 

[Disney1fan2002]

But the real question is, would it be worth it? Would it be worth the stress of knowing you *might* be sued at some point?

I'm all for starting a business (I've done it--even painting stools & selling them at craft shows), but I'd hate the idea of "looking over my shoulder" worried about being sued.

You'd have to decide that yourself.

Someone sued Disney and won. So, maybe they don't have as much power over their copyright as people think.

Again, I am not looking to start a business. Maybe I will stay away from the Disney characters. I just wanted to see what it would be like to paint up some kid's stools. Make a few bucks for Christmas. I can paint them with trucks, and sports, and dolls and flowers, but they probably won't make as much money as a nice Mickey stool!

 

[va32h]

I sell on ebay and Tabberone's name gets tossed around a lot. Bear in mind, her cases were only in reference to making soft goods with licensed fabrics.

And in some of those cases her victory was getting the company to stop asking ebay to remove her auctions, which does not translate into an open license for everyone to make whatever they want with any licensed character on it.

With licensed fabric, the argument is that the fabric vendor has paid the licensing fee, and you are simply reconstituting a product that has already been licensed.

I don't know if decals would be considered the same thing - embroidery designs aren't. If you buy the Brother embroidery plates with Disney characters, they are plastered with copyright notices forbidding you to use them commercially.

Either way, what you are doing is capitalizing on the time and money Disney spent making those characters recognizable and desirable. Whatever profit you might make will be miniscule compared to what you will face if you get caught.

And Disney is like the IRS. It may take them awhile, but they will find you. I do the craft show circuit(selling textiles). There was a vendor that sold Disney Xmas yard decorations. One day he just stopped appearing at shows...he was bankrupt, because Disney found him, and put him out of business.

I'll be honest - I won't hesitate to report a competitor if they are using licensed characters illegally. I play by the rules, I shouldn't lose my share of the market to those who don't.

 

[barkley]

and companies hire people to go around to yard sales, flea markets, cruise ebay to catch people doing this. we had a local school that put charlie brown characters on posters to advertise doing "your a good man charlie brown". they had paid for the rights to do the show, but neglected to look at the fine print that discussed copyright of images. one of the folks charles m. schultz pays to scout these things out lived in the area and saw the poster. the school got hit with a court injunction to cease and desist that wound up costing so much they had to cancel the production. i did a community theatre production of m*a*s*h*, a gentleman approached the director one night and introduced himself as someone hired by the original author to scout out these shows and ensure that copyright infringement had not occured (i guess alot of groups will produce and sell tshirts) and that materials "from another source" (a.k.a. the tv show) had not been incorperated (the owner had this sep. copywritten and use without paying for it is a big no-no). we were informed that we had not broken any laws.

the stores that will take a picture and copy it for a cake are breaking copyright laws-they just hope no one catches them and sues.

is it worthwhile to enter into a bsns. that can cause you alot of money outlay and agrivation to defend yourself for breaking the law? i don't think so.

 

[Feralpeg]

This is a tricky topic. I've made gift baskets for over a year using all sort of Disney products and sold them. It is true, I bought all of the Disney products I put in the baskets from Disney. I've delivered them to WDW resorts and have gotten a large number of positive comments from the staff. Several CMs have purchased them from me. Recently, the manager of POP century gave me the code to get into the area behind their front desk so that I didn't have to stand in line while making a delivery.

I could be totally wrong, but I would think that it wouldn't be a problem if the OP bought the transfers to put on the stools from Disney. If she painted them herself, I can see that as a problem. I'm confused.