ElleWoodsHerself's Profile
- Fashion Undergrad - Now a Law student - focusing in Intellectual Property - with a focus in Fashion and Apparel Industries - Working in the legal department for the words largest clothing company. I will be the Ari Gold of the Apparel Industry.
Entry: Adventures in Copyrights: Phillip Sings the Blues
posted by ElleWoodsHerself
Apr 30, 2008 1:11AM
"In a decade plenty of girls who started out by shopping in their stores will either marry well or earn money of their own, and then they'll drop cash on the real deal."
1. I'm seriously appalled that you put "will marry well" before "will earn money of their own." Is this what 16 year olds think now? As a law school student I'm not exposed to kids except on the subway - I'm hoping that is a view exclusive "small towns."
2. I do not see a connection between buying a rip off of a designer piece and **gag** marrying well or making money later and buying the real thing. Stay informed about fashion on sites like this and print media. If you keep buying the knock offs, the designers aren't going to be around by the time you marry for money. Then what? F21 will also be out of business, because they wont have anyone to copy from. (And, G-d forbid you'd have to be inventive on your own).... Do I think that F21 crap is a market replacement for designer goods? No. A person who can afford Phillip Lim is not going to F21. BUT, that isn't to say that the designer image is not seriously cheapened. What keeps designers from throwing up their hands in disgust upon seeing these knock offs in the store windows of Wisconsin? After research, hundreds of hours on design, investments in technology and fine fabrics... to see some 16 year old wearing your design to a football game in the middle of Arkansas.
3. Lastly, in response to the argument that fashion should be accessible....Did you ever think about buying a sewing machine and making it yourself? You wouldn't be supporting the morally repugnant operation that is F21 and you might actually learn something about your own personal fashion and **gasp** spark some creativity within yourself. It may seem archaic to you, but it shouldn't, since your views on women don't seem to be modern in the least.
Entry: Adventures in Copyright: Forever 21 Digs Deeper
posted by ElleWoodsHerself
Apr 12, 2008 6:23PM
Regarding your post questioning if common designs qualify for copyright protection and therefore are able to be infringed upon.... it depends.
To establish that copyright infringement occurred, the plaintiff - in this case Marni - would have to prove that (1)they owned a valid copyright and (2) that F21 copied portions of the copyrighted work that were original.
If Marni DOES own a copyright for the bag, that copyright certificate creates REBUTABLE prima facie (self proving) evidence of the work's (the purse's) copyrightability (yes, that's a word).
Copyrightability depends on a number of elements, but a primary element is originality. Originality refers to originality in the creator and does not require anything more than minimal creativity. One case says that any amount of creativity will suffice, “no matter how crude, humble or obvious it might be." (Feist)
So... if Marni really sued F21, I'm sure F21 would say that they don't have a valid copyright, for exactly the reason you were saying, that it has all been done before. But, Marni would likely show some element of its bag that makes it distinguishable from the 60's bag.
Even if the court found that infringement occured, F21 could claim that their use was protected by the fair use doctrine - which could be construed to touch on the points that you have talked about, like allowing people of all incomes the access to the art.
Over all, the copyright act is meant to protect unauthorized use of original, copyrighted works WITHOUT stifling others who wish to create similar works without direct copying.
The outcome of these cases, and the determination if the work is sufficiently original to garner copyright protection, depends on the judge.
...and yeah. I say boycott f21. Their disregard for the time, money, technological investment and talent that goes into these original designs makes them deplorable, and supporting that kind of behavior financially is not something I'm willing to do.