Description

Copyright is based on the assumption that copying kills creativity. Conventional wisdom tells us that the protections afforded by IP law are essential lest creators, fearing that copyists will steal their profits, forego creating in the first place. The American fashion industry challenges every aspect of this conventional rationale. In the US fashion designs can be freely and legally copied by anyone. While brands protect their trademarks, and certain fabric patterns fall under copyright, the vast majority of designs can—and often are—knocked off by competitors seeking a piece of a profitable trend. Indeed, megafirms like Forever 21 base their entire business model on the freedom to copy.  Yet the American fashion industry has not only survived in the face of rampant piracy; it has thrived. How it does this—and what it means for IP law and theory—are critical questions as innovation increasingly becomes the core driver of advanced economies the world over.

About The Speaker

Kal Raustiala is a professor at the UCLA Law School and the UCLA International Institute. He currently serves as the Faculty Director of the UCLA International Education Office, and since 2007 as director of the UCLA Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations. From 2012‐2015 he served as UCLA’s Associate Vice Provost for International Studies. A graduate of Duke University, Professor Raustiala holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. Professor Raustiala’s research focuses on international law and intellectual property.  His recent publications include “Governing the Internet,” forthcoming, American Journal of International Law; “Fake It Till You Make It: The Good News About China’s Knockoff Economy,” Foreign Affairs, (July/August 2013); “NGOs in International Treaty‐Making,” in The Oxford Guide to Treaties (2012); and Does the Constitution Follow the Flag? The Evolution of Territoriality in American Law, (Oxford, 2009). His most recent book, The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation (Oxford, 2012), written with Christopher Sprigman of NYU Law School, has been translated into Korean, Japanese, and simplified and complex Chinese. Professor Raustiala has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Princeton University, the University of Chicago Law School, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Melbourne University Law School. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Vice President of the American Society of International Law, he serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of International Law. Raustiala is a frequent media contributor whose writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, the New Yorker, Wired, the International Herald Tribune and Le Monde.