Intellectual Property and Fashion Design

Abstract

Intellectual Property and Fashion Design is the first and most general of a series of three short works on the relationship between intellectual property and fashion design. The goal of this book chapter is to outline the history of the issue with particular reference to the status of fashion design protection in the United States. The second piece, a long-term work in progress, focuses on the cultural and historical reasons for the limited degree of intellectual property extended in the past to certain categories of human creativity, including fashion design. The third, FIT: Fashion as Information Technology, (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1307735) turns to the question of why - despite shifting cultural attitudes and other conditions - some tension still exists between creators and consumers of fashion, how information theory can contribute to an explanation for that tension, and what role law can play in its resolution. In addition, I explore these questions in a book forthcoming from Yale University Press and a blog, Counterfeit Chic, available at http://www.CounterfeitChic.com.NOTE: Please excuse the appearance of the scan. It's a bit easier on the eyes (though not the environment) if printed.

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