I emailed the seller of the CD on Ebay before I went to the doctor this morning:

In a forum on a cake site we have been discussing photos of cakes. Can you tell me where you got the pictures for your CD? Did you make the CD? Thanks!

Still no answer when I got home. If I get an answer I will be sure and post it.

Since you did not come across angry or anything...hopefully they will respond back to you.

Is this ironic or what...just today I have someone who would like to order a soccer ball cake on top of a round cake made to look like grass. ROFL!!!!! (I know this thread is long...see original post to understand this post)

That's funny! I really hope that they did not refer to you as "the chef!"

Funny thing. The CD sold but I got no answer from the Ebay seller. I found another one on Ebay and it states that the pictures are from a catalog that his wife uses as a wedding planner. I emailed him and asked if a person could order the cakes from the catalog or would a person have to go through his wife. This one lists for a "buy it now" price of $1 and $4 postage. The first one I found sold for $3.99 with $5.01 postage. Were from different sellers. We'll see if I get an answer to this email.

He also lists a CD of wedding hairstyles and a CD of wedding floral arrangements. Being the snoop that I am I checked out his CD that said Adult only. Duh! Good thing I don't shock easily--it certainly wasn't about cakes!!!!

Why would someone sell cd's of photos from a magazine anyway? Isn't that copyright infringement anyhow to sell photos like that?

Fast answer from this Ebayer:

The pictures are from catalogs and photos from prior events. You can have the cakes made from pretty much any baker or cake shop, just show them the picture of what you want.

Does this answer anyone's curiosity as to where the pics come from. I'd say everyone is being robbed!!

Hmmm shall we say Ebay should get an email?

Not that they would do much about it...unless we had proof that one of the cd's had stolen pix on it.

Even if the catalog or CD stated where they got the pics, they shouldn't be able to print them or copy to a CD without the permission of whoever took the photo. I don't have any photos except on my own computer but it makes me mad that everyone on here or other sites are being taken advantage of. I only dream that I could be good enough to have a website.

Contacting Ebay would probably be a joke. If I did cakes as a professional, I would buy the CD but all I would use it for is to drool and dream I could do that good!! My daughter has me grounded from buying on Ebay anyway Of course, what she doesn't know, won't hurt me. She just thinks she knows everything I do.

Oh ok thanks for the info.

I'm sure she is a reputable caterer by now, its just she had issues with the website two years ago.

My sister did a really neat cake of a camo hat that had fishing lures, etc on it ... it was a groom's cake for her neighor's son's wedding ... watching TV one day, I see a commercial on for a local caterin/wedding company and guess who's cake was on the commercial? My sister's!!! I ran to the phone and called her to tell her ... when she finally saw the commercial again, she told me that was her cake and her table she had decorated for the groom's table... this cater/wedding coordinator company did not have permission nor did she even ask to use the cake and groom's table in her commercial... so I know how you feel... we were just outraged that this woman could take credit for something she had absolutely nothing to do with ... the commercial no longer airs, but we still felt it was very wrong to have this done the way it was

Wow, people are really bold!!!

I just saw on the news that Tiffany COmpany is sueing Ebay for the sell of fake allowing the sale of fake Tiffany items.

I saw on the news also about Tiffany's but how in the world Ebay could control all of that is beyond me. They have millions of buyers and sellers.

Stealing of photos etc. is no different than Wilton's policy about using their copyrighted cake pans. I understand that they do prosecute over sales of character cakes. What amazes me is that they sell them knowing people are going to use them for that very purpose. Kinda like places that sell euphedrine when they know people are buying them to make illegal meth. They're all out for the almighty dollar. Lord! I'm ranting and getting off the subject at hand!

Maybe if a few people who know their photos have been stolen would threaten prosecution some of it would stop but I doubt it. The wonderful world of computers and technology leaves us all at risk for lots of things but what would we do without it!!!!

I think Google images is a great tool but it is VERY easy to take images now because you can find them in five seconds instead of surfing forever.

I know its really easy for me to find graphics now with Google images. Alot of people find my site through it too. Mixed blessing I guess.

I didn't mean that selling Wilton pans on Ebay was illegal. What I was talking about was the fact that we aren't allowed to sell cakes made with copyrighted pans no matter where we buy them.. We can use them for personal use but not sell them. Yes, I buy lots on Ebay--I'm addicted. Have had to slow down for financial reasons--I'm broke.

Bakers by copyrighted pans they mean pans that are shaped like copyrighted characters. Not the basic pans like round, heart, or even the generic animal shapes, as far as I know.

I mean like Mickey Mouse, Sponge Bob, Snoopy, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh, Batman, etc. From what I have read, Disney characters are the most likely to get you in trouble. Most of what I have read about it has been on Cake Central forums. My Wilton instructor was the first to tell me.

I emailed Cake Pans 4 Less:

Can you tell me the legalities of using the patented pans like Disney characters, Warner Bros., etc.? I was told that they must be for personal use and not to be used for baking and decorating cakes for sale. Am I correct

Their answer:

--I'm afraid you are! These companies pay a lot of money for the rights to the different characters. And they want to keep it that way. I guess they don't want others making money off of them. For free! Sometimes you can get written permission from Wilton to show a copywriten product as we did for our free pan instructions section on our web site. As long as we make it free!!
Thanks for asking
Joyce @ Cake Pans 4 Less

Hope this clears up the character pan matter. Guess we got off the forum subject a little.

This has nothing to do with the cake pan discussion, but it does about websites that use other bakers' cake pictures. There is a woman in my area that bought a cake business from someone else. I mean, she bought all the equiptment,the name and the website name. BUT if you go to her website, it's all of the old owner's cakes and bridal comments! I mean, okay, you bought the existing website, but isn't that misrepresentation?? These poor brides are seeing all of these nice cakes and wonderful comments about the owner, and they aren't even hers! I see her all the time at bridal shows too... doesn't have one picture with her - just cupcakes - they're really bad too!! The best is that she doesn't even bake her own cakes... someone else does that because she only wants to decorate. BUT she can't even do that! She bought the business because she's rich and has nothing else to do with her time.... no heart in it at all.

The only good thing about it (and this is really mean).... My ex-friend wanted me to do her wedding cake - all ganache and chocolate - for FREE!!!!! She flipped when I told her it was $450, which was already discounted from my normal prices. I said I would give her a discount...I guess that when you're a Communications and Jounalism major, you don't know the difference between the two words... So she called this woman to do it. Well the day before the wedding, the woman was at the supply shop asking what ganache was and how you use it! That was 4 months ago and I'm still smiling about it! Oh, btw, I dropped my price again down to $350 for my "friend" and this woman told her she would do it for $337. So for a whopping $12 in savings, she got the cake of her dreams (or nightmares....)

Tara

Tara, I had to go back and read your post a second time. I was happy to see you said "ex friend". I would snicker and smurk everytime I saw her. Reckon she regrets what she did yet?

As for the woman who bought the business, it shouldn't take long for word to get around about how bad her cakes are. Word -of -mouth can be the BEST or the WORST advertisement in the world.

Here is the response I received from Wilton:


Thank you for visiting our website! It is not a Wilton policy, but a
general rule about licensed products. Wilton would not personally take
action, but the licensor may (e.g.. Mattel, Disney, etc.). Below is a
copy of the licensed products guidelines. Let us know if you have any
further questions.


LICENSING GUIDELINES ON PRODUCT USE


As a reminder on licensor limitations on the use of our licensed
mold-type products--please note the following guidelines for our
customers.


All licensed characters shaped cake pans, candy molds, Cake Top!(tm)
Edible Cake Decorations, candles, toppers and cookie cutters are for
consumer home use only. Stores/shops cannot make cakes, cookies or
candies from our licensed products and sell them to consumers. These
"mold making items" are strictly prohibited for any type of commercial
use since the licensor has neither the method to control the quality of
the reproduction of the character nor the ability to earn royalties on
sales of the "made" products. This applies to both baked and craft-type
products.


Free-hand or copies character designs cannot be drawn or iced on top of
a cake, cupcakes or cookies and sold for any type of commercial purpose.
Once again, the licensor cannot control the quality and is not earning a
royalty on product created around their characters.


Licensed pans cannot be rented to consumers by stores since, once again,
the licensor is not earning a royalty from the transaction.


Generally, creating any type of image that looks like a licensed
character that is sold for commercial purposes is prohibited unless
there is specific licensing agreement with the licensor for that product
and royalties are paid each time the product is sold.