Fashion Industry Fights Imitation

Hi girls, I found this article in the January issue of Harper's Bazaar. Diane von Furstenberg, new President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has made it her mission to help designers protect their precious intellectual property:

"The situation has gotten a bit out of control thanks to the Internet. Pirates can now ship copies of a collection before the designer can show it to buyers. They even boast about it on TV."

Design piracy basically means a counterfeit without a label attached to it. Current American legal protection exists only against counterfeiting and not design piracy. To fight imitation, the CFDA is lobbying Congress to pass the Design Piracy Prohibition Act. The new Act allows designers three months to copyright their design from the moment they are shown publicly. After registration, it will be protected for three years.

I think if this law is passed, it would be a great victory for the toiling, creative minds in the Fashion industry.
Ritu Dhillon