being intelligent property lawyers, our office ofttimes receives calls from young enterprisers asking us to copyright their latest fashion design. Sadly, we tell them that copyright does not offer the shelter they seek and, in point of fact, they will have to enter the market place with the expectation that their designs, whether or not well enough, will inspire “knock off” copies.
this state of affairs may adjust, nonetheless, should the design piracy prohibition act (h. R. 2196) become law. The bill, which was introduced in april by william (bill) delahunt, u. S. Representative, massachusetts 10th district, offers copyright shelter to fashion designs broadly determined as costume, handbags, duffel bags, tote bags, and eyeglass frames.
the proposed legislation amends chapter 13 of the copyright act, which offers design shelter to a single category of useful articles, the design of boat hulls. Below current law, fashion designs are deemed “useful articles,” defined by the copyright act as “an article having an intrinsic utilitarian function that is not merely to portray the aspect of the article or to convey information. ” 17 u. S. C.
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