Taylor Swift is developing a habit of becoming rather attached to words — so attached, in fact, that she wants to own them. In January it was “this sick beat”; now she’s pursuing the rights to “Swiftmas,” “Blank Space,” and, umm, “1989.”
The Car-Freshner Corporation prides itself in its Little Trees, those flimsy albeit potent diffusers of suffocating fragrance. In fact, Little Trees have freshness so on lock that OutKast might have to relinquish their title. But even more urgent is an ongoing legal battle between the Car-Freshner Corporation and…
It would seem counterintuitive for a book entitled The Diary of Anne Frank to have another author besides, well, Anne Frank. But strange things happen in the Year of Our Lord 2015 – and by “strange things,” I mean copyright gymnastics propelled by a yen for profit. In naming Anne’s father, Otto Frank, co-author of the …
About a year and a half ago, J and I found ourselves with two Lettera 35s — the Olivetti we loved so much, we purchased it twice: one in Switzerland, and the other from France via the Venezuelan embassy (a thrift store find). We decided to keep the Lettera from Paris, which had a more interesting personal story…
The University of Pennsylvania Law School became the focus of Louis Vuitton's lawyerly ire after a student group parodied the company's famous monogram print on poster art to advertise a symposium on trademark law. Instead of LVs and quatrefoils, those are little TMs and ©s. Clever right? And an obvious example of…
Sasha Houston Brown of Minneapolis published a strongly worded open letter to Urban Outfitters yesterday at Racialicious. Brown, who directly addresses C.E.O. Glen Senk, takes the clothing chain to task for its appropriation of Native American arts and crafts, and its frequent use of the word "Navajo" in product names…
Jewelry designer Alexis Bittar says Kim Kardashian has been knocking off his designs for her jewelry line, and he's no longer going to lend her his pieces to wear. "In the reality TV world, there are so many people coming out with lines to capitalize on their TV shows. They are not designers and they are just stealing…
Forever 21 is being sued for copyright infringement by an up-and-coming designer — again. The folks behind a line called Feral Childe allege that the California-based creepy-Christian sweatshop emporium copied one of their textile prints. This is noteworthy because while under current law garments themselves — as in…
The top row of shirts is by Forever 21. The bottom row is by a small California-based label called Trovata. Welcome to a peek behind the curtain at secretive, cult-y, and very rapidly growing fast-fashion chain Forever 21.
Here is an ad for a Chinese lingerie brand in which the late Princess Di appears to play a cello in her skivvies. Makes quite a change from the commemorative teaspoons and Franklin Mint kitsch her estate has previously tolerated!
You know what? After our last post, we thought we were going to take a break from hating 'Portfolio' fashion blogger Lauren Goldstein Crowe. We can't, for one thing, get a decent picture of her, because the people who run WireImage won't give us an account, apparently because we are "mean." Also: We are really not…
