“The Wrong Way to Protect Your Trademark” Redux.

I think most college students who rely mostly on their own earning power when it comes to personal expenses like clothes and accessories must end up with a fairly laissez-faire attitude towards the sanctity of copyright (or risk deep hypocrisy). We’re not going to look for the most explicit of Forever 21’s designer copies, and may I say, they’re almost never the things worth wearing at any price. We’re not going to stop shopping there either, but we can grant that Forever 21 probably deserves to lose lawsuits regarding those products.

That being said, there’s a right way and a wrong way to protect your trademark. Louis Vuitton is justified in suing Ebay for allowing rampant sales of fake LV bags masquerading as the real thing. LVMH is not justified, however, in suing an artist for creating a piece that mocks the status symbol nature of their bags as well as the consumer and celebrity-obsessed culture that makes their things relevant in the first place.

I’m absolutely not in support of those who believe their pricey label apparently trumps constitutional free speech rights. That, thankfully, is rarely an issue.