After reading about yet another case of stolen identity on the wonderful Le Blog de Betty, I started to realise that this was an issue I was interested about. Actually, not just interested. More like infuriated.
If you weren't already aware, over the past few years there has been a surge in intellectual property thefts- from independent illustrators on Etsy having their work pilfered by ad agencies, to jewellery designers having their work copied by huge high street chains.
On thinking, this would have been an improbable and most likely impossible task pre-Generation Z (ie. Kids of the Interwebz). The full and unfettered access available to artist's online portfolios, blog photographs, web layouts/designs and simply, peoples creative streaks seems to be being wholly exploited by the design teams and agencies supplying to some of the largest corporations. We are talking about some of our favourite shops here- Urban Outfitters, ASOS and Zara are just a few that have been discovered thanks to observant shoppers and fans of the original artists/sellers.
I've put together some of the best (well, the worst) examples of this and I want to know what you think.
First up, Zara, serial-copier and often ridiculously brazen:
Example 1.
The original photo from Le Blog de Betty-
The somewhat hideously butchered tee from Zara-
Example 2.
Takenaka from deviantART recently discovered more of her work was being used for various Zara t-shirts. The originals-
The Zara copies:
Next up, another store (not currently in Britain) who seem to have a lazy design department is Hot Topic.
Here's the fantastic original piece by independent artist Lora at Elastika-
And here's the blatant rip-off by HT-
Topshop also haven't escaped the eagle-eyed browser: Made By White quite famously named and shamed Topshop for carbon-copying their Little Red Riding Hood brooch duo-
And of course, my favourite but now sadly defunct Lady Luck Rules OK also had it's fair share of cunning admirers.
Check out the original Russian Doll necklace (one of which I actually own!) next to the shabby ring version by ASOS-
So, is this laziness? Laziness on the side of the retailer who should be checking the sources and origins of their designers proposals? Or like Paperchase tried to purport, does the full responsibility lie with the individual designers who are, in some cases, literally tracing original illustrations?
When I first started reading about this phenomenon, I wondered why the original artists in question weren't flattered by the incidents and happy to have their work recognised by such huge companies. But this is the problem. They are not being recognised. There are no please's or thank you's. No foot notes with names they are attributed to. There are no polite emails or conventional niceties obliged by the companies involved. They simply take and don't look back. Legal costs are so ridiculous (Eloise from Hide 'n' Seek was quoted $40,000 for court expenses!) that for most stand-alone artists, legal action is impossible. Of course, all of those huge multi-million brands know this and will carry on exploiting this method of determining popular online trends and mass-marketing them forever more.
What do you think? Totally inexcusable? Should the companies cashing in on the copycats be liable? Or do you think the artists should take steps to securing their work to ensure it's more difficult to duplicate?
I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and any other examples you've heard about!
If you weren't already aware, over the past few years there has been a surge in intellectual property thefts- from independent illustrators on Etsy having their work pilfered by ad agencies, to jewellery designers having their work copied by huge high street chains.
On thinking, this would have been an improbable and most likely impossible task pre-Generation Z (ie. Kids of the Interwebz). The full and unfettered access available to artist's online portfolios, blog photographs, web layouts/designs and simply, peoples creative streaks seems to be being wholly exploited by the design teams and agencies supplying to some of the largest corporations. We are talking about some of our favourite shops here- Urban Outfitters, ASOS and Zara are just a few that have been discovered thanks to observant shoppers and fans of the original artists/sellers.
I've put together some of the best (well, the worst) examples of this and I want to know what you think.
First up, Zara, serial-copier and often ridiculously brazen:
Example 1.
The original photo from Le Blog de Betty-
The somewhat hideously butchered tee from Zara-
Example 2.
Takenaka from deviantART recently discovered more of her work was being used for various Zara t-shirts. The originals-
The Zara copies:
Next up, another store (not currently in Britain) who seem to have a lazy design department is Hot Topic.
Here's the fantastic original piece by independent artist Lora at Elastika-
And here's the blatant rip-off by HT-
Topshop also haven't escaped the eagle-eyed browser: Made By White quite famously named and shamed Topshop for carbon-copying their Little Red Riding Hood brooch duo-
And of course, my favourite but now sadly defunct Lady Luck Rules OK also had it's fair share of cunning admirers.
Check out the original Russian Doll necklace (one of which I actually own!) next to the shabby ring version by ASOS-
So, is this laziness? Laziness on the side of the retailer who should be checking the sources and origins of their designers proposals? Or like Paperchase tried to purport, does the full responsibility lie with the individual designers who are, in some cases, literally tracing original illustrations?
When I first started reading about this phenomenon, I wondered why the original artists in question weren't flattered by the incidents and happy to have their work recognised by such huge companies. But this is the problem. They are not being recognised. There are no please's or thank you's. No foot notes with names they are attributed to. There are no polite emails or conventional niceties obliged by the companies involved. They simply take and don't look back. Legal costs are so ridiculous (Eloise from Hide 'n' Seek was quoted $40,000 for court expenses!) that for most stand-alone artists, legal action is impossible. Of course, all of those huge multi-million brands know this and will carry on exploiting this method of determining popular online trends and mass-marketing them forever more.
What do you think? Totally inexcusable? Should the companies cashing in on the copycats be liable? Or do you think the artists should take steps to securing their work to ensure it's more difficult to duplicate?
I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and any other examples you've heard about!
