[BigBelly03]

Forgive me if a poll like this has been posted previously here, but I am really curious about this. I notice that most mamas who post here do not want media characters on their children's diapers and clothing, but I also notice another trend--that certain story book characters are acceptable to some mamas and cartoon characters being unacceptable...so please check off the media characters you find acceptable and would purchase diapering items and/or clothing with these images & post a comment on this issue if you are inclined:

(Sorry this was supposed to be a multiple choice poll)

 

[BigBelly03]

I do not want Disney & cartoon-y characters on any diaper or clothing item but I do find the following storybook characters acceptable:
Elsa Beskow & other classic storybook characters
Hello Kitty

:
Curious George
Pat the Bunny
Classic Pooh
Rainbow Fish
Eric Carle images like on the new carter's clothing I find irresistable

 

[PatchyMama]

none of the above, LOL.. not for any reason other than I dont buy from wahms who misuse licensed prints

 

[MiaPia]

I voted "other" simply because I don't like characters of any kind on my kids clothing or diapers. Actually, the only thing either of my kids own with a character is DS's Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas that my mom gave him. He ADORES Thomas, and loves the pjs so much I don't have the heart to protest those!

 

[mamaBlue]

Quote:

none of the above, LOL.. not for any reason other than I dont buy from wahms who misuse licensed prints

I agree. Plus (sorry if this sounds snotty) I think it looks cheap and tacky to put cheesy characters on diapers.

 

[MiaPia]

ignore this...dbl post

 

[Melaniee]

hhmmm....I never thought of them as 'misusing' the prints, but I guess they are. Disney's got enough money and they are criminal in what they do with it these days...so I don't really care, BUT, I'll only buy stuff with Blue's Clues, and rarely at that, because Ds likes it (thanks Dh

: ).

He's just got one cover with it, and one t-shirt. Other than that, we don't really 'do' character clothing. Well...Okay, I have a bunch of eeyore stuff for me.

 

[ChiknGirl]

I don't like character diapers but I will admit to owning some Eric Carle Carters clothing and 1 sleeper with Piglet on it because that is dd's nickname and I couldn't resist. I choose not to purchase character clothing and diapers in the hope I can teach my dd to not want material things "just because" and that less is more. We also don't have tv to try to keep the exposure to a minimum (and cause I hate tv)

That didn't make any sence when I re-read it but I'm too tired to try to edit it... sorry

 

[kasumi]

I don't buy anything with characters on it-toys or clothes/dipes. It just isn't my thing, and we don't watch any TV so the kids wouldn't know who anyone is (and they are too young for Pooh books) and I find most of the character stuff is loud and looks slightly cheap, and the big thing for me is it's dating. Take a picture of a child in a Dora shirt and it will timestamp her forever. Put her in a white shirt and the pic could be from any era.

Okay so maybe that only makes sense to me, but I felt the need to explain since there wasn't a "none" option in the poll.

 

[JesseMomme]

Well I picked Classic Pooh - I really love Classic Pooh stuff and when I had a crib it was all out "Classic Pooh and His Friends" so pretty and so hardly used LOL. Never seen a classic pooh print dipe come to think of it.

I got a veggie tales dipe second hand, and since my toddler has seen a few of the videos, it's his favorite dipe and the easiest to get on him. Same with the Harry Potter dipe I ordered from fmbg, he is wild about Harry. Other than that - I'm not fond of disney pooh, maybe out of asthetics?

: Donovan also likes Sponge Bob and Bob the Builder but that doesnt' make me quite as anxious to run out and by the dipe (clothes) for it. I really go blah when I see marketed characters on clothing.

Now artwork that i have seen on dipes/clothing/etc that I have really liked are, again Classic Pooh, since it is really based on artwork done by...Not A.A. Milne - he had an illustrator there lol. John Lennon stuff where he drew the animals for his kid Sean and a few years ago Yoko released it to be commercially used I really like - I'm formost a Beatles fan so I feel like its a little bit of "rock and roll" on the kids

I also like the emu namae characters on the carter's line too.

 

[MelMel]

I put other cuz I dont like any of that stuff. my kid isnt anyones advertising billboard...and if they were, the stuff should be supplied to ME for FREE, why would I pay for us to advertise for someone?

that said, if I ever saw a Nightmare Before X-mas dipe or cover I would need it immediately.

 

[Jilian]

I checked other, but I do like classic pooh a lot and I'd buy diapes w/classic pooh characters on them. I'm also a big fan of the John Lennon animals and I'd definately buy any diaper with John Lennon animals on it

I had no idea so many mamas were against buying diapers with characters on them....maybe that is why I ended up winning the BBH baby lennon wool aio.....and I thought it was just luck!

 

[famousmockngbrd]

I don't have anything against character clothes on an ethical level, except maybe as an indication that the kid watches too much TV. I just think it looks kind of tacky.

Except Curious George. I would buy Cole a CG t-shirt, especially since he is our little Monkey Boy.

 

[Marco Esquandolas]

I learn something new everytime I come here!! I never realized it was infringement to use characters on diapers or covers, esp if it came from prefabbed fabric-ex/I made a blue's clues diaper for my son out of a recycled bc receiving blanket

:

I think the character prints are cute, but I don't seek them out b/c I like celestial and batik themes and anything fishy. It didn't even occur to me that I could possibly get a wahm in trouble for asking her to make me 'phish' covers, and trust me that I was all over proudly displaying those.

My older ds was really into bc and his g-parents bought him tons of character clothes and jammies and now Ian wears those same clothes for two reasons-1) they fit and 2) he too likes that little blue dog, buh bow.

 

[AmyG]

It's not a misuse of a license if you use the premade material for your own personal use. In fact, it's probably not a misuse of license if you design your own Blue's Clues stuff. (That one can be a bit of a gray area, depending on the situation.) But if a person uses premade material with a licensed character and sells it, it is a misuse. You have to have a license to sell stuff with licensed characters. When you buy material with a Nickelodeon/Disney/etc. character on it, you'll see a statement that it's for personal use only on the selvage.

I also don't buy unlicensed products with licensed characters. I'm a writer, and copyrights and trademarks are very important to me.

 

[penny31]

I wouldn't buy a diaper with any commercial character on it, I don't think UNLESS I happened to see one with Bard from Baby Mozart on it as Eliza LOVES him. She would freak out, LOL. But I would rather have him in a stuffed animal. I agree with the person that says that kind of thing on a diaper cheapens the diaper (IMHO). Plus, from having partially raised 2 stepdaughters, I know there are MANY years ahead of clamoring for the most commercial tacky stuff you can imagine! While I can control what Eliza wears, I am going to pick what I like! I LOVE decorated dipes, though, but I like the appliques to be original works of art, LOL.

BUT - that Lennon one was really cute - Eliza's bedroom is John Lennon Musical Parade, and I love it!

XOXO

 

[allformyboys]

As one son sleeps peacefully on spongebob sheets, with a buzz lightyear blanket, and Veggie Tales PJ's under the other sons bed (that is empty cuz he is at a sleepover) that had Dora sheets on it, and his Clifford blanket over it, and the crib across the room....decked out in elmo and Sesame street stuff, and the baby snoozing nicely in his pooh sleeper... oh and the room is all done in Sesame street stuff.....

LOL gee I don't think I have a problem with the characters do you? Although I do have to say, I don't have any diapers with these things on them, well I have two veggie tales diapers, but I no longer use them. And I don't use the licensed stuff for use in sale, although I have done a 'Blue's Clue's' TYPE soaker, it wasn't the dog, but it was blue and had a paw print on it, I can't imgaine that THAT could be too much of infringment since it is a paw print, which isn't exactly orginal to BC right?

(dancing around it here....) I did contact Nick to see if I could get in trouble, their response was, well not really. LOL Since it doesn't say Blue's Clue's and I didn't advertise it as that (since it was for a friend I didn't advertise it at all) but listed on my site as an example, it does reference BC, but they said that isn't a problem since they didn't make the product? It was all very legal and confusing. LOL anyway shouldn't be a problem at this point anyway!

 

[jmreinke]

Well, I will go against the flow and say that I do like the character prints. They have really helped our diaper changes become more smooth "Do you want to wear the Elmo diaper, or the Hello Kitty one? for example. My dd just loves those diapers (I made my own, and have bought a few).

As far as the misuse of licensed fabric, I used to think this was a misuse to make something and then sell it for profit with this fabric. However, there has been a pretty public case about a person who makes stuff out of these fabric and sells them on eBay. The owners of the licenses have come after her (ie Major League Baseball, Disney, etc) and they ended up settling out of court. So, I'm not sure if that makes it right or not. She still makes her products and sells them on eBay.

I am very curious about this issue because I am gearing up to sell some products and I was hoping to include the "characters", but I don't want to be breaking the laws, or offending people who don't like character prints.

Here is a link to an article about the eBay thing...

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m08/i05/s02

 

[Lifesabeach]

none. I agree with whoever else said it looks cheap and tacky...very

Walmart-ish imo. I have begrudgingly bought GAP stuff with the itty bitty bear on it but that's about it.

there is no way on earth my kids would ever wear themed anything...spider man, Clifford, blues clues...blech. Oh and the plastic light up shoes are the ultimate in disgusting fashion, lol.

 

[PatchyMama]

Quote:

As far as the misuse of licensed fabric, I used to think this was a misuse to make something and then sell it for profit with this fabric. However, there has been a pretty public case about a person who makes stuff out of these fabric and sells them on eBay. The owners of the licenses have come after her (ie Major League Baseball, Disney, etc) and they ended up settling out of court. So, I'm not sure if that makes it right or not. She still makes her products and sells them on eBay. I am very curious about this issue because I am gearing up to sell some products and I was hoping to include the "characters", but I don't want to be breaking the laws, or offending people who don't like character prints. Here is a link to an article about the eBay thing... http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y03/m08/i05/s02

if you really follow that case you will find that disney did NOT give in and say its ok to use their fabric... nor did the ebay sellers actually win the case. What they got was disney agreed to a settlement where they would not harras them anymore about it. That settlement is in reference to those sellers, and those sellers alone... so disney or whoever can still harrass/sue anyone that they want to because it didnt create a precedent of any kind.

So my rule of thumb is if i cant afford the legal battle, im not doing it

But I also agree its tacky to profit off of someone else's intellectual property.