Comments on: Louis Vuitton Fire Spreads http://groundswellcollective.com/2008/05/06/louis-vuitton-fire-spreads/ Groundswell is a loose affiliation of critical cultural producers who work at the intersection of art and activism. Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:13:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James Davidhttp://groundswellcollective.com/2008/05/06/louis-vuitton-fire-spreads/comment-page-1/#comment-2438 James David Thu, 15 May 2008 16:53:18 +0000 http://blog.groundswellcollective.com/?p=689#comment-2438 Jeff, Thanks for stopping by! I certainly didn't mean to be disparaging with my comment. My apologies if you were offended. While legal precedence may back your statements, it's precisely these rulings that are objectionable in my view. I believe we share a concern for cultural artifacts before the law, but differ in our approaches. Not only do I feel the current status of intellectual property has run afoul of representing public opinion and serving the greater good, at Groundswell we encourage the use of alternatives, like the Creative Commons license we frequently use. More, even if an artist like Nadia intentionally violates copyright, I see it as a legitimate act of civil disobedience. It is my hope that activists working on intellectual property issues can ensure that we won't see another debacle like the lawsuit in question. Jeff,
Thanks for stopping by! I certainly didn’t mean to be disparaging with my comment. My apologies if you were offended. While legal precedence may back your statements, it’s precisely these rulings that are objectionable in my view.

I believe we share a concern for cultural artifacts before the law, but differ in our approaches. Not only do I feel the current status of intellectual property has run afoul of representing public opinion and serving the greater good, at Groundswell we encourage the use of alternatives, like the Creative Commons license we frequently use. More, even if an artist like Nadia intentionally violates copyright, I see it as a legitimate act of civil disobedience.

It is my hope that activists working on intellectual property issues can ensure that we won’t see another debacle like the lawsuit in question.

]]> By: Jeff Trexlerhttp://groundswellcollective.com/2008/05/06/louis-vuitton-fire-spreads/comment-page-1/#comment-2277 Jeff Trexler Tue, 06 May 2008 14:23:54 +0000 http://blog.groundswellcollective.com/?p=689#comment-2277 My post isn't contentious; it's simply a legal fact. Generally, if you're going to take sides on an issue, it helps to pay attention to what the issue actually is. In this case, although the Vuitton print is subject to copyright protection, the company's primary concern is trademark infringement. There are significant differences between copyright and trademark, and folks running in design circles need to grasp the legal nuances if they want to avoid unwanted attention. My post isn’t contentious; it’s simply a legal fact.

Generally, if you’re going to take sides on an issue, it helps to pay attention to what the issue actually is. In this case, although the Vuitton print is subject to copyright protection, the company’s primary concern is trademark infringement. There are significant differences between copyright and trademark, and folks running in design circles need to grasp the legal nuances if they want to avoid unwanted attention.

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