Church, mafia, university: everyone takes a cut, and there are fewer people to actually create (some will rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen).

According to the Daily Mail, a popular Manhattan housewares store has been forced to pay 8 per cent in royalties to New York City on all sales of its new Health Grade merchandise.

The city’s Health Department called Fishs Eddy ‘immediately’ after the line of trays and towels were launched, which are based on the city’s infamous restaurant letter grades.

‘They didn’t threaten us, but they made it clear we should be working with them,’ Fishs Eddy owner Julie Gaines told the New York Daily News. ‘I wasn’t seeking the collaboration. But people love the trays.’

The ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade items, priced at $9.95 to $16.95, are inspired by the restaurant letter grades instituted under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.