Update from the control room......

Last week proved successful with the completion of a phone interview with DIds Macdonald, CEO of ACID (Anti Copying in Design). That said I hadn't banked on how difficult a phone interview is to transcribe - it was virtually impossible to get a direct quote that was more than a few words long, so I need to follow up this week with a couple of interview questions via email to get an accurate quote. I still need to chase up the email interview with Johanna Blakley, although I did receive a book on her Ready to Share conference, all the way form California this week! This is making for exciting reading as it is so relevant to my topic. Aside from this I haven't managed to touch the written part of my dissertation at all this week do I need to 'bust out' on it this week in preparation for my tutorial this Thursday. Phone interview with Dids to be transcribed this week, and when I've done so I will post it here for your viewing pleasure!

Check Johanna's Bio out here

http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/about/bio_detail/johanna_blakley

But I've only got one question.........

Ok, so I didn't anticipate it would be so difficult to get the industry big wigs to give me a quote. I've had the data protection act thrown at me amongst others! However, this evening has finally produced a bit of success, thanks to America working on an entirely different time zone - Johnanna Blakley, Deputy Director of The Norman Lear Centre which is a specialist Think Tank associated to the University of Southern California, has agreed to give me an interview, (cue smug grin!)

Word Count 3401

Post Script

2100 words and counting (700 may be on the wrong side of boring)

Research, research, PRIMARY research!

The bulk of my secondary research is now completed, I'm just filling in the odd gap as I reach it during the writing process. Primary research, however, is proving to be a little more difficult. I have randomly collected a trillion names and organisations I would like to contact on my topic, but in my haphazard way I haven't kept them all safe. Tonight has been spent trying to collate them all onto a spreadsheet (antithesis I know). Tomorrow I plan a massive attack on the phone calls/emails to try and secure some primary research. Amongst my list of contacts includes: British Copyright Council, British Fashion Council, Anti Copying in Design, The Fashion and Design Protection Association....................................

New Year, New Term, Energised thinking.....

The last few weeks have seen research ticking over - accessing WestLaw and LexisNexis for key cases and statute information, I've also identified some key organisations tat I would like to speak to in connection to my research: Design and Artists Copyright Society, Anti Copyright in Design, UK Anti Counterfeiting Group, British Copyright Council. Right now I am organising my research into rough chapters before making my contacts for primary research - update to follow!

Marc Jacobs - Suing for pleasure

Google fashion king Marc Jacobs and the lawsuits that pop up are never ending, most recently he has taken on Christian Audigier’s Nervous Tattoo for a rather blatant infringement on his 'scrambed' logo design which appears on his nylon tote bag. That said, the injunction imposed by Jacobs is yet to be granted - what do you think?

The Piracy Paradox

Only 90 pages of notes to trawl through, every case and journal is like reading a small novel!

A couple of other journal titles which I'm trying to get hold of at the moment include:

-There is more than one way to skin a copycat: The emergence of trade dress to combat design piracy of fashion works (1996)
-Crimes of fashion: Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? (2010)
-Pirating the runway: The potential impact of the design piracy prohibition act on fashion retail
-Double edged scissor:Legal protection for fashion design

Coffee Spillage

As the title suggests, yes I did spill an entire mug of coffee over my laptop, yes it has utterly died, yes I have lost everything, no I didn't back it up and finally, yes I have learnt my lesson - I shall wrap my laptop in clingfilm in the future.

Re-researched articles to be posted this week.

'A paperless society', no can do!

Just a quick update on progress, have spent the last few days trawling through Google Scholar for relevant case notes and journals on my topic and there seems to be plenty of it. Will post details of specific case notes and key cases once I have read through the TRILLION print offs I now have - I just cant read these things on a screen.

On a lighter note I am craving some letter stencils. That's all.

Post Script

Also, I have just applied for my British Library's reader pass online so will be hot-footing it to central tomorrow to collect it!

Oh, and I shall be reading a 'tomb' on the way there just so that I can pretend to be a clever clogs (I doubt very much that I am the only one that does this......)

The Big Smoke versus The Big Apple

So research is progressing, today I felt like I had really started to get to grips with my topic which is a good place to start! In an effort to avoid picking up the absolute tombs on Intellectual Property blah blah blah that my newly accredited 'Bachelor of Law' sister has lent me (super proud, I've been cyber space researching.
There is so much garbage to sort through, research is clearly going to take its time, but I enjoy being a closet bookworm so no problems there. The issue that has really caught my attention today is the divide in legal policies between Europe and the USA. Whilst the EU imposes relatively strict IP laws, the US has virtually nothing - so I'm pondering exactly how these two opposing systems don't produce a greater divide in terms of innovation/trend cycles etc.
The US has been procrastinating over a Design Piracy Act (DPA) but it isn't deemed a priority and so Stateside designers continue with near non-existent legal protection.
This is my first really juicy bit to get stuck into, dig up cases, contact law firms and see if I can identify an extrinsic factor which facilitates trend cycles or whether the US or the EU fairs better in respect of their legal statutes.

God that all sounded a bit heavy, it's not boring I promise!

Dissertation Holiday

So summer has begun, sunshine has been exceptionally prevelant for Blighty and somehow the dissertation has been put on the back burner - I cannot be the only one who has favoured Greenwich Park over the British Library?! Anyway today marks the beginning of the 'write your dissertation in 15 minutes a day' theory, here goes.............

A thousand words

I wanted to post my lead question/synopsis/research strategy etc all in one go but it looked like a Bronte sister had spewed up on my blog -too much information! So I am going to post it in managable chunks brightened up with visuals etc!

Work in progress............

Working Title:
To what extent does Intellectual Property protect integrity and innovation in fashion design?
Other title considerations:
- How does Intellectual Property protect integrity and innovation in fashion design?
- Innovator versus Imitator
- To what extent is it possible to police creativity in fashion design?
- Do legal systems protect innovative fashion design?
At this stage in the preparation of my dissertation topic I am still refining my lead question; however the current working title I have in place is the one I have refined at this early stage to best clarify my intended area of research and discussion. I have been careful to maintain an open-ended question, and hope to stabilise it as my research progresses. I have however identified a written dissertation as the appropriate format for my work, I am addressing an intellectual and factual subject which I feel is best represented in a written format.

Research Strategy ................

Here are a couple of snap shots from my wall mountable research strategy! Seemed sensible to post them on here as a progress map is undoubtedly linked to a research POA!

Law firms recognise the need for specialist advice in fashion sector

http://www.fashionlaw.co.uk/?page=http%3A//www.foxwilliams.com/fashionlaw/home/main.asp

Fox Williams Fashion Law Group was established in 2003 and now represents a range of fashion retalers including DAKS, Peter Werth,John Smedley and Orla Kiely.

The perfect blend of Vogue with legalease

http://counterfeitchic.com

Susan Scafidi combines a secret passion for Vogue with her professional expertise as a law professor to fight the war on counterfeit chic.

Ebay fined in Hermes counterfeit case

Another law suit for the world wide web giants, this time a $30,000 fine for allowing the sale of three counterfeit Hermes bags on the site.


"French courts are MUCH more protective of the rights owners and distribution rights etc. of players in the fashion industry than we are here in the US."

http://www.fashionphile.com/blog/hermes/ebay-fined-in-hermes-counterfeit-case/

Turn yourself into a bonafide fashion designer - just add a pinch of plagiarism a la Lohan

http://www.lovelyish.com/720090628/lindsay-lohans-fashion-design--plagiarism/

Fashion Police!

Can we police creativity? In our ever expanding digital world, fashion design is facing a continuous battle to protect integrity and innovation.

Ebay ordered to pay LVMH £31.7 million

http://www.retail-week.com/ebay-to-pay-out-to-lvmh/1676995.article

Failure to prevent the sale of counterfeit Vuitton goods has seen online auction site ebay forced to pay out in excess of £31.7 million after breaching LVMH's selective distribution agreements.