from Signals & Noise…..
“The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design” is sparking an interesting conversation about copycattiness in creative professions.
The paper argues that copying in the fashion industry does not deter innovation (and may actually promote it). James Surowiecki summarized the essay in The New Yorker and argued that fashion piracy results in “more innovation, more competition, and probably more sales than there otherwise would be.”
Law school professor Susan Scafidi calls this “a tired, old argument” and says it’s based on an outdated, pre-internet portrait of the industry. Handbags at dawn offers some more push back.
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