LA Times on the Design Piracy Prohibition Act

This weekend's LA Times has an article about the ongoing debate inside the fashion industry on the Design Piracy Prohibition Act, currently pending on the Senate floor. The article presents both sides of the case - whether the bill, if it became a law, would restrict or protect a designer's creative control - with Diane von Furstenberg and the CFDA on one hand, and Allen Schwartz and Forever 21 on the other. Citing ideas outlined in the "Piracy Paradox" argument presented by Professors Kal Raustiala and Christopher Springman, those who are skeptical about the bill say:

• Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association: "[pattern marking is] a craft, not an art. There is only so much you can do with a silhouette, a collar, a drape. For the little designers who have that one great idea and it's knocked off -- well, welcome to the real world, guys. Make another one." Metchek also cited the potential for more than one designer to conjure up a nearly identical idea within a small window of time. "Then they end up suing each other, depending on who registered it first," she said. "This is not the way the fashion industry works."
• Ivan Arnold, co-owner of LA-based Tokitoki: "This act is a double-edge sword, because designers think they're going to be able to protect themselves from knock-off artists, but they are going to have to make absolutely sure there is pure, unadulterated originality in everything they do...Wouldn't anyone run afoul of things eventually?"

The following position probably sums up best how I currently feel about it:

• Johnson Hartig, designer and co-founder of Libertine: "I love the bill theoretically, but I don't think it will ever work. I think it's next to impossible to enforce any of this...Some of the biggest designers would be in court every other week for knocking off other people."

So we continue to wait with bated breath...

Image: Courtesy of LA Times.