Focus on Business Advice
Protect yourself from being ripped off
Have you ever given much thought to how to protect your intellectual property? In this article, Alia Ali, lawyer at Merali Beedle, outlines how copyright works and what you can do about protecting your unique designs.
W
hen retailers bring out their next big range for their customers, few may give a thought to the hours of work on the tailorʼs dummy with chalk, scissors and thread to give you your next look.
The creative process from thinking about the style, colour and prints of the design to creating the final product is laborious and hugely time-consuming. For independent or freelance designers, selling a design to a large retailer such as Topshop or Asos and watching your work fly off the racks is the end goal, itʼs every designer's dream. However, in many cases, new designers present their ideas to a large retailer only to see a rip off of their design being sold. It is growing increasingly important, in this creative and entrepreneurial age, to know how to protect your intellectual property to ensure that your work isnʼt used without due recognition.
Protected artwork
The British Copyright Council states that original drawings and other graphic works are protected by copyright as artistic works, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The garment that you have designed will also be protected by copyright if it qualifies as a work of artistic craftsmanship. Copyright in artistic works of artistic craftsmanship lasts for the lifetime of the artist/creator plus 70 years. If applied industrially, copyright lasts for 25 years from first marketing.
| 62 | October 2019
However, if the garment does not qualify as a work of artistic craftsmanship, it will be protected (if an original work) under the 1988 Act by design right. This lasts for 10 years from first marketing (with a further five years maximum to cover the previous research and development stages). Copyright and design right arise automatically as soon as work takes some form from which it can be reproduced (including storage in a computer). No action is necessary to establish, secure or maintain copyright, though it is advisable to mark the work (as a warning to others) with the standard copyright formula: © + name of copyright owner + year of creation. There is no cost is involved in this.
Document your artwork
With many of these cases, documentation of your work during the process of making your design is key. Computer storage, hard copies, and back-ups is the best way to protect your designs, work, and livelihood. Fortunately, there is plenty of protection for designs, but ensuring you can prove that the work belongs to you and is yours is crucial. Use dates and effective back-ups to stop your design being ripped off. Within the legal sector and in these cases, advice often states that it is important for the industrial and commercial interests of the fashion industry to develop a suitable design protection/
filing strategy and it is worth keeping the following tips in mind: ● Check prior art as a design is only protectable if it is new and has individual character.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
