Amanda Schallert, writing in the Daily Journal, describes how design house plaintiffs have seen recent success in the courts. These successes often arise in situations where garment and retail companies misappropriate artwork created by the design houses and incorporate the artwork into garments to sell at market.

She writes:

Fashion lawyers point to the successes of Venice-based Doniger/Burroughs as the reason textile copyright litigation has increased over the past five years, due to the firm’s six-figure jury verdicts and the sheer number of complaints it churns out.

Firm partners Stephen Doniger and Scott Burroughs are also quoted in the piece:

“What that shows us is that these infringers see these lawsuits as a cost of doing business,” Scott A. Burroughs said. Instead of hiring artists, “they’d rather go out and look at what is popular and copy those designs.”

“If you don’t know what the providence of the artwork you’re working with is, caveat emptor,” Doniger said.

You can read the full piece at www.dailyjournal.com (subscription required).