Design plagiarism
Susan Dickenson -- Home Accents Today, 2/1/2007
This month, we asked our design panel to express their views on a subject that strikes an emotional chord with just about anyone who creates and sells intellectual property — the discovery that someone has appropriated, copied or interpreted your work and passed it off as their own. Writers are protected by copyright laws, but creative design can be a bit trickier. Barclay Butera's reflection on the use of respected centuries-old symbols and concepts defines it in its most acceptable form. Rick Janecek discusses the extreme case — the blatant stealing of another company or designer's product for mass reproduction — and suggests it as a hot topic for... Oprah.
Copyright infringement is definitely a serious problem within our industry. Retailers who knowingly purchase knock-offs should shoulder some of the blame. Oftentimes, it is the smaller designers who invest in the development of new product only to have those designs stolen by larger industry players. They have the wherewithal to consolidate their costs, and to bring similar products to market more cheaply for retailers who like the look, but not the original price tag. Ultimately, it's the customers who suffer and are disappointed by these low-cost look-alikes that offer a fraction of the quality of the original. — Dorian Webb
This issue frustrates me immensely. Design is an adaptation or interpretation of history. There are no original shapes, colors, forms, patterns or designs. Designers from hundreds of years ago created designs from centuries earlier. The Greek Key design originated from ancient Greece and has been interpreted into rugs, trims and all sorts of textiles. Design is adapted from or inspired by heritage. — Barclay Butera
This is a topic that I am very passionate about. When a retailer or a wholesaler copies the competitor's product, no one wins. The company that does the original design spends a great deal of money to hire creative directors, designers, create molds and develop new technologies. The company that copies the original is stealing. The only way to sell a copy is to make it cheaper, which compromises quality. Ironically the copier usually has to sell the item at a lower margin making it difficult to be profitable. In the meantime the original design becomes so diluted that the item loses its appeal. I have found that people are becoming so desensitized to plagiarizing they don't even realize what they are doing is stealing or that they are doing anything wrong. I know a lot of designers and buyers, who copy a design, change the color and convince themselves that they have designed the piece. Maybe we should have Oprah get a few people together. It seemed to have some effect on publishing — maybe she could do the same for the home furnishings industry. — Rick Janecek
Whenever I see that it's happened, it's been so badly done that it doesn't matter. Sure it irks me, but I'm always going to have another idea. We're all inspired by something, but as a designer, I take that inspiration to a different level. I have no respect for people who don't use their own creativity to interpret it differently. — Lisa Nardone
This is a growing issue beyond people just arriving at the same ideas simultaneously. Quite often, we are printing in the same places and weaving in the same places where there are limited colorways of thread, so things can end up looking similar. I think the key as a designer is to be very careful to document your inspirations and sources and the design process in case there are any issues. There are certainly more instances of a distinctive pattern that belongs to someone, cropping up in cheaper outlets. The trouble is that you have to be a large company to have the power to pull someone up for it and to fight it. — Nina Campbell
It's Big.... we are all influenced by our surroundings. Take it all in and spit it out, but it's gotta be your own spin. — David Landis
It has become a worldwide problem. Designers all over the globe are experiencing considerable problems with the manufacturing and importation of cheap copies of their designs from countries such as China. There is no appreciation for the design process in this practice, only for the end product which is given over to the masses. This disregard for design as intellectual property leads to the appropriation of the product concept, and it should become a concern of consumers. Ultimately, they are the ones being cheated of lasting quality; not to mention it is also illegal. If quality doesn't become a concern, then lawsuits will. Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, but in the end it's still a knockoff. — Doug Wilson
Dorian Webb
Rick Janecek
Barclay Butera
Nina Campbell
Lisa Nardone
Doug Wilson
David Landis
