Please see my Copyright Article in Cover Magazine published today!
The full article is below:
Don’t lose your thread: Copyright, textiles and carpets
Copying is a fascinating and frequently knotty problem that is a significant concern for all creative industries.
It is also a problem that has gathered some pace. The digital age has enabled copyists to thrive, with digital downloads of original artwork taking place at a click of a button that can lead to mass reproduction of that artwork at an alarming speed. The mass production of Pussy Riot T-shirts, apparently without the consent of the band, is an example of this.
Photographers and graphic designers, fashion designers and textile designers are seeing their work plagiarised not just by small outfits but sometimes large high street companies.
As a direct consequence, there is a strong demand for information about copyright law online and there is a growing appetite for practical and effective solutions to this issue. A call to arms from industries to look at ways they can support their designers may be one of the best methods of raising awareness and offering some direction for designers and manufacturers, a first step in this battle against copyright theft.
The legal area of copyright is far from straight forward. Issues that could arise include who created the original work, who owns the copyright, (these two can be separate), where the artistic work was first published and which country’s law apply. This is before you even get to a position of arguing whether or not another person has actually copied your work.
Different national laws may offer different levels of protection and it is important to ascertain which law will provide you with the greatest protection. In the UK, copyright is protected in both domestic and international law. Significantly, you do not need to register your copyright in order for your artwork to be copyright protected, although registering your copyright could help your case in the future.
It may also be very difficult to argue that certain patterns and designs that are commonplace are an original design. Highlighting the problem was a leading case concerning the copying of a Designers Guild’s textile fabric that contained common place objects, a horizontal stripe design with overlaying flowers on it. There was argument over whether the expression of the idea was very similar, although the copy was found to be a copy. The case reinforced the fact that key to any copyright case will be whether a substantial part of the skill and labour of the original designer has been appropriated.
Copyright cases are often complicated as the law no longer quite fits with the modern age of technology. The law is also changing to adapt to the modern age. An example is the proposed changes to the EU directive on orphan works thus allowing certain institutions the right to publish and profit from the artistic work of unknown authors.
It is important to be aware that there are other ways of protecting your designs, such as registering a design. You may also choose to brand your textiles or carpets by using trademarks. Cath Kidston printed fabric provides an example of branded textiles. The fashion industry interestingly seems to look more to EU Community design rights and trademarks as a means of protection to try and protect designs not adequately protected in UK law.
The massive scale of the problem of copying is perhaps most obvious in the fashion industry. Counterfeit goods are sold in most cities of the world. On a practical level, in the UK Trading Standards officers may get involved in your case if it involves a large case of counterfeiting.
Good sources of information are organisations such as ACID, UK Copyright Service or the IPO (Intellectual Property Office.)
Legal cases can be very expensive and protracted, so it best to get proper legal advice at the earliest stages to really help your business. Whether you are a designer or manufacturer it is clear that copyright problems are on the increase but there are ways that you can protect yourself through registering your copyright, design or trademark.
An industry led campaign may also help protect designers in the long run, most importantly by explaining to the public that buying copies not only damages design led industries, it financially hurts UK’s creative talent. Why buy a rip off when the art lies in the original design?
Jessica Franses