Posts

lm
December
08 2015

Someone’s got a bone to pick with Hot Topic.

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

The oft-cited but 100% incorrect “rule of thumb” that many in the artistic community espouse on a daily basis – if you change a design 30%, it’s yours to use as you wish – appears to have struck again. Hot Topic is selling shirts that appear to bear artwork that is a slavish but superficially modified version of an original design by Southern California’s Love Made brand. It is important to note that the modifications do nothing to add any artistic or aesthetic value; instead, they appear to be the result of inartful copying. This case is currently pending in Federal Court in Los Angeles.

- AttorneyScott / scott@copyrightLA.com

IMAGERY:

LOVE MADE ART:

lm

HOT TOPIC ART:

ko

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
SBD
October
21 2015

Birds of a Feather, Do What Now?

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

An artist is afforded protection for the original elements she creates, and is also afforded protection for the creative decisions made in selecting, arranging, and depicting each of the elements. So, if you spy an artwork made of multiple elements, and you fancy that artwork, you will not be in good shape (legally) if you attempt to swap out each of the elements of the artwork with new, similar elements that you have found or even created.

This is because the artist’s protection in the original work extends past the elements to their selection and arrangement. Below, we see two works art, one of which looks to have been created through the employment of some creative swapping.

- AttorneyScott / scott@copyrightLA.com

***

Dear YTWWN:

StrangeBirdDesigns created this lovely work of collage and original expression, which it offered to its clients and customers:

SBD

Later, it discovered that those art framers at Michaels were offering something that StrangeBird must have thought looked a lot familiar:

M

To me, it looks far too close for comfort.

-A Reader

 

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
frankart
September
22 2015

Frankly Speaking – Graphic Art Used?

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

Paul Frank, a company known in intellectual property circles for wresting away the rights in the name of the company’s founder and then suing that founder when he later tried to do business through a different company under his own name, has allegedly purloined a pretty swell piece of graphic art and used it as part of its line of shirts. The pictures tell the tale, below.

-AttorneyScott / scott@copyrightLA.com

***

Dear YTWWN:

Webb & Webb design, a design studio out of London, designed the below graphic artwork back in the 1980s. The artwork was well-received, winning design awards and being featured in publications and a traveling exhibition. It apparently caught the eye of a Paul Frank “designer,” who did little more than remove the Volvo trademark (probably to avoid litigation with the auto powerhouse) before copying it for a Paul Frank t-shirt. We noticed.

- Reader

Comparison of the Webb & Webb artwork with the Paul Frank copy:frankart

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
Ian Art
June
09 2015

Jazz Hands!

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

Today’s post reflects the long arms of today’s infringer. I picture an octopus-like creature whose tentacles encircle the globe, suctioning on to an artist’s work, and then whipping said work back into its gloomy lair. This time ’round, the alleged thievery comes from Jakarta, where a need arose for a compelling piece of art to advertise the local jazz festival. Designer Ian Austin’s Deviant Art page, at the time, exhibited the below imagery:

Ian Art

 

 

Later, Jakarta’s Jazz Festival released its advertising materials, which included the following:

Java Copy

 

Is this a jacking by Jakarta, or independent creation?

- AttorneyScott ( scott@copyrightLA.com )

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
jayde
June
03 2015

Cat’s Out of the Bag

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

A tale of two cats, sovaldi sale or four to be more precise. Designer Jayde Hilliard created a series of pieces she entitled, decease “Blue Willow Menagerie” that depicted animals embellished with the public domain Blue Willow pattern. Pleased with her work, sales she posted it on Deviant art, where it can be seen below:

jayde

 

To her chagrin, the cat aficionados over at Bradford Exchange thereafter posted a product that bore a certain resemblance to her prior work. See below:

bradford

 

Comparing the pieces, though, reveals a close call as to the question of whether the idea was taken (still legal, recall that ideas are “as free as the air,” according to at least one judge), or if the expression was lifted (a violation of the Copyright Act). At the very least, it is a dispute that gives us paws.

-AttorneyScott / scott@copyrightLA.com

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  1 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
May
19 2015

Nasty Gal with a Thefty “Oops!”

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

From the “too good not to share” department: Taylor Swift wore an original Balmain design to some music industry awards event. Nasty Gal, who sells an “inspired” knock-off of this particular Balmain piece, posts that Swift is wearing “their” dress. Basically, Nasty Gal’s copy was so close to the original Balmain that even Nasty Gal couldn’t tell them apart. Of course, this is all perfectly legal in the United States (for now: link). And, this could be some very sneaky viral marketing, so reader beware:

http://qz.com/407655/awkward-a-fashion-label-boasts-about-taylor-swifts-outfit-then-realizes-its-own-design-is-a-knockoff/

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
Zietz
May
18 2015

A Walk in the Park

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

Today’s installment looks at a call that is closer than most. As our readers know, an idea is not protectable, but one’s expression of an idea (as “fixed” in a tangible medium, in other words, written or drawn) is as protectable as the day is long. Did Target/Wrangler nab the artist’s expression here, or only his idea? To make matters more interesting, remember that an original combination of basic elements can be protectable even if the basic elements are not.

-Attorney Scott (scott@copyrightLA.com)

***

Dear YTWWN:

Wrangler is selling a rip of artist Ross Zietz’s work. He posted it on threadless some time back and now Target is selling the Wrangler rip. Take a look:

Zietz:

Zietz

Wrangler/Target:

22

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  0 Comment  |  in Uncategorized
YTWWN_Metal
May
05 2015

Enter Lawman?

ATTORNEYSCOTT COMMENTARY:

Metallica, those icons of RAWK, have unleashed some brand new merch in support of their recent club tour. That merch, though, struck one reader as looking a tad too similar to his own artwork, which, coincidentally, he had submitted to Metallica through its merch agent, Tinman, for potential, compensated use. They apparently liked the artwork to a certain extent, but not enough to engage the artist, so they had someone else “interpret” the artist’s submission. Recall that one of an artist’s exclusive rights is the right to create “derivative” works, and to stop others from using your artwork as a basis for another work without your permission. But, the line delineating derivative works can be tough to draw with certainty.

Nowadays, revenues from merch are one of the primary sources of income for many rock ‘n’ rollers, and the artwork may drive sales as much or more than the band’s name. Is the below “interpretation” a fair and independent creation, or one where the “interpreting” designer sought and destroyed the original artist’s rights?

Below left is the artist’s original work, below right is the artwork used by Metallica.

-AttorneyScott (scott@copyrightLA.com)

***

YTWWN_Metal

Posted by AttorneyScott  |  2 Comments  |  in Uncategorized

  • What is this place?

    YTWWN is a blog where users have taken notice to a blatant rip off of a creative work, and shared it with us. Sharing and discussing the observations and casualties of improper use of creative property is what we're all about here.

    This is an open blog, so please, add to and join the discussion, but keep in mind that there is a fine line between a rip-off and similarity of ideas. Please read the 'About' page before posting.

    Please use some discretion before posting to help us keep this blog legitimate.

    We look forward to seeing what you have to share.