Latest / Best of Business / Kate Duckworth: intellectual property law expert on Kiwi designer Sera Lilly's designs being sold on Shein without her consent

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Kate Duckworth: intellectual property law expert on Kiwi designer Sera Lilly's designs being sold on Shein without her consent · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Que fashion designer Sarah Lily has taken to social media
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  Speaker 2: after finding not only her not I'll start again, after
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: finding not only her designs but her original photos on
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  Speaker 2: fast fashion brand Sheen. In a video shared to Facebook,
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  Speaker 2: Lily revealed screenshots of at least two of her Friday
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  Speaker 2: Flamingo designs being sold on the site. Sheen has since
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: removed the photos and items for sale. To discuss how
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  Speaker 2: this all sets from a legal perspective and what level
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  Speaker 2: of protection k WE companies have. I'm joined by intellectual
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  Speaker 2: property law expert Kate Duckworth. Thanks to your time this morning, Kate,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Thank you for having me on your show.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Hey, what are the rules here? Can a company overseas
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  Speaker 2: take someone else's designs and sell them?
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: No?
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  Speaker 3: And this is so blatant, isn't it. The dresses are
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  Speaker 3: almost identical, and they probably are identical, and the photographs
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  Speaker 3: that are clearly the exact photographs being used. So it's
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  Speaker 3: one of the more blatant and brazen examples that I've seen.
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  Speaker 2: So if they had taken the design, but photographed it
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  Speaker 2: themselves and maybe just altered it a fraction they could
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  Speaker 2: potentially get away with it.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that question of how much of an alteration is
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  Speaker 3: it that it takes it away from the original, So
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  Speaker 3: that's when things get murky. But this one, at least
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  Speaker 3: from what we've seen, does look to be very similar,
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  Speaker 3: if not the same.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it's outrageous. I mean the photos. It looks like
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  Speaker 2: they've just literally taken the marketing photos and youth that
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  Speaker 2: they haven't even bothered trying to pretend that they haven't.
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  Speaker 3: Yah, I agree, it's very blatant, very obvious.
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  Speaker 2: So what does what sort of legal standing does a
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  Speaker 2: business like serially have here?
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  Speaker 3: There's a couple of legal avide news and from what
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  Speaker 3: it looks like, you would have a strong case under
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  Speaker 3: copyright for copying the dress design, copyright in the photographs themselves,
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  Speaker 3: and perhaps some other remedies at least in New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: Under New Zealand law for something like passing off where
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  Speaker 3: consumers would think that the original is or the second
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  Speaker 3: comer is exactly the same as the original it doesn't
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  Speaker 3: perceive any difference, and the Fair Trading Act for them
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  Speaker 3: mis leading and deceptive conduct. But it's this problem with
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  Speaker 3: the Internet of territoriality. So what's it's sorry, carry on,
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  Speaker 3: go ahead it you know it is still the Wild West.
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  Speaker 3: How do you enforce your rights on a website that's
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  Speaker 3: based overseas.
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  Speaker 2: That was going to be my next question, especially if
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  Speaker 2: you're a small New Zealand business. What is involved in
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  Speaker 2: trying to take them.
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  Speaker 3: On m Well, the first step has been done and
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  Speaker 3: it seems that Shine has apologized and taken it down,
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  Speaker 3: which is a huge win and means that perhaps no
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  Speaker 3: further action needs to be taken except for some very
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  Speaker 3: vigilant monitoring. But if that wasn't the case, and if
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  Speaker 3: Seine either ignored the requests or just said no, and
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  Speaker 3: then you're looking at having to try and find a
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  Speaker 3: court that would enforce your rights against them and force
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  Speaker 3: them to take down the pictures. But it's expensive, it
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  Speaker 3: can be time consuming, and because of that territoriality or
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  Speaker 3: jurisdictional problem can be very hard to do.
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  Speaker 2: Is it a common problem with sights like this and Timu?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, it is, I think, And that's one of the
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  Speaker 3: problems with these sites is that even if people know
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  Speaker 3: that it's not real and that it's ripping off and
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  Speaker 3: hrsing a New Zealand designer. The price is so low,
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  Speaker 3: it's just so tempting.
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  Speaker 2: There really is an element though, of responsibility on the
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  Speaker 2: consumer here to call out these companies and not buy
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  Speaker 2: cheaper riff offfs as well.
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  Speaker 3: Isn't it. Yeah, that is really the only way I
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  Speaker 3: think is that is to say, hey, don't harm New
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  Speaker 3: Zealand designers and New Zealand businesses and buy the real thing.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, I think that the price is so low.
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  Speaker 3: I can I'd like to think I wouldn't do it myself,
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  Speaker 3: but I can see why people do it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: No, we've put a band on those websites in our house, Kate. Look,
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  Speaker 2: thank you for talking us through that. Really appreciate your
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  Speaker 2: time this morning.
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