The Trio, a group of young, multi-talented creatives, have created designs for their own clothing line to be sold prêt-a-porter in the market. Prêt-a-porter is one of the two categories that the 12 segments of the fashion industry are organised into (Blackmon, 2007). It is clothing that is mass-produced and is not custom fit to individual clients, which makes up the principle volume of sales in the fashion industry (Blackmon, 2007). The line has been designed to appeal to people aged from 14 – 23 years old, meaning that a wide range of clothes would be distributed. The following report will explore intellectual property, including copyright and trademarking, as well as creative commons in order to determine how they will protect their line from facing any …show more content…
For example, in the United Kingdom, a work of fashion must fall within one of eight different categories set out in Section 4 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, 1988). The category that is the most appropriate is the works of artistic craftsmanship. This becomes difficult depending on the definition of the word “artistic” as it has multiple meanings. A work can be aesthetically pleasing but if it is not creative enough, it is not artistic. Works of fashion, such as sweaters or cardigans, would not be deemed artistic but would be deemed works of craft. The most common general rule is that the piece has to be created as a work that is aesthetically pleasing (Mackey, 2012). Defining craftsmanship is easier as one-off pieces of fashion, like couture fashion, which can be considered craft. However the stance on mass-produced items is not clear. Courts have also ruled clothing as functioning in a utilitarian state because they protect us from natural elements and therefore are unable to be copyrighted (Blackmon,