SKETCHY ISSUES: INDITEX AND HERMES TAKE OPPOSITE SIDES ON DERIVATIVE ILLUSTRATION RIGHTS

Usage of photos found online is an oft debated issue: in 2007 there was the case of Flickr user Alison Chang, who found herself an unwitting model in a Virgin Mobile Australia advertising campaign; the Independent, a popular UK newspaper, ran into problems with Peter Zabulis when they failed to secure permission to feature a photo Zabulis took of snow. More recently, there’s the case of the Associated Press vs. Shepherd Fairey. Though the lawsuit was dropped in January of this year, plenty of issues remain surrounding the usage of photos in derivative works. Now, two of fashion’s largest companies find themselves facing questions over what constitutes inspiration and what constitutes copyright violation. Trending Topics, a blog from Spanish newspaper El Pais, reports (in Spanish) that Spanish retailing giant Inditex has once again used illustrations of fashion bloggers for a line of t-shirts without prior permission from the bloggers. In May 2010, Betty Autier of Le Blog de Betty noticed a t-shirt in Zara that featured an illustration bearing a striking resemblance to one of her photos. The only problem? Autier was never contacted by the illustrator or Zara about usage of the image. Michèle Krüsi is a 19-year-old blogger from Switzerland who, like many other bloggers, posts personal style photos to Lookbook.nu. Lookbook.nu serves as inspiration for plenty of personal style fans, including those at some of fashion’s largest brands. Someone from Stradivarius, a Spanish retailer also owned by Zara’s parent company Inditex, took inspiration from this image of Krüsi and created a t-shirt based on it.