Copyright. Why it matters
Saturday 21st July 2012
The brew-ha-ha about Debenhams and Kate Davies’ iconic Owl Sweater has caused quite a stir. I’m not raking it up. Happily it’s now resolved to Kate’s satisfaction. Debenhams still deny that they did anything wrong, but acknowledge that there was an issue to be addressed. Kate is happy and I think this is a good outcome. You can read about the details of the settlement
here.
That it happened is of course A Bad Thing and also it can’t have been a pleasant experience for the designer. However, some good has come out of it. First, maybe Debenhams will think twice before being so *inspired* by a design that they basically reproduce it. Maybe, other big retailers will have a think too. The power of new media and networking, plus the knitting and crochet community (in this case) is rather cool. We’re knitters. And we’re also customers. Ha, take that, Big Brand Bullies.
However, some thoughtful commentary was forthcoming within the debate that this caused. For example, it is standard practice for the cat-walk fashions to be ‘copied’ and express-delivered to the mass-market retailers. Versions of these are to be found in Primarni and the like within hours or at least within days. I am not sure this is much comfort to the designers but the fashion houses they design for seem to take it on the chin.
Fair point. But then again, they are not sole traders or very tiny companies. Most of us are.
This has led me to ponder the question of why intellectual copyright is important. My designs are covered by copyright. My brother is a lawyer and he basically said: pop the words on there but good luck if you ever need to take someone on, it’s a massive pain in the backside. Well, Kate took someone on. Someone big. And she mobilised a huge network to help. But I think my brother is probably right, for most small indi designers.
Intellectual property is a massive field, ranging from copyright warfare at global company level, through to lending someone a book. Somewhere in between is what happened to Kate.
When I worked for Rowan in John Lewis, there was an interesting range of copyright issues to be negotiated. For example, (and this only happened once while I was there), a design was ripped out of a Rowan magazine. That’s pretty straight forward, it’s theft. Actually, I was really shocked by that because all my customers were so lovely, therefore I know it was not them. But there it was, a ragged tear of paper, a page missing, from a magazine that then cost £10 – but they only wanted that design I assume. I won’t even
write on my pattern books, I photocopy them (for my own use) and write on that.
Which brings me to photocopying or scanning. I bet most knitters ‘share’ patterns. I’ve been at shops where this has been openly discussed by customers, as in the ‘I’ll buy this book and you buy that book, and we’ll share’. Sharing is A Good Thing. We all lend each other books to read for example – don’t we? So if a customer shares a pattern book, well, that’s not in the Debenhams/Kate league. Photocopying designs is a bit more troublesome. Many times a customer would ask me to copy a design from a Rowan book, but of course I had to say no and also try to explain, without sounding like the copyright police, why that wasn’t a good option for designers or the craft in the long run.
It’s awfully tricky, but really, since so much is given away, free of charge, by the generous community of crafters, makers and artists, there seems no need to copy. Knitters and other makers are by nature generous with help, knowledge and design ideas. But when a designer is trying to make a living from his or her work, then it is a matter to at least have at the front of our minds.
How would you deal with this? I’m working in the store and a customer asks me if I will photocopy a pattern – a garment, not a stitch – from a book that is still in print, copyrighted to the designer and so on. I gently explain why I couldn’t do that (and I always found this awkward, but it was something I believed in and also, it was part of my job). The customer accepts this and carries on browsing. I resume fondling the yarn display, with trips into the stock room now and then. On my return from one such visit, I observe that the customer is now seated at the little knitting table, calmly and studiously copying out the pattern, by hand, into her own little note book…
The brew-ha-ha about Debenhams and Kate Davies’ iconic Owl Sweater has caused quite a stir. I’m not raking it up. Happily it’s now resolved to Kate’s satisfaction. Debenhams still deny that they did anything wrong, but acknowledge that there was an issue to be addressed. Kate is happy and I think this is a good outcome. You can read about the details of the settlement here.
That it happened is of course A Bad Thing and also it can’t have been a pleasant experience for the designer. However, some good has come out of it. First, maybe Debenhams will think twice before being so *inspired* by a design that they basically reproduce it. Maybe, other big retailers will have a think too. The power of new media and networking, plus the knitting and crochet community (in this case) is rather cool. We’re knitters. And we’re also customers. Ha, take that, Big Brand Bullies.
However, some thoughtful commentary was forthcoming within the debate that this caused. For example, it is standard practice for the cat-walk fashions to be ‘copied’ and express-delivered to the mass-market retailers. Versions of these are to be found in Primarni and the like within hours or at least within days. I am not sure this is much comfort to the designers but the fashion houses they design for seem to take it on the chin.
Fair point. But then again, they are not sole traders or very tiny companies. Most of us are.
This has led me to ponder the question of why intellectual copyright is important. My designs are covered by copyright. My brother is a lawyer and he basically said: pop the words on there but good luck if you ever need to take someone on, it’s a massive pain in the backside. Well, Kate took someone on. Someone big. And she mobilised a huge network to help. But I think my brother is probably right, for most small indi designers.
Intellectual property is a massive field, ranging from copyright warfare at global company level, through to lending someone a book. Somewhere in between is what happened to Kate.
When I worked for Rowan in John Lewis, there was an interesting range of copyright issues to be negotiated. For example, (and this only happened once while I was there), a design was ripped out of a Rowan magazine. That’s pretty straight forward, it’s theft. Actually, I was really shocked by that because all my customers were so lovely, therefore I know it was not them. But there it was, a ragged tear of paper, a page missing, from a magazine that then cost £10 – but they only wanted that design I assume. I won’t even write on my pattern books, I photocopy them (for my own use) and write on that.
Which brings me to photocopying or scanning. I bet most knitters ‘share’ patterns. I’ve been at shops where this has been openly discussed by customers, as in the ‘I’ll buy this book and you buy that book, and we’ll share’. Sharing is A Good Thing. We all lend each other books to read for example – don’t we? So if a customer shares a pattern book, well, that’s not in the Debenhams/Kate league. Photocopying designs is a bit more troublesome. Many times a customer would ask me to copy a design from a Rowan book, but of course I had to say no and also try to explain, without sounding like the copyright police, why that wasn’t a good option for designers or the craft in the long run.
It’s awfully tricky, but really, since so much is given away, free of charge, by the generous community of crafters, makers and artists, there seems no need to copy. Knitters and other makers are by nature generous with help, knowledge and design ideas. But when a designer is trying to make a living from his or her work, then it is a matter to at least have at the front of our minds.
How would you deal with this? I’m working in the store and a customer asks me if I will photocopy a pattern – a garment, not a stitch – from a book that is still in print, copyrighted to the designer and so on. I gently explain why I couldn’t do that (and I always found this awkward, but it was something I believed in and also, it was part of my job). The customer accepts this and carries on browsing. I resume fondling the yarn display, with trips into the stock room now and then. On my return from one such visit, I observe that the customer is now seated at the little knitting table, calmly and studiously copying out the pattern, by hand, into her own little note book…
I agree its not a straight forward case I would hate for knitters to feel they can’t turn for having the copywrite police champing at the bit – its not an easy subject and I’m pleased for Kate that she has had the result she’s mostly happy with but lots of stuff is “copied” handbags, shoes, cosmetics so it’s no surprise really? Good for Kate in having her say! Some very interesting and intelligent points put forward from all sides too and it looks like there will be a lot of “owls” sweaters knit ths year!
Sue
I get the “pages torn” about once every two months. Maybe Glasgow is less polite? I’ll share my thoughts tomorrow – you won’t be too surprised by any of them.
Yes, I agree that it’s complex and can be sensitive. I’d also hate to feel that we knitters were not able to apply a good dose of common sense – and generosity. Giving is one thing; taking (as in the Debenhams example, the ripped page or copying out a current design) is another.
Where do we draw the line? I suspect we won’t draw lines but apply judgement. I raise this issue really because I just think IP deserves a higher profile in the art/craft/making community. And to celebrate that, I feel a free pattern on my blog coming shortly – I have neglected this too long!