Licensing

[ThinkAgainAgain]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed at some point-

Are licenses needed to do wood cutouts of popular characters - Disney, dreamworks, lucas etc....

I looked on etsy for cutouts and saw a bunch for sale. I was considering making some for sale also, but was curious on the loophole for licensing their copyright protections...

Thanks for any advice,
~Sean

[Jerry-Rigs]

Copyright law is complex and allows for "derivative works" and "fair use" but without more details, what you are talking about is very likely illegal.
The "loophole" is that for large owners of copyrights, it is not worth it from a monetary or goodwill point of view to pursue every infringement. Etsy falls in the first category, home displays fall in the second category.

[akareaper]

I used to have a party rental company, and still do safety consulting in that industry as a second job. I keep in touch with dozens of manufacturers. This question comes up a lot with various licensed items. So, here is the explanation. If you create anything that is licensed, Mickey, Storm Trooper, etc, and sell it, legally you must have a licensing agreement and pay royalties to the copyright holder. If you make something for personal use, that WILL NOT result in financial gain, you are OK. I know tons of these folks do not have licensing agreements, and chances are you don't get caught, however, if you do, its expensive. One guy printed big banners for moonwalks using Disney themes. Disney went after him, AND the companies using them. My buddy paid 10k in fines just for using them. Law says it must be XX amount different, however in a court of law when evidence is presented, if your version is readily identifiable to the oroginal, you'd probably lose.

[ThinkAgainAgain]

Great - thank you for the explanation(s) - so it's a risk factor and depending on my Willingness to play. Cool! Might stick to Rudolph and Santa! Still working ideas...


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[TomL8345]

My wife and I have a business selling Adult Slush mixes and Pepper Jelly. We were at a 5 day show in Baltimore in early May, and the woman next to us was selling Tee Shirts with Sequined designs. A lot of her designs were pro and college sports team logos. We came in one morning and the Police department was there confiscating her merchandise and waiting for her to arrive. They were putting the shirts in evidence bags and counting the number of "Pro Sports" and "College Sports" logo items they were seizing. I do not know the outcome from this event, but I would certainly recommend EXTREME caution when dealing with Copyright items

[rstehle]

The bottom line on this is that if you are creating cut-outs for your own personal use in a Christmas Display you have nothing to worry about.