“I’d have loved to be a fly on the wall when those copycat
companies saw the program” screamed Imelda’s Footwear Designer of ’08 and the designer at the center of the 'Fashion Fake' controversy, Camilla Skovgaard.
Of
course, Skovgaard was referring to Wednesday night’s expose ‘Fashion Fakes’
which aired on Australia’s highest rating current affairs program Today
Tonight.
The
program exposed Australia’s pitiful copyright protection laws that according to
Intellectual
property-specialist lawyer, David Stewart, are “embarrassing” for an OECD
country. Steward also noting Australia has been recognized as a “safe
haven for plagiarists for quite some time”
The little known cost of these laws is that they are directly responsible for
the quagmire of mediocrity that is the Australian Footwear industry. Why
support (or even attempt to support) original design when the law allows such
unbridled plagiarism?
Is the margin for error that slim that not ONE mid market retailer is
prepared to take a chance and offer the consumer something other a cheap designer knockoff?
Until
the Federal Government changes these laws, footwear brands like those named (Tony Bianco,
Wittner and Siren Shoes) will continue to profit from the creative output of
designers like Camilla Skovgaard, Nicholas Kirkwood, Alexanders’ Wang &
McQueen, and Marc Jacobs.
However,
as Stewart noted “This affects Australian fashion designers as much as it affects people
overseas”
The foundations
for last night’s expose were laid several months ago after Imelda revealed Tony
Bianco Footwear had produced a one-for-one knock-off of Camilla Skovgaard’s signature
shoe and then circulated images of international celebrities (wearing the Skovgaard
original) to promote their product. (Read HERE)
Incensed
that I had the audacity to call out their shady practices, Tony Bianco Footwear
then ‘unleashed’ the law firm of Davies Collison Cave demanding a full
retraction.
OH
the irony!
True
I was surprised to find myself at the center of a Despot and Goliath battle but
nothing could catch this old warhorse off guard. Standing in the wings was
friend to the House of Despotism, my blogging colleague and Australia’s most respected
Fashion Journalist, Patty ‘Frockwriter’ Huntington.
Initially
I enjoyed the wicked irony that after years off satirising (the real) Imelda’s
legal woes here I was entangled in my own legal worries. However, as the emails
became more dogged the irony became less amusing and my heart of darkness started
beating with the rage of a 1000 hurricanes.
Their
primary (and only valid) objection was my assertion that TBF had infringed Skovgaard’s
copyright.
As
was pointed out (and was then reiterated on TT by Stewart) unless a designer registers
EVERY SINGLE design, then under the current Australian law their designs are not
protected.
Stewart
stated “if you're an international fashion designer based in Milan or based in
Rome or based in London and you're not aware of this particular quirk to the
way in which Australian law works, then you've got no basis on which to try to
protect the creative output of your efforts," and therefore because Skovgaard didn’t
register her design(s) one cannot claim ‘copyright infringed’ – the moral of
the story, you can report a company is producing one-to-one knockoffs but not that
they are infringing copyright (unless the product has been registered).
Got
it?
As
you would expect, Skovgaard finds the situation disheartening and after viewing
the expose said she hoped Australia “will get a similar fundamental design
right protection to the EU, first 3 years protection obligatory”
Here’s when things got all haute n’ hairy.
During the course of her investigation, Huntington discovered TBF were
selling a second Skovgaard knockoff (the Sportsgirl and Siren knockoffs were discovered at a later date). “Quelle Horreur” fumed the Despotic Queen.
It
was also discovered that despite being freely available (at retail) the
original knockoff ‘Sexy Roberto’ had been removed from all the company’s consumer
communications (eg website and Facebook page).
We
then noted a short time after Huntington contacted Bianco representatives (I
believe to obtain a response) the second shoe was mysteriously removed from the
company’s official website.
Imelda
asks since TBF felt it was necessary to take legal action against my
allegations of ‘continued infringement’ then why remove the shoes in question
from their website?
I’m
confused, especially after Huntington contacted a Tony Bianco retail store and
confirmed ‘Sexy Roberto’ was for sale and stock levels were plentiful. Imelda then made direct contacted with a number of independent Sydney based footwear retailers who
all confirmed full sizes, runs and colourways of 'Sexy Roberto'.
With
stock (and a lot of it) in stores, what plausible reason can TBF offer for
removing theses shoes from the company’s website?
Is
this, as the cheeky Madonna grab implied, simply a case of mid market footwear
brands wanting to have “their cake and eat it”?
I’ve
taken a very principled stand on the issue of designer knockoffs, a stance that
poses losses both professionally and financially. In fact, when I received the
first email (from Davies Collison Cave) I was told “change it” ('it' being my original post) and that if I held my ground I'd be ‘burning
my bridges’.
Well,
I don’t want to risk my life crossing a bridge made out of rotten planks. I’d rather
just burn the fucker to the ground and start building a new one.
While
the big luxury houses are armed with high priced lawyers it’s independent
footwear designers who it seems are at the greatest risk so it’s time to play the ‘name and shame’ game.
What’s
that you say Imelda? WAR?
YES
it’s WAR and it’s to be the Despotic Queen’s greatest battle to-date, The War
Against Knockoffs.
So
my beloved Imeldettes, I’m introducing a new weekly post creatively titled
‘Imelda’s War Against Knockoffs’ and I need your help.
You’ll
need to be alert and alarmed.
My
inbox is groaning under the weight of all your ‘alert’ emails and keep ‘em
coming. If you spot a suspicious looking shoe then call 1800 IMELDA, but if you
can’t get through then email (editor@imelda.com.au) or TWEET me a link and let me know
which designer you believe has been knocked off and I’ll unleash the full force
of the Despotic Queen.
And
to kick off this new weekly post what better shoes to start with than the shoes
profiled on Today Tonight.
Finally,
Jennine Tamm Jacob aka The Coveted left a comment that we should all take time
to ponder “I think there is a bigger problem at
stake here, not just fakes, but the fact that we feel we need them.”
