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The Copyrighting of Clothing

Friday 31st of August 2007 08:25:47 PM

In fashion, most trends in clothing are copied by lower end markets so more people will be able to afford them. While this practice has been going on many years, some in the fashion business want the US government to allow them to place copyright laws on their clothing and accessories so ‘knockoff’ brands cannot sell merchandise that is similar. While the US copyright law does not currently protect items deemed as useful (clothing, shoes, accessories, etc), some fashion designers have complained that since the evolution of the Internet, clothing shown on runways is manufactured so quickly by knockoff brands, that this clothign is available to consumers before the originals.

Placing a copyright on clothing such as T-Shirts, dresses, and other items is almost impossible because there are only so many design choices. Limiting the amount produced is not the answer either. Some in the fashion industry believe that if copyrights were allowed, creativity in the industry would decline as fashion designers frequently get their inspiration from other designers.

Whether T-Shirts and other clothing will receive a three-year copyright or not still remains to be seen because there of the logical arguments both sides have to offer in an industry that is based on how popular clothing items are, how much consumers are willing to pay for them, and how trendy they become.

(c)Margarit Ralev, www.sxc.hu

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