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Copyright 2006
Cornell University.
All rights reserved.

 

Copyrights

Copyright law protects 2D textile designs.

Copyrights protect authorship or expression of a new idea but not the idea itself. The most common use of copyright law is in book and journal publication and web pages.

You do not have to register a copyright, although that's certainly recommended for high value intellectual property. In many cases it's enough just to print a copyright statement or the © symbol on your work. In 1998 the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act extended copyright protection in the U.S. by 20 years to a total of 70 years plus the life of the author.

In 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the longer copyright protections for companies such as Disney to protect the use of Mickey Mouse, a very well-known copyright. Currently, trademark protection is more often sought than copyrights to protect logo-like symbols or pictures. One major explanation is that trademarks have no expiration date.

Copyright law in the United States has been used to protect 2-D textile designs, especially printed, woven, and embroidered designs. It is a common practice for artists to sell their artwork to fabric companies, home furnishing houses, and apparel designers for use on products. The sale can be for the design and its modification through stylizing, developing for repeats, and color changes. In most cases, the artist retains the copyright on the original design. Another option used by manufacturers is to purchase the artwork and the copyright, a more costly and less common practice.


Brush photo
"It's very difficult to take [copyright infringement] to court and actually have a trial. So the idea is to let them know that we're watching and we want them to stop."

Diane Brush, formerly of Garnet Hill, discusses copyright protection for art work purchased for textile and apparel prints and how Garnet Hill chooses to handle blatant cases of copyright infringement.

 

 

3-D apparel designs are not covered by copyright registration in the U.S. Indeed, it is very common for apparel designs to be "knocked-off" or copied within a few days or a week of store entry. This is especially true for designer labels that carry a special value because of the designer's talent or name recognition.

Designers that contract with clients for design work keep separate:

  • their work that is copyrighted,
  • and their work that is owned in full by the client.
This has become an important distinction as web-based design and technologies have evolved. It is now very easy to copy a design, reproduce it in another medium, and modify it on a personal computer. Copyrights protect the rights of the designer from having their work copied unscrupulously or maligned to negatively affect the designer's reputation.


Demarest photo
"You can do design work that you still own and you can work for hire and then you're giving up the rights to it. ."

Nate and Noah Demarest explain how they separate design work that they copyright from design work done for clients that the clients own and will use multiple times, such as logos or web site graphics.

 

Copyrights are easy to establish, but, as with other IP protection, are not easily defended. Many consider the copyright symbol © as a visible sign of ownership that is the best deterrent to unlawful copying. Filing a law suit is a last resort as it can be costly and may not resolve the situation in a timely manner.

 

 

 

 
   
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