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The designer gave away the rights to his jacket to Netflix implicitly for the production of the series.
Netflix reportedly sublicensing that clearance by allowing LEGO to produce its Queer Eye set.
Now they face a legal process in which the fashion artist will seek, at the very least, compensation.
A complaint filed in December before the Federal Court of Connecticut, has put the LEGO toy brand in the public eye for capturing in one of its pieces the design of a James Concannon jacket, which was made exclusively for the Queer character. Eye.
The fashion artist claims that in 2018 he created the custom leather garment for Antoni Porowski, one of the stars of the Netflix series, and that the toy producer “intentionally” reproduced his design without seeking his permission. or make up for the buildable they released in the fall. Instead, the lawsuit claims, LEGO offered him a free Fab 5 Loft set for his six-year-old son to play with, but later backed down.
“That’s how it is! Lego is being sued for allegedly infringing copyright on… drum roll… a leather jacket. Specifically, the question for the courts in this one will be whether the jacket in the photo is substantially similar to the lego in the photo.“Network users have wondered.
That’s right! Lego is getting sued for allegedly infringing the copyright in…..drumroll….a leather jacket.
Specifically, the question for the courts in this one is going to be whether the pictured jacket is substantially similar to the pictured lego.https://t.co/zFdi2i07Fl pic.twitter.com/QBVeufJeQ6
— Mike Dunford (@questauthority) January 11, 2022
Queer Eye’s “virtually identical” Lego
Although he affirms that he never granted Netflix a license to exhibit the leather jacket in the series –as he would have done with other garments–, Concannon affirms that it was not necessary, since there was a bilateral collaboration; However, the same was not true for LEGO, the world’s largest toy company with more than 5 billion dollars in annual revenue.
The production and export of the Queer Eye set launched by the brand includes said design in fashion, so the artist will now undergo a long legal process in which a judge will determine to what extent copyrights registered in the Office are considered. US Copyright
“He painstakingly copied not only the individual creative elements of the jacket, but also the unique placement, coordination, and arrangement of the individual art elements,” says the artist.
“I think ‘virtually identical’ exaggerates things just a tiny bit. It is CLEARLY and absolutely inspired by that jacket. There is absolutely no question there. But it’s not within a mile of ‘virtually identical,’” the information trickled in, adding to the uncertainty in the case.
I think “virtually identical” overstates things just a teeny-tiny bit.
It’s CLEARLY and absolutely inspired by that jacket. There is absolutely no doubt to be there. But it ain’t within a mile of “virtually identical.” pic.twitter.com/bFpS7iXtDw
— Mike Dunford (@questauthority) January 11, 2022
Concannon further claimed that LEGO’s attorney responded to a cease and desist letter that “it would be an ‘uphill battle’ (for them),” acknowledging that “by gifting the jacket to Porowski knowing that (he) would wear the jacket in queer eye Netflix was given an ‘implied license’ to use the jacket in any way it wanted, even sub-licensing the work to LEGO.”
Nevertheless, the designer promised to continue with the claim until, at least, to obtain an indemnification for “all damages you suffered and any attributable LEGO gains or benefits,” including statutory damages and attorneys’ fees.
And it is that, according to the intellectual property expert Mike Dunford, there are many sides to the case, starting with the amount of the jacket that is actually protectable, since copyright law only protects the creative elements that are separable from a useful item, like a dust jacket and in Concannon’s case there don’t seem to be many.
Now the decision will only depend on a court, which must determine if the “unique location, coordination and arrangement” of the elements that appear on the jacket are grounds for infringement by LEGO and will leave a lesson to this and many other brands that they tend to take trends and generate products from them: each involved must sign in common agreement before replicating any type of creative content.
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