As Harlan Ellison once said about Disney, "Nobody fucks with The Mouse." Even if you live in Zagreb, Croatia, the long hand of The Mouse can reach in and change your birthday party plans. That's what several bakers in Zagreb discovered when they received cease-and-desist letters warning them to stop making cakes featuring popular Disney characters from Star Wars, Frozen, and more.

According to Croatian paper Jutarnji, the letters came from a law firm representing the Zagreb chain Fun Cake Factory, which has an exclusive license to make Disney-themed cakes via its partnership with British confectioner Finsbury Food Group. Ana Marcelić, a local Zagreb confectioner who received one of the cease-and-desist letters, told the paper it would be a "huge loss" for her financially and difficult to explain to customers requesting Disney-themed cakes.

Apparently Disney has been cracking down on copyright infringing cakes lately. In September of last year, the company hired a law firm to sue Michigan baker Wilson's Wild Cake Creations for making cakes that featured images of "Darth Vader and son." Julie Triedman notes in American Lawyer that Disney and LucasFilm called for the "seizure of 'any molds, screens, patterns, plates, negatives, machinery or equipment used for making' the offending images." The owners of Wilson's Wild Cake Creations filed for bankruptcy in October. That situation wasn't new. Way back in 1992, Disney threatened two Singapore bakeries with lawsuits unless they stopped making cakes based on Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Bakers also risk lawsuits by using sports team logos on their tasty creations, as one unfortunate cookie-maker discovered when she dared to use the University of Alabama "A" on a batch of graduation treats. She was threatened with a lawsuit by the company that manages licensing for the university. And Hershey recently settled its suit against a Colorado cannabis candy maker who agreed to stop selling a parody Reese's Peanut Butter Cup brand of pot candies.

The culinary copyright problem is so pervasive that a number of confectioners' blogs and business resources warn retailers about the risks and explain how to avoid an infringement lawsuit. But don't worry—if you desperately need a licensed character on your cake or candy, you can contact the IP owners and request a special one-off permission to use the licensed characters for a "personal event." As long as you don't post any pictures of the cake online, you'll be good. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it?