Copy Cat: Copyright Law In The Canadian Fashion Industry
Posted 6:55 PM by Media, structure and Policy. in
The fashion industry is one where it is hard to avoid copy cat. Each designers work seems to build off another, and often it is done without attribution or consequence. This is not only how trends are created, but also how knock offs are produced, as well as, how mass producers get designs. Before you continue this entry please read the following quote from the film The Devil Wears Prada. Please note I did attempt to find a video of this speech but was unsuccessful.
Miranda Priestly says “You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.”
I did not make read that to sell you on quote the fact that The Devil Wears Prada is a fantastic movie about fashion, but instead bring to your attention the issues of mimicking in the fashion industry, otherwise known as copying. As Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep so brilliantly explains fashion houses like Oscar De La Renta and Yves St Laurent will create something that is later filtered down until it becomes available to the masses. In this example it is just a color that designers are copying from one another, but sometimes it is more than just that. Sometimes designers copy entire designs from one another. So this got me wondering if there were copyright laws within the Canadian fashion industry, like there are in other creative industries like music.
I found that in Canada there is a constant battle for fashion designers to get increased intellectual property protection. Under Canada’s current Copyright Act designers of mass-produced cloth receive full protection, but designers of mass-produced clothing do not. When designers first create their look it is protected under copyright as an artistic work, however, the issue arises when it reproduced in mass quantities for sale.
Section 64, of the Copyright Act states that when designs are applied to a useful article and replicated 50 times or more, copyright laws no longer apply. Essentially this means that mass produced clothing is free to be copied by anyone and everyone. A “useful article” is defined as anything made by hand, tool, or machine that has a utilitarian function. Clothing is necessary to keep one warm and protected and therefore is considered useful. Many argue that clothing however should be protected within the Copyright Act because it can be worn based solely the fact that it stylish or attractive, not because it is “useful”. This would qualify it as more of an artistic work, which would qualify it to be protected under copyright law.
There is a catch, howeve,r in subsection 64(3), that states that it “does not apply in respect of the copyright or the moral rights in an artistic work in so far as the work is used as or for: (c) material that has a woven or knitted pattern or that is suitable for piece goods or surface coverings or for making wearing apparel” . This implies that certain characteristics of a piece of clothing is protected under copyright law, however, this law is hard to enforce since it is extremely objective. Essentially if a characteristic is specific to an item of clothing it can be copyrighted.
Clothing can also be protected under the Trademarks Act. This protection however is equally as vague as that of the copyright act. Designers should therefore consider registering their designs under the Industrial Design Act. If they are approved their design will be protected under the act for 10 years. Even this can be difficult for designers since it requires a lot of initiative on their part. In order to obtain industrial design protection an application must be submitted and approved within one year of the design becoming public.
The lack of laws to protect the artistic work of fashion designers in Canada is appalling to me. This further emphasizes the lack of importance and impact the Canadian fashion industry, compared to those of other countries. In France for example fashion is classified as “art” and therefore is capable of copyright protection. This allows designers to be safer from knock offs and being filtered into department stores so easily. Is it not time we gave our fashion industry a little more credit, and instilled a sense of integrity within it.
-Courtney
Miranda Priestly says “You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.”
I did not make read that to sell you on quote the fact that The Devil Wears Prada is a fantastic movie about fashion, but instead bring to your attention the issues of mimicking in the fashion industry, otherwise known as copying. As Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep so brilliantly explains fashion houses like Oscar De La Renta and Yves St Laurent will create something that is later filtered down until it becomes available to the masses. In this example it is just a color that designers are copying from one another, but sometimes it is more than just that. Sometimes designers copy entire designs from one another. So this got me wondering if there were copyright laws within the Canadian fashion industry, like there are in other creative industries like music.
I found that in Canada there is a constant battle for fashion designers to get increased intellectual property protection. Under Canada’s current Copyright Act designers of mass-produced cloth receive full protection, but designers of mass-produced clothing do not. When designers first create their look it is protected under copyright as an artistic work, however, the issue arises when it reproduced in mass quantities for sale.
Section 64, of the Copyright Act states that when designs are applied to a useful article and replicated 50 times or more, copyright laws no longer apply. Essentially this means that mass produced clothing is free to be copied by anyone and everyone. A “useful article” is defined as anything made by hand, tool, or machine that has a utilitarian function. Clothing is necessary to keep one warm and protected and therefore is considered useful. Many argue that clothing however should be protected within the Copyright Act because it can be worn based solely the fact that it stylish or attractive, not because it is “useful”. This would qualify it as more of an artistic work, which would qualify it to be protected under copyright law.
There is a catch, howeve,r in subsection 64(3), that states that it “does not apply in respect of the copyright or the moral rights in an artistic work in so far as the work is used as or for: (c) material that has a woven or knitted pattern or that is suitable for piece goods or surface coverings or for making wearing apparel” . This implies that certain characteristics of a piece of clothing is protected under copyright law, however, this law is hard to enforce since it is extremely objective. Essentially if a characteristic is specific to an item of clothing it can be copyrighted.
Clothing can also be protected under the Trademarks Act. This protection however is equally as vague as that of the copyright act. Designers should therefore consider registering their designs under the Industrial Design Act. If they are approved their design will be protected under the act for 10 years. Even this can be difficult for designers since it requires a lot of initiative on their part. In order to obtain industrial design protection an application must be submitted and approved within one year of the design becoming public.
The lack of laws to protect the artistic work of fashion designers in Canada is appalling to me. This further emphasizes the lack of importance and impact the Canadian fashion industry, compared to those of other countries. In France for example fashion is classified as “art” and therefore is capable of copyright protection. This allows designers to be safer from knock offs and being filtered into department stores so easily. Is it not time we gave our fashion industry a little more credit, and instilled a sense of integrity within it.
-Courtney
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