Is Copyright -Backbone of the Fashion Industry?
Copying the designs become a most important part in fashion industry.The USA Fashion industry is currently engrossed in an ongoing issue that arises from the lack of copyright laws.There is a divide for or against copyright laws to protect designs from imitation by fast fashion designers, high-end fashion designers and small emerging designers.
The Costs of Ownership: Why Copyright Protection Will Hurt the Fashion Industry, says that copyright laws a mistake for the fashion industry. According to Blakely, the bill for Copyright laws will negatively impact the industry artistically and economically by limiting innovation and creating monopolies. Copy right laws will create innovation roadblocks as the bill will limit access and use of vintage magazines, and fashion history, which is commonly used for inspiration for new collections .
The basic ideology of any designer small or large is to fit in, hence they imitate other designers, however also stand out amongst the globally large crowd of designers. Designers have a logical sense to not over imitate a design, otherwise they risk the chance of losing their signature brand image. Economically, the greatest risk is the creation of a monopoly industry as direct consequence of copyright laws.
Large designer houses have the deep pockets to fund legal fees for lawsuits, whereas small designers do not the legal budget to fight against lawsuits or to sue other designers for copyright infringement.
The articles also mention collaborations amongst high end designers and fast fashion that diversifies markets for designers. If the bill is in place the bill’s greatest flaw is that it does not have the function to search for designs that are already copyrighted, this creates a huge blind spot for designers. There are countries such as Japan and many European countries, that have successfully established copyright laws in their respective Fashion industries, however these laws are not as strict as the proposed bill for USA.
Over and over again, the courts have decided not to give extra protection to the designers who have complained about fast fashion knock-offs because designers have not been able to demonstrate that it has hurt their business” Blakley. In this quotation, Blakley is saying that only on the behalf of the designers it is not justifiable that copyright should be legal. As a reader I appreciate this when I read this because designers don’t have any solid economic reasons for the protection.
As per my point of view whenever anyone is creating something new they need some reference points. In fact, it is well known that large, high end designers often look for inspiration and current trends while creating new collections. As Blakley states in her article that the fashion industry has flourished for so long without Copyright laws, I agree with her, why change something that is already working positively for every involved. The industry environment right now allows small-scale designers to enter the market, and allows people with small budgets to afford the latest trends and stay in fashion.
“Fashion brands steal design ideas all the time. And it’s completely legal,” published is VOX states that Big fashion brands rip off small brands due to the lack of copyright laws in the USA. Fast fashion companies are constantly copying to bring the latest trends to the market in the shortest amount of time.
These companies do not care for the impact it has on small designers such as M re Soeur, who’s design was copies by Old Navy, however with the help of social media pressure she was able to get the company to pull the design from their website Lieber. This issue also impacts high-end brands such as Gucci, which in 1992 sued a small designer for copyright infringement, which drove the store out of business. Years later Gucci copied the same store’s design in its 2018 cruise collection (Lieber, 2018).
In addition to this copy cats ruin the image of high end designers but creating an association of cheap and low quality, in the consumer’s mind. The copyright laws in USA are outdated and represent the USA Fashion industry that mainly consisted of manufacturers and not fashion houses. There are some ways designers can copyright their product, such as trade dress, however it is too expensive and difficult to obtain for small designers. The government is reluctant to react as the fast fashion industry greatly impact economic growth, if copyright laws are introduced then it halts economic growth. As per the Piracy Paradox, copycats enable innovation in the industry, and therefore copyrights would be bad. The bill would create a hostile industry environment where financially powerful monopolies exist.
Carrie Anne Roberts who is a single-mom that started the company M re Soeur. Lieber interview Roberts and shows how “violating” it feels to have your original work stolen. In this example, Lieber is using pathos to create a sense of sympathy in the reader and draw pity from the reader, and create a reaction in them to move towards Copyright laws. This does create a powerful reaction for a reader, especially since Lieber uses an example of a single mother. A single mother who’s means of making money to provide for her family is jeopardized by a fashion copycat giant. As a reader, I appreciated this because it gives a more sense of reality to the situation, it attracts the reader to the issue and urges them to respond to the issue. However, even though his examples are powerful, he does not convince me because this example can also create a negative reaction amongst readers who do not appreciate their emotions being played with in order to come to a decision.
