Hi ..
I wanted to ask you guyz... this is something offer for sale on my website.(although this is one item that hasn't made a sale yet ;)))..
>http://www.wcnet.org/~iloveyou/SEW%20wrong/accesscarebear.htm

do you think I'm allowed to do this cuz of the Care Bears being a copyrighted or TM'ed item?

I thought I could because I bought the molds myself ?

I could easily take these down I guess...I just think they are so cute!

any help would be appreciated!

It's probably fine since you bought the molds and didn't make them. Care Bears Inc. probably wasn't expecting anyone to sell the stuff made from them, however. If you have the original packaging, you might review whatever legal notices that are on the box. Also, check and see what the company has on file with the copyright office. Otherwise, I wouldn't do anything unless they sent a cease and desist notice.

you're OK. <<You will not go to jail or be sued. The worst thing that could happen is you'll get an e-mail asking you to remove the so-called "protected" item from your website.>> Once again, "COPYRIGHT" means you can't COPY images and pass them off as your own original art. You can resell magazines and books and records and cds, crafts you made from a kit, marble magnets made from magazine clippings, etc. because you are not really COPYING the image...
Just don't Mass produce items and you won't encounter any legal problems.

thanks ..both of you for the help ^-^

actually i made pins from magazine clippings and the someone emailed me and asked me to remove them..because it was copyright...
i felt so very stupid because i hadnt really thought anything of it, since it was magazine clippings :( it was very embarrassing

but as for the molds your probably fine :)
they are after all molds to make something..

The deal with using other peoples "artwork", which includes photos, etc from magazines is that you can use it. BUT you have to make it unreconizable as the original piece. It has to be made unique and into something completely different.
I had to learn this in art class because the teachers were huge advocates of using other peoples ideas, and basically stealing thier work...but you have to cover your own butt and make it unreconizable so that it is your own.
I don't know how this applies to those molds. I am sure you are probably fine, so I really wouldn't worry about it unless you get some email from the company.

Yeah, using images is very different from using molds. With molds it is expected that you will make items from them. it would be a different story is she was making molds of trademarked characters and selling them as her own.

I doubt you'd get in trouble, but since these are licensed characters it's still not technically something you're supposed to sell.

For example, if you were to buy a few yards of fabric with Disney characters, or a Winnie the Pooh cross-sticth kit, you could make whatever you want with it for your self or gifts, but you could not make money off of what you made b/c the characters are licensed. Ususally there's fine print on fabrics, molds, kits, rubber stamps, and other items with licensed characters telling you that you can't sell what you've made.

That said, if you're selling on a small scale, you probably won't be noticed by the Care Bear Powers That Be.

<<well, i guess... as an artist you might feel better about just selling your own original artwork/designs... if the care bears aren't selling, maybe you'd be better off removing them from your site or maybe you could ebay them.>>

This doesn't apply to your mold question, but this article is pretty specific about what can and can't be done with things like magazine clippings, etc. It applies to a lot more people than just collage artists.
>http://www.funnystrange.com/copyright/