This was a week of victories for fashion designers. First came the news that the Feds recently shut down 82 counterfeit-vending websites, followed by yesterday's unamimous passing of the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act (IDPPA) by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The act, introduced this summer by Senator Chuck Schumer, will extend greater protective measures to designers, most notably by providing three years of copyright protection for original and unique designs.
Both the CFDA and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) worked with Schumer in negotiating the terms of the bill, and while there's still a long way to go in terms of protecting designers from copyright infringement—for example, the bill still places the onus on the designer to prove that his/her work is original and unique—it's an encouraging step in the right direction.
"It was a long time coming, and I feel like fashion history was made today," CFDA executive director Steven Kolb to Daily Front Row. "We are so pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously based our bill, and we're thankful to Senator Schumer and the entire committee for their support of our industry."
