What People Think
 |
 |
29% For, 71% Against
Take Action
| Vote on this Bill | |
  |
For |
  |
Against |
| Speak Out | |
  |
Comment on this Bill |
  |
Alert Your Friends and Colleagues |
  |
Write Your Representative in Congress |
| Save & Share | |
 |
del.icio.us |
 |
Digg |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Yahoo! |
H.R. 2196, The Design Piracy Prohibition Act
Revision History 
Below is the revision history of this article.
(Learn how to edit the WashingtonWatch.com wiki.)
(Latest | Earliest)
To look at a past version, click on its date. To compare any two versions, select their radio buttons and click on "Compare Selected Versions." To compare a past version with the current version, click on (cur). To compare a version with the preceding version, click on (last).
Learn More
RSS Feeds for This Bill
Keep yourself updated on user contributions and debates about this bill! (Learn more about RSS.)
Visitor Comments
palmer manetti gaget
May 14, 2009, 10:07am (report abuse)please do not let the piracy continue. france will not tolerate it and neither should we!
fashwriter
May 14, 2009, 1:32pm (report abuse)As a fashion journalist I feel very passionately that American designers should be extended the same protection as French designers. I invite our local representatives to tour Canal Street in NY sometime, undercover, and see how rampant the abuse is, and then investigate whom the source of these sales ultimately fund. In a time when American-made should really mean something, our US representatives should care equally passionately about stopping this practice. Counterfeiters are laughing at our laws, please do something to stop them.
Mickael Casol
May 14, 2009, 2:55pm (report abuse)Very true fashwriter. Counterfeiters don't add value to the American Economy nor the Human evolution in terms of design and creativity.
Mickael Casol
CEO
MARYSECASOL.COM
Tony Maldonado
May 15, 2009, 1:02am (report abuse)I feel the same way about abuses and fashion designers Bill of Rights. Everything else under the sun is protected and I feel that designers espeically new designers should have a the same Bill of Rights for the protection of their copyrights as anyone else would. Union label is just that to be protected under the Union label and we've had that protection for seamstresses and Suitmakers for years.
Eric H
May 17, 2009, 9:38am (report abuse)I'm sorry, but this is nonsense on stilts. First of all, note that this law protects designs, not branding. Fashwriter, the things you talk about are ALREADY ILLEGAL UNDER EXISTING LAW, which are not enforced.
Second, THIS LAW DOES NOT ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES. But it will put independent designers out of business. Stop and ask yourself a few questions:
1) Who is more likely to have access to the necessary patent attorneys, independents or big designers? You are going to need lawyers to do patent searches and to enforce claims.
2) Given that anyone in the supply chain can be sued for infringement, will you be able to hire pattern makers, cutters, etc.? Only if you can prove that you already own the design.
The biggest supporter of this law is knockoff artist Diane von Furstenberg, who recently got caught knocking off a Mercy jacket design.
This law will protect the big guys, squash what little innovation there is, and wreck US apparel manufacturing.
Eric H
May 17, 2009, 9:51am (report abuse)And another thing ...
This is going to lead to patent trolls, the same way patents have in every other field. A patent troll is someone who patents all possible variations on a design theme simply so that they can control market share or set themselves up to be able to threaten potential market entrants with litigation and corner them into lucrative settlements.
Yes, the high end French fashion industry has protection. Have you ever noticed how much attention French fashion shows receive? Do you know why? It's because as soon as the show is over, designers in the US are pouring over photos so they can knock them off. The industry thrives on copying, but mostly by copying the high end, not the low end. This law -- and people offering their support -- is advertised as helping the little guy, but it will actually help the big guy, who will go on knocking off the designs of the little guy because they can't defend themselves.
Ephraim R
May 18, 2009, 6:01pm (report abuse)Eric H. I agree with you whole heartedly. Let's get rid of this bill once and for all
S Wong
June 1, 2009, 1:15pm (report abuse)I agree with Eric - this statement sums u the whole - "This law will protect the big guys, squash what little innovation there is"
How can a young designer even get a start if they have to finance a team of lawyers to protect them?
Let's first enforce the laws as they stand and then, if we find we must, move on to law that is equal to all, not just the large companies
Church
June 8, 2009, 3:27pm (report abuse)Fashion is nothing but "piracy" from one era to another. Lock them up, and the big firms will be able to go on, but nobody else will.
The Buzz Saw
June 8, 2009, 3:27pm (report abuse)The problem with copyright/patent protection of designs is that it effectively admits that there is no value in being first to market, using the finest quality materials, and building reputation as the key innovator. Is your design really so simple that it can be replicated by competition and sold at a discount? Or are you refusing to admit that you will not sell a cheaper version by not using gold-plated zippers?
You know who buys the "pirated" versions? POOR PEOPLE. They're none of your concern. Stop acting greedy.
I oppose this act. You make plenty of money by continually innovating. I refuse to support anymore government-backed welfare systems that pay artists repeatedly for work they did ONCE.
Chris 4141
June 8, 2009, 3:52pm (report abuse)This will be great... nothing will push the fashion industry into obscurity than a bill like this. Big industries will standardize fashion, the little guys will stay on the sidelines for fear of being sued. As for me, I think it will be great. I hate having to think about my clothes, and would like to even the playing field (i.e. remove choice so that no one can think about there clothes). This way I won't be percieved as such a bad dresser... cause I will look like everyone else!
Austin Guy
June 8, 2009, 3:57pm (report abuse)Patents last for 20 years from filing, and copyrights last for as much as 120 years.
What fashion design needs that kind of protection? I know women that wouldn't wear anything from the 70's or 80's.
What has changed?
Nothing. Leave it alone.
jeverettk
June 8, 2009, 4:21pm (report abuse)Our global economy is buckling under the weight of market inefficiency in software, entertainment, and books as it is. We simply cannot afford to grant copyrights (read: subsidized monopolies) to yet another industry.
Aside from that ALL art is a combination of repetition and variation. There is no meaning without convention, and there is no art without copying. All innovation is a by-product of copying.
Please stop this horrible trend before we all become the subjects of our own corporations.
DavidN
June 8, 2009, 4:38pm (report abuse)I have to admit that I agree that this is an unnecessary law that will actually damage the industry that it is supposed to be designed to protect.
Fashion-Incubator.com
June 9, 2009, 10:07am (report abuse)French designers aren't protected from US firms who've copied them for 100 years. Besides, what of US designers who copy foreign designers? 3 recent examples; DVF copied Mercy http://bit.ly/K3Mf2, Gap copied Wildhagen and Free People copied Complex Geometries http://bit.ly/aCWQk. How is this fair? Or are you saying the US is so great we have the right to knock off but others shouldn't dare do it to us?
Canal street vending is already illegal because it's piracy. If counterfeiters laugh at us, it's because We don't enforce laws we have NOW. If french designers can't enforce their law against us, how can we enforce DPPA if pirates are offshore? Existing law can confiscate pirated goods and arrests the seller. With DPPA, stores across the US -from Penney's to Dillards- won't risk going to jail so they will demand proof of registration. Independents can't afford $200+ to register each design. Rather than protecting design innovation, this law will PREVENT it.
JMP
June 9, 2009, 11:03am (report abuse)This law will prevent thousands of independant designers, small businesses, independent sewers and stay at home moms from sewing anything that might resemble a dress, skirt or pair of slacks. There are only so many ways you can make a wrap around skirt. Who gets dibs on the first design?
As much as I appreciate designers and their creativity, adding buttons and bows to a dress or choosing cotton rather than silk might make a garment unique but it's still a dress. The next time Vera Wang designs a pair of slacks she will be in violation of the law. Style and fashion has been around for thousands of years. There is not a person on this planet who designed the first skirt, hat, coat, dress or pair of slacks.
This law is self serving to a few high end designers and will put thousands of people out of business or at best make them criminals.
AME
June 10, 2009, 7:36pm (report abuse)This will RUIN us small businesses!!! This won't help the economy, it will make it worse. I see something similar to what happened during the prohibition acts, happeneing again. Good going America. Way to step it up a notch.. *hangs head in disgust*
AME
June 10, 2009, 7:37pm (report abuse)Also, if you do not want to see this bill passed, please go to this site ( http://www.petitiononline.com/hr2196/ ) and sign the petition!!! and sent that link to everyone you know!
christina121
August 3, 2009, 8:50am (report abuse)if this law is allowed, well clothes will become expensive for every one because the top noch pips who can afford copyright can place what ever price they want cuz they are the only ones who have it, the reason why an average person can afford expensive designers clothing is because those designers out the price down knowing the clothes can be found else where in a cheaper price. there will be no competition with this law allowed. i wonder who even brought it up? please if you know, mention. thanks.