Week 8 (PS Lvl 5) Copyright issues affecting designers

Our latest uni lecture has opened my eyes to the many issues regarding copyright for designers. I now think we need all need to become more aware of how easily our designs can be taken and manipulated or copied exactly. I for one, was not aware of how much this actually goes on, and by the end of the lecture I realised I didn't know much about how copyright and intellectual property rights affect designers/makers.

I've found the whole topic very interesting so I thought I'd share an example after the research I've been doing, as It's definitely made me more aware, and I'm hoping raising the issue will make others think twice about protecting their work...


Forever 21 v Diane von Furstenberg

http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/best/designer-lawsuits-614883-7#slide-7

Furstenberg sued Forever 21 in 2007, for copyright infringement of five of her dresses. Forever 21 were permanently stopped from copying any of her designs.


After researching into Copyright issues that other designers have experienced in the past, including the likes of Rachael Taylor and M&S using her design without permission, and Zara using images of bloggers photos on there clothing, I'm going to be more careful in the future about protecting my own work and about the images of work I put on my blog.

After last weeks lecture, I am interested in setting up my own tradeshow after graduation, so copyrighting my work will be something i definitely need to take into account.