Thursday, July 9, 2009

Copyright Unfringement

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Technically, you know, if you want to get all law-abiding about it, you have to have permission to use copyrighted characters on cakes.

Or, you can try one of these techniques:

1. The Alter-Ego:

Of course it's not Thomas the Train. It's Loco Larry, the Mentally Unstable Locomotive.

2. The Unibrow:

Is that a seagull on your face, or are you a licensed Disney character? (Seagull. Duh.)

3. The Brother By a Different Mother:

"Okay Super...uh...Sam?...just keep your hands where I can see them!"

4. The Foreign Equivalent:

"Que Pasa, El Lightningo?"
"Hola, Senior Rustico."
"Isn't it nice how we are completely original foreign creations in no way affiliated with Disney or its subsidiary companies?"
"Si."


Tracy L., Ed S., Erin M., & Emily S., er, none of you are lawyers, right?


- Related Wreckage: Guess Who!
Etiquette Bitch said...

cw1 made me think, "thomas the angry train who's about to run someone over."
i can only envision the child recipient as an adult, looking back on photos of his/her 3rd bday party and cracking up.

too funny, thanks!

Fluffy Cow said...

They are all so funny... but I really love the angry Thomas.

HorribleLicensePlates said...

Super Sam is making me laugh so hard right now.

Taylor (My Older Brothers) said...

I wish there was a whole list of Pixar movies with alter-ego cakes. Take a leaf out of Thomas the Train's book and just change the character's expression. How funny would it be to see a Finding Emo Nemo?



myolderbrothers.blogspot.com

Talia said...

That reminds me: if you buy a cake pan of a licensed character does that get around that sort of thing in the way that making one on your own does not? Inquiring minds and all that...

Unknown said...

Loco Larry. Hee! Hee! hee!

April said...

Wow, those are horrid remakes. Blech!

Melanie Withrow said...

Is Loco Larry there to commemorate a 1st birthday, 3rd birthday or 31st birthday. My bet is on the latter!

avocadohead said...

Not just mentally unstable but also challengend in perspective...

M said...

I can hear Senor Rustico's accent loud and clear.

Brilliance!

Half Assed Kitchen said...

If there weren't a blatant 1 on that engine, it could be Edward, or someone grumpier than the perpetually cheerful, Thomas. But no, they had to go and put the 1 on.

Can you tell I have a young boy?

Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com)

BKeith said...

Talia -- nope. The paperwork that comes with the character pans specifically says that they're for home/personal use only

Trudi said...

You are allowed to use the licensed character pans and other images on cakes for your own use. Only when you sell them for profit does it become illegal.

Wild Cakes said...

Talia,

when you buy a pan depicting a licenced character, it very specifically says that it is for your own personal use only, and that you are not permitted to sell cakes made from it.

Too funny Jen! Love the unibrow "Pinny the Wooh Bear"

Michelle P said...

Obviously we have all overlooked the nasty trend of rail-rage plaguing trains today.....and I'm stuck on trying to determine if Super Sam has ARMS let alone where his/her hands may be.

Mandy said...

OMG! I just spit coffee out from laughing so hard! I can't decide which one is the funniest!!! (although the unibrow Winnie the Pooh holds a special place in my heart; our family has an ongoing "unibrow" joke)

WV: petrosec ~ a Cake Wreck baker's contemplation of what they had just created

Anonymous said...

We need more of these. Oh yes, we do!
Taylor's Emo Nemo would be awesome, I bet there is one out there somewhere....

Thanks again for the laugh of the day!
Becky

Kristen said...

My 2 year old son loved this post! Big Thomas and Cars fan :-D!

iris said...

freakin hilarious as usual. pure genious.

Elleah said...

Ha ha!

Jedijson said...

So, on the "obviously NOT Thomas" train cake, is the recepient going to be 31, and the maker just didn't have a "1" candle to go with the "3" one, so they decided to frost in the 1?

Just curious.

Awesome post, as always!

Amanda said...

My mom had that Winnie the Pooh cake pan when I was a kid and made that cake many times. For the record, the Pooh depicted in the pan had two distinctly separate eyebrows.

Melinda said...

Hilarious! I love the Car wrecks the most. They're so close, but so far...

And I love the Emo Nemo suggestion too. That would be funny stuff.

Morgi said...

My coworkers know I'm nuts anyway, but I'm giggling like a madwoman in here.

Am I allowed to laugh at Super Sam?

(I'm laughing even harder at Finding Emo Nemo.)

WV: cants

I can has Thomas the Tank Engine cake?
No, you cants. Here's Loco Larry.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Mandy above on the coffee thing. "Thank you" for making coffee almost come out of my nose due to laughing so hard this morning! See, I used unnecessary quotation marks just for you. :)

:::b r a n d i::: said...

Ok, the Spanish cars made me laugh out loud. Hilarious.

BarbJ said...

So when I bought the Wall-e cake pan for my son's 5th birthday, then paid a local lady to actually make the cake (because she rocks and I am worse than a wreckerator!) I was breaking the law? As far as I know she only made 1 cake, for me, and I got the pan back when she was done...

Now I'm afraid the Disney cops are going to come break down my door!

Taylor (My Older Brothers) said...

I found the closest thing I could find to an Emo Nemo cake!

http://www.party-cakes.com/images/Nemo3-D-edited4web1.jpg




www.myolderbrothers.blogspot.com

ME! said...

Perhaps Thomas is angry that they used a pink star tip to finish off the cake around the base. WTF, I'm not a GIRL tank! Duh!

Rebecca said...

LOL! Too funny! But, well, if you can buy the pan then isn't that technically buying permission to make the cake? Otherwise, what are you supposed to do with the pan? I'd assume the pan-maker is the one who needed permission, and then I will carry on with makinng whatever I want. LOL!
Love your website, by the way. I have told many, many people to come and check it out!

Cheryl said...

Emo Nemo- brilliant!

Jael said...

I think what makes Pooh positively terrifying, even more than the unibrow (though that certainly adds to the effect), is the horrific red leering mouth. Wow.

Jennywenny said...

Awesome, that totally rocks.

MommyHeadache said...

aaah don't remind me of Cars. It was the most boring movie I ever watched.

Heather said...

Sam is hilarious!

Unknown said...

Thomas better watch out! Loco Larry's comin' after him. LOL
~Amy B.

Mary Anne Whiteley said...

I'd be ashamed to show the cross eyed cinderella i made years ago. LOL

MalMal said...

Maybe all the anger and negativity around the train yard is finally getting to Thomas. Seriously, have you SEEN that show??? A bunch of trains trying to sabotoge and steel each other's work... and letting George Carlin be one of the narrorators was a BAD idea. Shunt means something completely different when said with a Brooklyn accent....

wv: vicepsy. I have a major in vice psy. And a minor in boozewomenandfastcars.

Amy Schley said...

As an Intellectual Property law student, I'll chime in. (though we did not study cake law in class!)

The pan gives you the right to make cakes "for personal use." Now, that phrase has different meanings. In terms of sports broadcast parties, it means the TV can't be bigger than 52" and you can't charge admission to your house. Here, it's most likely going to mean that you can't sell the cakes you are making.
(Now, as for the lady who paid for someone else to use her WALL-E pan, you should be okay--you weren't working on any kind of commercial scale.)

WV: slunking. Time for me go to slunking away back to my law school hole.

*~*Lis*~* said...

I don't know - couldn't fool my 3 year old! She came up behind me and said "ohhhh Rusty and Mater!"

Wonder Schwermin said...

My son has had a Thomas cake the last 3 years (he will accept no other) and I think Angry Thomas would make him laugh, or cry. One or the other...

Anonymous said...

Thomas the Tank Engine!!!
rotflmao XD
More alter ego cakes please!

WV: I giess that's what it looks like.

jackie31337 said...

I wish I could link you to my local bakery's website - they have some truly awful character wrecks. Unfortunately, their web site is a Flash nightmare.

~* N *~ said...

Too funny! That Loco Larry must be mad about the pink frosting. Sam must be a bit off... you can't do a proper "superman" with your arms pinned in your pants.

Haha, I like how the "Nemo" that Taylor posted has a goatee. Also love the fruit snack fish added to look like he's in a school.

Pilgrim said...

These were GREAT... PLEASE POST MORE!!!!

Unknown said...

Please tell me you have more like these! So made my day!!! THX!

Nonna said...

Your commentary on these is hilarious !!!

Even if it is illegal, how would they ever police infringement on copyright characters anyway ?

Scritzy said...

All of those are just too funny, and I can't decide which one I like best.

It's a toss-up between Loco Larry and the cars, but I must confess that the dialog really does it for the cars. Thanks, Jen!

Sjak (from the Netherlands) said...

Brilliant (as ever)!
Especially love the fact that the cake that is trying its hardest to look like lightning mcqueen, but is failing in almost every respect, does seem to have an absolutely perfect "rusteze" logo on the hood.....

Loco Larry really made me laugh. He is soooooo much cooler than his evil twin about whom the only good thing is his name (since my son is named Thomas).

kssdesigns said...

Just wanted you to know I am new to your blog and there hasn't been a day yet since I've been reading it that I haven't laughed out loud! Bert the chimney sweep makes me have tears in my eyes every time I see him! Thanks so much! I appreciate the daily laugh!!

G.H. said...

Wow! These are terrible remakes.


http://confessions-of-a-waitress.blogspot.com/

Emma. Emmalita. Em-uh. Em and m. said...

I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard. Good one!

-Emma

Carlie said...

Super Sam is scary. Not only does he not have hands, but he doesnt have ARMS either!
But then again if he does.......
ew.

Zazzy The Geek said...

OMG LOL the "thomas" train is gonna put a kid in therepy. It does not look like the friendly thomas I remeber but then again i remember when George Carlin was Mr. Conductor man...

pamela said...

New to this blog and absolutely love it!!!! I don't know bout an Emo Nemo but i found an albino Nemo... http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4451859/NemoCake-main_Full.jpg

awful just awful!!!!!

Anonymous said...

And I thought Mater was ugly already.

I'm a little surprised nobody else has brought up the controversy over who rightfully owns Pooh.

Unknown said...

I made one of these once. Did the eyes wrong on the Power Puff Girls..looked like they were stoned. :)

wv: congall: Thomas was not happy to lead the congall line.

Anonymous said...

Some days words escape me, so. . . .


BAWHAHAHAHAHA!

Charla said...

Okay, it's scary that the Pooh cake was unrecognizable to my 4-year old, who's a HUGE fan of Pooh. So apparently giving him seagull eyebrows did, indeed, take care of copyright issues!

Melanie said...

I can type LOL truthfully this time. (I know you others out there put LOL when you're really not laughing out loud) This post had at first "angy Thomas" glance. With a two year old, this is totally relevant with me. so LOL!

Sariah said...

I think this is my new favorite post, and mostly because of Senor Rustico. J

Angie said...

cw1 - my 3 year old, who is a Thomas NUT, said, "Thomas is mad."

He also recognized the non-Lightning & non-Mater in cw4.

Does that mean that he's got a creative mind that can recognize what something is supposed to be, when it's not exactly like the original? Or does it just speak to his obsession with Thomas & Cars?

wv - gleche There was definitely a gleche in the plans for those cakes.

sendingtheclowns said...

Trudi said...
"You are allowed to use the licensed character pans and other images on cakes for your own use. Only when you sell them for profit does it become illegal."
**********
If you were to ask me, I'd suggest that simply MAKING cakes that look this bad should be illegal.
The "Pooh" cake looks like someone regurgitated stale popcorn on a platter, tossed on some *accents*, et Voila! "Have a HAPPY, little Eddie-boy."
Poor kid...he's probably got that vintage photo in an album--along with a sinister list of people he plans to get back at some day...
=^-.-^=

COLARGOL said...

Congruatulation, i like this, it's too funny !!

Queen Rosebud said...

The angry Thomas made me think of "Charlie the Choo Choo" from Stephen King's "The Waste Lands."

Anonymous said...

lightning mcqueen is a lamborghini (sp?) and tow-mater has a couch for a hood! yikes!

i did a lightning mcqueen cake for a friend before i knew what he was....luckily it turned out good and hopefully won't debut on your blog! :) it was for personal use of course...and perfectly legal. :)

Kate said...

I almost never comment despite the wonderfully hilarious commentary you provide, but this one has to be my absolute favorite.

Loco Larry and unibrow Pooh! Jen you are amazing!

Heather said...

Am I the only one to notice that Jen spelled señor wrong??? HMM?

The spanish cars are hilarious.

anaceofkidneys said...

I think the black Superman is pretty cool, actually. They make multiracial versions of all the popular girl-oriented dolls, why not black Superman? "Sam" is probably the birthday kid's name, not the character's.

Anonymous said...

The Thomas cake that Jenn posted was made for my daughter's 3rd birthday (she requested the pink icing on her Thomas cake!).

As soon as we opened the box the whole family laughed so hard at the expression on the train's face. Even my daughter commented about how angry Thomas was feeling.

This is our favourite family birthday cake memory so far!

Thanks for posting it, Jenn - I am glad others are enjoying it too!

Tracy L.

Sara said...

My family actually has that Winnie the Pooh cake pan... I've had that cake (minus the uni-brow, of course!) many a time for my birthday. In fact, I'm pretty sure we had it for my birthday this past year. Rock on! :)

Aymen said...

thanks for posting

Super Sam is really funny.

Angela said...

I think I like the mentally unstable locamotive the best.

Kai said...

I just laughed until I cried at the "Cars" cakes... I couldn't stop.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to let you know I read that whole last caption with a bad mexican accent(think jeff dunhams hose jalepino on a stiiick) and will now think every thought with a bad mexican accent! You are too funny! ~Carrie

Susan (5 Minutes For Mom) said...

So funny!!! Thomas looks ticked.

Wolverine Girl said...

I think whoever made that Winnie the Pooh cake took the last part of his name a little too literally.

annacakes79 said...

I do believe that "Uni-the-Brow" cake is actually made from half of a 3D rabbit pan that Wilton put out in the seventies. I'll have to check my 1979-84 yearbooks.....Yep that's it!


puckpuhx="Uni-the-Brow's" angry alter-ego.

Anonymous said...

Oh well, you know a 2- or 3- year old is going to love it anyway, right?

jackie31337 said...

Lynn said Even if it is illegal, how would they ever police infringement on copyright characters anyway ?

The same way the RIAA/MPAA take accused file sharers to civil court and demand outrageous damages. You won't go to jail for selling a character cake without properly licensing the character, but you could get sued and fined. Actually, that would be interesting to see: a crackdown on illegal character cakes in the same way as there has been a crackdown on file sharing.

Belle Epoque said...

I think Superman has been hittin the local bakery maybe too often...

SarahJayn said...

Wow. Some of the comments today are really leaning on the racist track. Nice to know you can be offensive as long as you're white and hiding behind butter cream.

Lucia Winter said...

They are all SOOOOO funny!!!!!!!!
But my favorite one is definitely “The Angry Thomas”.
~Lucia Winter

Molly said...

We had both the Pooh cakepan and the Superman pan when I was growing up. In defense of whomever made the Superman cake - the pan really was terrible & the colors listed were worse than the pan itself!! I'll have to find the Cabbage Patch cake pics...some of those were really terrible!!!

celestialcakes said...

HAHA! Why even try if you know you can't pull it off??

Katey Lady said...

Oh! My parents have a photo somewhere of a Sesame Street birthday cake done in all the wrong colors. I was always perplexed by it- did they just not know what they were doing, or were they trying to make it 'technically NOT Bert & Ernie and Big Bird.' I'll have to find it and scan it.

Jesika said...

Emo Nemo made me laugh...

This Nemo looks like he's stoned...

http://www.absolutefun.co.za/gallery/products/Cakes/Nemo%20Cake.JPG



Love this blog!! You guys rock!

Ekio Locatiare said...

Jesika, that nemo is so zoned, it's hilarious!

Oh my, that Thomas is Mad!

I loved these cakes, my toddlers did too, as they are big fans of just about every character in the post. I will admit it took them a few min to figure out that it was Pooh there. ^-^

Off to see if I can make an Emo Nemo *chuckles*

Rose Brier Studio said...

I do so love Loco Larry! As a librarian, I'm aware the copyright commandos are gonna get us all. But I think Larry's baker is safe!

really too funny!!!

Renee said...

Sarah Jayn I feel the same way. I Was laughing so hard before I got to the Superman Cake...This was my first time back to the blog in a while and now I'm pretty sad.

SarahJayn said...

I know, Renee! I had the same reaction. It was the first time I was like, "Wow, that's really not cool." I feel like a line was not only crossed - it was leapt over. So sad to be disappointed!

Anonymous said...

I laughed a lot, but I think changing superman's skin tone to match your child's is actually very sweet. The commentary struck me as being racist.
It's a shame, because I usually love your blog.

Nulono said...

How are those cars in any way Hispanic?

Erin said...

Oh, I remember the tin for the Winnie the Pooh cake! My mom has one, and made me a few cakes with it. I seem to remember them looking a lot better than this wreck, though...

readinground said...

I don't think the comment about Super Sam was meant the way it came across- before I read the comment, the first thing I thought when I saw it was, his hands are in his pants!

SarahJayn said...

I think they were still pretty racist - hands in pants or not. I think its a little interesting that no comment has been made by the admin. I've been a fan of cake wrecks for a while and I've seen them comment on things before. I guess being racially insensitive doesn't qualify as a reason for an apology, though.

Michelle said...

I love how the Cars one looks so horrible, but they paid so much attention to detail and even included the Rusteze logo on Lightning McQueen's hood...

Wendy H. said...

My 5 year old saw the Thomas the train cake and made me go back up the page to ask me "what happened?" to thomas! LOL

Anonymous said...

I'm going to reiterate that the racist comment was still unnecessary a year later.

john (the hubby of Jen) said...

Huh,

I guess I never realized this was an issue at the time. Well, please allow me to explain the Superman comments. The first comment was reflecting what I had thought was a common term when two brothers looked different. Nothing inherently wrong with that. It is an interesting point though. Would it be racist to point out a difference in color if say, Michael Jordan was portrayed as white?

The second comment was aimed at the fact that this particular Superman cake template seems to show him with his hands down the front of his pants. That's all.

I am truly sorry that you were offended by something that was not meant to be.

Have a fantastic day!

john

Anonymous said...

I'm going to ask again what was never answered- How are those cars Spanish in any way? I'm just not seeing it. They just look poorly done.

Anonymous said...

To the previous poster:

I think the point is not that they are obviously Spanish in some way, but that if we can pretend they aren't the original Pixar characters--but rather some foreign completely-original creation!--we can escape legal problems re: licensing. Jen could have just as easily turned them into French-speaking or Japanese-speaking. Or Australian-speaking, but then the point might have been even harder for some to get!

Haiku Joy said...

Loco Larry mad.
Why Loco Larry mad, Mom?
Loco rimmed in pink.