Archive note: This is a 2017 opinion piece, updated in 2026 to separate creative etiquette from legal advice. Intellectual-property rights depend on the work, the rights involved and the facts; this is not a legal guide.
I really like the iPhone, but my husband's Samsung seems to have a far superior camera. That old comparison was how I first tried to explain what bothers me about copy-cakes: creative work takes time, and asking one maker to reproduce another maker's distinctive design exactly can feel like asking them to skip the creative part entirely.
Copy-Cats & Copy-Cakes
Sending a photo of a cake to a friend or relative for a home-baking attempt is one thing. Commercial copying is where I start getting twitchy—not because every cake design is automatically protected in exactly the same way, but because another maker's photograph or design may involve copyright, registered or unregistered design rights, trade marks or other rights depending on the circumstances.
The UK Intellectual Property Office explains that different intellectual-property rights protect different kinds of creative work. Copyright arises automatically in qualifying original works; design rights can protect aspects of appearance. Whether a particular cake design is legally protected is fact-specific, so I am not going to pretend every copy is a guaranteed lawsuit.
Creative Shortcuts
A distinctive cake does not design itself. Somebody has spent time sketching, testing, arranging proportions, colours and decoration. If another commercial maker receives that photograph and simply reproduces it, they may be avoiding much of the design work while profiting from somebody else's creative labour. Even where the legal position is uncertain, I think the etiquette is pretty clear.
That is why, when a customer sends us another cake maker's work as inspiration, our preference is to understand what they love about it and then change the design enough to create something genuinely ours and genuinely theirs.
Credit Matters
Another problem is attribution. A copied design can be photographed, published or shared without anyone knowing where the original idea came from. Small independent designers are especially vulnerable because the copy may receive more attention than the original.
What If The Original Maker Is Far Away Or Out Of Budget?
Real life is messy. The original baker may be thousands of miles away or unavailable. A customer's budget may differ. Those are perfectly understandable reasons to take an image to another maker. My objection is not to inspiration; it is to pretending somebody else's distinctive design appeared from nowhere.
For example, if someone loves one of our Alice in Wonderland cakes but needs something different, I would rather another baker changed the composition, colours, proportions or details and made something new than traced the design line for line.
Inspiration Is Tremendous, Imitation Is Tedious
We all draw inspiration from each other, from fashion, interiors, art, Instagram and the rest of the world. No creative business is an island. The useful line for us is: take inspiration, give credit where it is due, and add enough of your own thinking that the finished cake belongs to the new brief.
If you are looking for something designed around your own story rather than somebody else's photograph, see our Bespoke Cakes service or our Wedding Cakes.
Lots of love,
Reshmi xoxo
Hi, apart from what you’ve discussed in the blog, there’s also that issue of the client of not being happy with the final outcome after the picture gets shared.
Not very many people realize that’s it’s not just possible to replicate a cake…for so many reasons, e.g., one can’t guess what size is the cake in the pic, no 2 artists can create the same work…in fact sometimes it cannot be possible to replicate one’s own creation!
Loved reading your article! It amazes me how there is so little people in the cake world that seem to care about this issue. The worst thing a client can ask of me is sending me a picture of someone else’s cake and ask me to make on like it. It makes me so sad really. When I started my business I did not have enough pictures of cakes so clients could see my style and what type of work I do so I started drawing my original ideas to show them before making their cakes. Now I think I have shared enough work on my page to make people see what my style is all about and still they keep asking for cakes from other cake designers, it’s insulting really… However I do understand why this happens, it happens because most other cake decorators can only do copycat cakes of ideas they get from pinterest and so clients get used to it and think it’s the normal thing to do to go look from some pictures online and then ask for a copy of the cake they like. Honestly every time I get a message with a picture of someone else’s cake I feel like my work is worthless and want to quit.
I despise cake “designers” who copy others work, makes me sick really. I see so many people being successfull by stealing other ideas, it’s not fair really.
Hi Emma, of course. It’s a fair question and one that I totally am in agreeance with. A few years ago I blogged about just that in one of our most popular blog posts – The Perfect Chocolate Drip Cake Recipe (https://www.angesdesucre.com/blogs/anges-de-sucre/83367940-the-perfect-chocolate-ganache-drip-cake-recipe) and you’ll see that I acknowledge those who have inspired me along the way. When we launch a new design which has been inspired from somewhere we share the source of our inspiration such as our ever popular DeliciouslyStella, Netflix & Chill, and Unicorn Cascade cakes for example. Of course, from then on we inspire ourselves and the skills we pick up get applied to various others so the initial source of inspo becomes less relevant – hope that makes sense and that you can see that I like to strike a good balance on the practice-preaching tightrope of cakes :) x
Hi Lizzie,
Thanks for your comment! I think it’s so important to keep learning, and that only comes from doing and so everyone has to learn from someone else, and like you, my team and I also do similar here we focus on the execution. But the only way we can take pride in it is by applying any new skills to our own ideas and likewise, I love seeing other creators’ takes on anything we could have inspired with. There’s really no joy or pride in copying! Wishing you a very happy new year and lots of great caking xxx
I’m only a hobby baker and sometimes when I’m learning a new skill for example I’m currently learning and playing with piped buttercream flowers,
I like to copy other peoples cakes so that all my concentration is on the execution and I have something to compare my final product to.
However that being said, at one point a couple of years ago my little cakes became quite popular by word of mouth that I had friends of friends asking for birthday cakes and I got so frustrated and annoyed at being sent a picture of a cake and asked to make it, it took all the fun out of the process for me though I understand it from a customers point of view, they see a cake on Pinterest – they want that cake. But for me it never sat right and I stopped accepting any requests where a copy was asked for! I love your cakes and designs and love looking to other cake makers for inspiration but that’s where it should stop. If I want to feel pride in something I’ve created, surely that won’t come from carbon-copying someone else?
You are absolutely right I do understand where you are coming from. Your amazing bakery is known for its gorgeous drip cakes yet I read somewhere that it originated in Australia so just a question here… is there anywhere on your website where you clearly state that you were inspired by them?? (Unbirthday bakery etc) I am sure you were inspired and went on to add your style of course but if you havent stated it anywhere people will think you invented the drip cake ?? I dont know if you understand what I mean, I am not trying to judge or be rude just trying to follow your logic and wondering if you have applied it to your own business ??