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With the launch of The Super Mario Brothers Movie recently, I thought it would be a great time to talk about making and selling Super Mario Brothers products in your craft business.
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Can You Legally Make and Sell Super Mario Brothers Products?
You cannot make and sell Super Mario Brothers products without a license/permission from Nintendo.
Those selling products without a license are breaking copyright and trademark laws.
If you are interested, Nintendo offers a long FAQ document about intellectual property on their website.
How to Get Licensed Through Nintendo to Sell Super Mario Brothers Products
Unlike other large corporations, Nintendo doesn’t have a lot of information online regarding obtaining licensing to use Nintendo’s popular characters.
The only mention I could find for licensing information is located on the bottom of this page on Nintendo’s website. The link directs you to email outboundlicensing@noa.nintendo.com.
Additionally, if you are looking to develop games for Nintendo, visit their Developer Portal.
What About the Super Mario Brothers SVG Cut Files Bring Sold with Commercial Use?
At the time of writing this article, there are over 17,000 Mario Brothers SVG cut files available on Etsy. Many of them include commercial use.
Unfortunately, I’d guess that most (likely, all!) of them are being sold without a license from Nintendo. I’d strongly suggest you ask the SVG creator for a copy of their license with Nintendo before purchasing and using the SVG files.
I go into depth in this article about why buying an SVG file with commercial use doesn’t always give you commercial use rights.
How You Can Recognize Licensed Nintendo Products
Licensed Nintendo products display a seal on them. Images of the seal are available on Nintendo’s website.
How to Report Infringements to Nintendo
Nintendo shares multiple email addresses on their website to report infringements.
Content Creator Guidelines for Using Nintendo Game Content
If you are a content creator who wishes to stream game play or use in game images from Nintendo games, you’ll want to follow Nintendo’s guidelines.
Don’t forget: Cutting for Business has more information on trademarks and copyrights.
Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available through the Design with Me series.