It's a pet peeve of mine that so many sellers, specifically digital sellers, are using Licensed Characters in their artwork and making money from them.
A license for such characters is super expensive so I doubt these small time sellers on Etsy are paying the agreement fees. Personally, I'm too chicken to rip off characters like that because knowing my luck, that's when the big companies would decide to go after Etsy sellers for copyright infringement.
You'll notice a lot of sellers put a "disclaimer" stating that they are being paid for the time to put the design elements together and that they do not claim the licensed character as their own. BULLHOCKEY! You're still making money off of a trademarked image. Even if you drew the character yourself, it's likeness is trademarked!
Many other buyers are very careful with their designs and come up with designs from scratch or use royalty free images.
I really hope Etsy starts enforcing copyright more but until then, please do you're part as a buyer and stay away from purchasing trademarked characters, as tempting as it may be. Etsy is a place for handmade and original works, not a million unoriginal purple Disney's Tangled birthday invitations.
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