Hey Fashion Lovers!
Now, you all know that the original purpose of the blog is
to serve as an educational tool throughout my Master’s program. I am currently
taking an Entertainment Law class and today I will be discussing potential
liabilities in the fashion industry. Here are three major legal liabilities
throughout the fashion and technology industry.
1.
Piracy- Piracy has always been a major issue in
the fashion industry. Designers have to constantly worry about people imitating
their original garments and selling them as their own. However, before 2011
these designers had no real government backing to protect their hard work. This
caused designers from clothing lines like Proenza Schouler to go before the
Senate in an attempt to amend the Innovative Design Protection and PiracyPrevention Act, so that it would include fashion designs. After backing by organizations
like; The Council of Fashion Designer’s of America, and The American Apparel
and Footwear Association the act was amended to include copyright protection of
fashion designs.
The extension of copyright
protection will greatly affect my business plan. Since, my business will be
based online I have to worry about people having constant access to images of
the designer’s I represent original pieces.
I would like to be able to ensure them that if someone does attempt to
counterfeit any of the items in their clothing line, that something will be
done to that person if they are caught.
2.
Dealing with The Fur Act- In January of 2013 the
FTC added a new policy to the The Fur Labeling Act, also known as The Fur Act.
The policy states that while it is a requirement for fur manufacturers and
designers to clearly label their fur. The labels are supposed to have
information like whether the product contains used fur, bleached fur or fur
waste. At one point the retailers used to be penalized for this fur not being
clearly labeled, now this new policy protects them. If a retailer is selling a
fur product that they are unaware of it violating The Fur Act, they can’t be
held liable.
This new policy
protects me because although I am not a retailer, I will allow people to fully
purchase older samples from the designers I represent. This will prevent me
from being faulted if I don’t know the fur was mis-labeled, because most likely
I wouldn’t be told if the samples have been labeled correctly or not.
3.
Going Green: The FTC recently revised the,
“Green Guides” to prevent people from thinking that are buying eco-friendly
items when they really aren’t. The deceptive advertising claims when referring
to green products are as follows:
a. A claim is deceptive
if it is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances
and is material to consumers’ decisions.
b. Marketers must
identify all express and implied claims that the advertisement reasonably
conveys, and ensure that all such claims are truthful, not misleading, and
supported by a reasonable basis before the claims are made.
c.
A reasonable basis often requires competent and reliable
scientific evidence consisting of tests, analyses or studies conducted and
evaluated in an objective manner by qualified persons and is generally accepted
in the profession to yield accurate and reliable results. (fashionlawblog)
These claims effect me, because I
need to make sure any of my designers that promote their line as “Green” are
actually following these guidelines. Since my company is technically a
marketing/PR entity, I would be in a lot of trouble.
All of the above federal cases and amendments are not only
important in the fashion industry as a whole, but also greatly beneficial for
me to be aware of as a future business owner in the fashion and technology
industry, as well as protect me from potentially being sued.
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