Cake copyright explained

Cake copyright is the assertion of copyright on a cake. Cakes, as edible art, can be an artistic medium for displaying an image or portraying a character.

Copyright of art on cakes

If cake decorating is used as a medium for presenting copyrighted content, then copyright issues might come into play as with any other publication medium. Entertainment media organizations including Disney, Lucasfilm, and Sanrio have asserted that cakes should not portray their copyrighted fictional characters or their copyrighted images without licensing.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Copyright on cake design

Cake design is an imagining of a cake as copyrightable art, like a sculpture.

Bakeries which provide cakes which critics have ridiculed for low quality have sometimes sought to claim copyright over their cakes.[5] The copyright claim is part of an attempt to enforce demands that communities of people who mock cakes not publish photos of cakes for entertainment.[5]

Cake copyright at Trump inauguration

In 2012, President Barack Obama of the United States had celebrity pastry chef Duff Goldman design a cake for a party celebrating his second inauguration.[6] [7] In 2017, President Trump had a Washington, D.C. bakery[8] replicate Obama's cake made for his inauguration.[7] [6] There was discussion about whether Trump plagiarized Obama's cake.[6] [7] The matter raised the profile of copyright questions about cakes.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Morran. Chris. Disney, Lucasfilm, Sanrio Sue Makers Of Counterfeit Marvel, Star Wars, Hello Kitty Cake Frosting. Consumerist. 25 January 2017. 4 September 2015.
  2. Web site: Ernesto. Pastry Shops Targeted Over Copyright Infringing "Star Wars" and "Minion" Cakes - TorrentFreak. TorrentFreak. 15 January 2017. 15 January 2016.
  3. Web site: Shirky. Clay. Clay Shirky. Copyright cops crack down on cooks over cakes. Boing Boing. 25 January 2017. 16 June 2005.
  4. Web site: Gardner. Eriq. Disney Sues Over Edible Cake Frosting Featuring Marvel, Lucasfilm Characters. The Hollywood Reporter. 25 January 2017. en. 3 September 2015.
  5. Web site: Masnick. Mike. The Cake Copyright Is A Lie; Safeway Just Doesn't Want To Be Mocked. Techdirt. 25 January 2017. 13 November 2012.
  6. Web site: Siede. Caroline. The bizarre story of Trump's plagiarized inauguration cake. Boing Boing. 25 January 2017. 23 January 2017.
  7. Web site: Sanders. Cynthia Blake. A Tale of Two Cakes: Can Copyright Law Protect this Cake Design?. JD Supra. 25 January 2017. en. 23 January 2017.
  8. News: Wang. Amy B.. Carman. Tim. Trump's inaugural cake was commissioned to look exactly like Obama's, baker says. The Washington Post. 22 January 2017. 25 January 2017.
  9. Web site: Livni. Ephrat. Do cake designs count as intellectual property?. Quartz. 25 January 2017. 24 January 2017.

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