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Copyright Fashion Design Bill To Be Introduced This Week
Sponsors of legislation seeking to extend unprecedented copyright protection to "original" fashion designs will reintroduce their bill this week. Spearheaded by Congressmen William Delahunt (D-MA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Design Piracy Prohibition Act would provide three years of copyright protection for designs deemed truly and uniquely original. While well-intended, the bill places a number of new legal burdens on apparel and footwear companies and their designers, as it establishes an overly vague definition of "originality" and more stringent interpretations of infringement by arbitrarily conferring ownership rights to items that may not even deserve protection in the first place. Ultimately, the legislation will produce an environment of ubiquitous lawsuits between legitimate companies that will raise the prices of clothing and footwear, stifle creation and limit consumer choice. For these reasons, AAFA has been opposed to this legislation and sent a letter to each member of Congress on April 27 asking for their opposition to the bill.
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