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[Precision]

Perhaps you can help me.

My questions comes from the following information.

First, my friend makes things like hand appliqued shirts and stuffed animals.  These are based on popular kids show characters. They are either drawn by hand, hand painted or appliqued with fabric. The stuffed animals or dolls are cut from fabric and sewn.

So my first question is this, since hers are modified and do not look just like the ones that are used in the kids shows, is this allowed?

We read that as long as the character is modified then it would not be infringement.

My second question is, what about if she listed them for sale and the ad read something like " doll made in the style of " whatever character name". "This is my take on this popular character". "Made to be a look-a-like to "whatever character"".

Is this okay if it reads this way?

I hope that someone can help us. She really is unsure.

We did scan Ebay, etc and see see hundreds of people selling t-shirts with Minnie or Mickey head(ears) on them and they are listed as "custom minnie boutique outfit" or something similar. Of course, Minnie and Mickey are one example. There are countless characters being created from fabric or hand painting, etc and they are for sale on Ebay, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help. It would be greatly appreciated.

[artchain]

It's a popular misconception that, if you modify something by some amount, you are not infringing on the copyright.  This is in general not true.

If it's close enough to be recognizable as the character, you're probably infringing. 

And yes, you see lots of people doing this - but that doesn't mean it's legal, and if your friend is unlucky enough to get caught, it can cost a lot of money.