Cosplay Copyright

There's currently a war being waged in the fashion industry that could have massive ramifications for costumers and cosplayers: can a pattern for an article of clothing be copyrighted?

On January 19th PublicKnowledge.org reported on the case: Star Athletica and Varsity Brands are going toe-to-toe, with VB claiming parts of their designs can be copyrighted due to functionality and SA arguing that the designs are creative in nature and are not eligible for copyright status.

How does this affect costumers and cosplayers?

If the Supreme Court rules that the owner of the original design can sue another creator for having a design that simply looks nearly identical, that can cause a lot of problems for the people who create replicas. That would mean Disney/Lucasfilm could be able to sue you for those Jedi robes you made, or Bungie could come after you for that Halo armor you sculpted.

While it seems far-fetched that the ruling could go that far, it's not unheard of for larger companies to target costumers, like when Fox went after everyone independently selling replica Jayne hats.

Hippo Birdy Two Ewe

Design by Monkey Minion Press

As of January 1, 2016 we turned three years old. TXTrekkieGurl (then known as Dalek Chick) and I decided one day out our mutual love for Sci-Fi and crafting and various other interests and hobbies that we should just start a blog and talk about the things we like. We've covered a lot of topics, from geek-themed drinks to speaking Klingon to crafting how-to's to convention kits (both basic and for cosplay). We've also discussed geeky birthday, holiday, and wedding gift ideas.

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