About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2020 Mich. St. L. Rev. 853 (2020)
In Fast-Fashion, One Day You're in, and the next Day You're out: A Solution to the Fashion Industry's Intellectual Property Issues outside of Intellectual Property Law

handle is hein.journals/mslr2020 and id is 897 raw text is: IN FAST-FASHION, ONE DAY YOU'RE IN, AND THE NEXT DAY YOU'RE OUT: A SOLUTION TO THE FASHION INDUSTRY'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES OUTSIDE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Kristin Sutor* 2020 MICH. ST. L. REV. 853 ABSTRACT Fast-fashion companies often produce stylish garments at low costs by copying designs others invested time and money into and by contracting with manufacturers overseas who use unfair labor practices. The United States' intellectual property framework does not protect clothing designs, so fast-fashion designers can easily take others' designs with little or no modifications. Designers spend hours of work and thousands of dollars on creating designs that fit their clients but are undersold by companies whose design practices consist of photographing and reproducing original designs. The manufacturing factories that reproduce the designs are often unsafe, and the workers are underpaid and overworked. However, when the workers attempt to hold their employer accountable, they find that the manufacturing company has no assets, and they are not able to collect damages. These two injustices in the fashion industry are very closely related. Labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), do not incentivize fast-fashion companies to create original designs or to ensure their contactors use fair labor practices. The FLSA protects workers in the United States against the labor practices of their direct employers. The statute also contains a portion known as the hot goods provision that allows the Secretary of Labor to enjoin anyone from transporting or selling goods produced in unfair work * Articles Editor, Michigan State Law Review; J.D. 2021, Michigan State University College of Law; B.B.A. Human Resource Management 2018, University of Toledo. The author would like to thank Professor Mary A. Bedikian for her feedback and words of encouragement throughout the process. The author would also like to thank Allison Kruschke, Mitchell Zolton, and all the current and previous Law Review members who helped edit this Comment. Finally, the author would like to thank her family and friends for their unconditional love and support.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most