April 19, 2019

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to chat with Olivia Quenneville, a fourth-year student in the Professional Writing program at York University, who was at the time conducting research for an article examining art theft.

It is not uncommon to hear of an independent artist's designs being copied and subsequently commercialized by multi-national fashion corporations. Sometimes, however, we don't realize how close to home this issue truly hits. Olivia's article examines the issue of art theft in the fashion industry, with a particular focus on the experiences of Toronto artists. When fashion companies copy independently-made designs, Toronto's independent artists find that fighting back is rarely an easy battle to win. You can read the entire article below.

Being able to speak with students and professionals, both within and external to the legal community about the implications and considerations surrounding intellectual property rights within the Canadian creative industries is an essential first step to addressing the ever-growing issue of art theft within the fashion industry.

However, with the increasingly digitalized world we live in allowing brands and artists to share their work instantaneously across the World Wide Web, the way in which such art "theft" is addressed within the realm of copyright law has become difficult and complex.

What do you think - does technology act as a benefit or a threat to establishing and sharing an artist's work?

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Read the full article below: