Not a cakewalk....

Yesterday I discovered a curious copyright tidbit. The nice lady at the bakery I called to place an order for my son's birthday cake informed me that they could not decorate the cake with Elmo because he was a licensed character and subject to copyright laws. They could, however, place a figurine of Elmo amidst a scene. With my knowledge of copyright laws, battles over Mickey Mouse and other unauthorized use of characters, this should be no surprise to me. On the other hand, we might be going a little far here--I mean, if it's a good cake, it'll be gone in a blink of an eye. Can't we cook up a Fair Use argument for cake and other edible ephemera?

I'm trying to find good web references for this topic (copyright news specifically related to cake decoration) but am not having much luck in a quick search. Any help from my small readership is appreciated.