CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Mrša, Lana |
|---|---|
| Title | Copyright Protection of Fashion Designs Customized via Apps in the EU and the US |
| Summary | Copyright grants the authors exclusive right over their original intellectual creations. It has long been accepted that the mentioned intellectual creations entailed literature, visual art, photographs, music, films, plays, choreographies, even architecture. However, in the EU and the US, fashion designs, although sometimes colloquially pegged as “works of art”, rarely enjoyed same copyright protection as the abovementioned list of works. The inconsistency in obtaining protection and, according to designers, often unsatisfactory application of copyright legislation to fashion designs presented issues that are yet to be resolved by copyright regulation. The number and relevance of mentioned issues grows as the fashion industry’s incessant fast-pace development introduces a constant influx of new legal challenges. This is well-shown on the example of the growing popularity of online apps that enable customers to customize their clothes upon purchase. Taking into consideration current copyright regulation in the EU and the US, which are relevant and progressive fashion markets where custom-clothing apps are likely to be embraced, the prospect of copyright over such app-customized goods challenges the basic notions of copyrightability, raising the questions if and how can copyright protection in said jurisdictions extend to app-customized designs, and, finally, should it. The answers to the said questions are pertinent as designers, although acknowledging the relevance of copyright protection, tend to navigate through legal regulation thereof without a clear image of the limits within which they can operate, with the issues becoming exacerbated when the customer becomes a collaborator in the designing process. Also, the unclear limits and the lack of awareness of said limits contribute to the issue of misappropriation of fashion design, which are particularly detrimental to small and unestablished fashion houses or designers. Therefore, by examining relevant legislation, case law and scholarly articles, this thesis will analyze current copyright protection of fashion designs in the EU and the US, evaluating the optimum amount of protection fashion designs should enjoy to preserve incentives for future innovation, as well as address the scope of copyright protection of fashion designs customized via apps; particularly whether such app-customized fashion designs fulfilled the legal criteria necessary for copyright protection in mentioned jurisdictions, especially focusing on the originality requirement and the question of who becomes the author of such works. Furthermore, it will examine whether copyright offers the most effective legal protection for app-customized fashion garments, or would other intellectual property rights, namely trademarks and industrial designs/design patents, be better suited for such task. It will be argued that the EU copyright regime and particularly unregistered industrial design protection, struck a better balance between granting protection of fashion designs and leaving enough space for innovation, while the narrow scope of US copyright protection and a lack of appropriate alternative nurture an environment of idea appropriation that led to frustration of both scholars and the fashion industry, especially of unestablished designers vulnerable to misappropriation of fashion designs by larger or more influential fashion houses. |
| Supervisor | Fernandez de la Mora, Alvaro |
| Department | Legal Studies LLM |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/mrsa_lana.pdf |
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