Around the holiday season, it seems like there are so many Silhouette Cameo and Cricut crafters making and selling Dr. Seuss themed products. Let’s take a few minutes to talk about trademark infringement and Dr. Seuss handmade products.
Unfortunately, Dr. Seuss designs and quotes are not in the public domain and cannot be used on products for sale without written permission from Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Since Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) passed away in 1991, all licensing agreements are handled though Random House.
I emailed Random House for information about the possibility of at home craft businesses obtaining a license to legally use Dr. Seuss quotes and images in products. I immediately received a generic response that included this statement:
“Please know that Dr. Seuss text, characters, and images are protected by copyright and trademark law and many not be used without the prior written consent of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.”
I also received an email back a few hours later from Jenna Marson, Licensing & Marketing Coordinator that basically stated that Dr. Seuss Enterprises was not currently offering licenses and “due to contractual restrictions with our current licensees who produce items in these categories” they could not discuss requirements to get a license.
In response to Jenna, I asked if Dr. Seuss Enterprises ever offered licenses to small or home based businesses and what the hypothetical requirements would be. My email went unanswered.
If you’d like to reach out to Random House for information on licensing Dr. Seuss properties for your Silhouette or Cricut small business, reach them through this page.
I will continue to update this post if I receive additional information from Random House/Dr. Seuss Enterprises. In the meantime, know that selling handmade Dr. Seuss themed products made with your Silhouette or Cricut is an infringement and is illegal.
Help spread this information on Pinterest by saving the image below to Pinterest:
Note: All images used in the featured image for this article were downloaded from Etsy. This is within copyright guidelines because this post is considered educational material.
Related Posts
How to Deal with Copycats in Your Craft Business
Can you Create Products for Direct Sales Reps?
Can You Legally Make & Sell Peeps Related Products?
Can You Make and Sell Handmade Disney Products?
Understanding Licenses on Cutting Files, Designs, and Fonts
Can You Legally Use Famous Quotes in Your Craft Business?
Hello Christine,
Thanks for keeping us informed about various copyright violations!! Are quotes from Dr Seuss included in the copyright, or is it just images?
Just for fun I searched Etsy for Dr. Seuss and there are over 17,700 products!!! I’m guessing these aren’t all in copyright violation.
Thanks again!
Donna
Dr. Seuss Enterprises has noted this: “Please know that Dr. Seuss text, characters, and images are protected by copyright and trademark law and many not be used without the prior written consent of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.” According to them, this includes text.
I am assuming the same for Disney font, characters, quotes, etc. ?
Here’s the Disney post: https://cuttingforbusiness.com/2015/01/22/trademarks-and-your-cutting-business-can-i-make-and-sell-disney-items/
Hi Christine.
Is this to say that you can use them for yourself but not to sell?
I understood that it would be against copyright to copy for any reason.
Can you confirm this either way please?
Trademarks are always trademarks whether it is personal use or commercial use. When you infringe on a trademark for personal use, it’s unlikely that the company will take any action against you because no money is exchanging hands.