Here is an article my friend wrote back in August about the issues. An update article is scheduled to come soon. http://www.ipbrief.net/2010/08/21/copyrights-and-the-fashion-industry-a-love-hate-relationship/
There's also a great scene I'm reminded of in The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep explains to Anne Hathaway how the ugly blue sweater she is wearing is not in fact ignoring fashion, but has been influenced from high fashion and the imitation and competition and inspiration, and has trickled down to the department store sale rack eventually, and how the whole industry is connected and structured. I think that a lot of people would recognize the importance of imitation and competition and options in fashion, especially students who can only afford knock-offs, or who deliberately want to be independent or ironically counter-culture, etc. I agree that a bill based on wrongfully-placed rhetorics of misappropriation and plagiarism is using IP-like protection in a way it is undeserved, and unproductive for society. Classic examples from important historical property cases: INS v. AP, 248 U.S. 215 (1918). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_News_Service_v._Associated_Press Cheney Bros. v. Doris Silk Corp., 35 F.2d 279 (2d Cir. 1929). http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/linking/doctrine/cheney.html On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 9:04 AM, Rob Myers <[email protected]> wrote: > On 12/12/10 05:56, Ben Finney wrote: > >> >> It depends what you mean by “style”. >> > > Clothing designs. > > The economic and cultural evidence is that fashion thrives because of, not > despite, the absence of state-granted monopolies on designs... > > - Rob. > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss > FAQ: http://wiki.freeculture.org/Fc-discuss > -- Ali Sternburg [email protected] Harvard College, Class of 2009 American University Washington College of Law, J.D. Candidate Class of 2012 Intellectual Property Law Society, President Intellectual Property Brief, Senior Marketing Manager
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss FAQ: http://wiki.freeculture.org/Fc-discuss
