{"id":117882,"date":"2026-07-24T15:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/117882\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:14:14","slug":"ai-raises-new-questions-about-fashion-design-ownership-and-copyright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/117882\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Raises New Questions About Fashion Design Ownership and Copyright"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt a webinar<\/a> hosted by Berkeley College, a lawyer presented a pattern inspired by Kente, the colorful fabric from West Africa<\/a> that looks as if the colors themselves were woven together. The online audience consited of fashion<\/a> designers, professionals and students in Africa, who were there to understand better how to operate in the U.S. market.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe lawyer was transparent. She said she was not a designer. She made it with ChatGPT<\/a> after typing a prompt. The AI-generated pattern, however, was not the point. It was just an illustration to drive the central question.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWould this be capable of protection under the U.S.<\/a> Copyright Act?\u201d asked Amy Goldsmith, who is a partner at Tarter, Krinsky & Drogin. \u201cAnd the simple answer is no way, no how.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGoldsmith said the U.S. Constitution requires human inventorship from a copyright and patent perspective. AI prompts don\u2019t count, no matter how sophisticated they may be. Furthermore, designers must read the fine print in the AI they use.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you look at the terms and conditions of the AI tools, you need to make sure that all of the inputs and all of the outputs are going to be yours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe webinar<\/a> was developed by Berkeley College and the\u00a0Fashion<\/a> Law Academy Africa\u00a0to address gaps in fashion law knowledge with a focus on import\/export processes, intellectual property rights, AI and retail operations between Africa and the U.S. markets.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe intent of the webinar is to meet at the intersection of fashion and legal studies,\u201d Linda Mauro, Berkeley College associate vice president, strategic partnerships, said in a statement. \u201cBerkeley College wants to bring to the forefront the discussion on the importance of creatives, specifically out of Africa, and to realize the importance of the legal side of intercontinental business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the webinar touched on the many ways that AI can complement the design process, the discussion focused heavily on the importance of legal ownership over design, and how elusive that can be because of AI.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you use AI, make sure the platform rights protect you,\u201d said Nicole Alexander, the founder of luxury accessories brand Ivy Alexander and an adjunct professor at Berkeley College. \u201cRead the fine print. Hire a good lawyer to make sure, and don\u2019t rely on AI to draft your contracts. Don\u2019t do that. Bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlexander recalled advice she received from a colleague who works in public relations: Products tell a story. She reiterated that at the webinar to stress the cultural and market significance of having a story.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne of Africa\u2019s greatest competitive advantages isn\u2019t lower manufacturing costs. It\u2019s authenticity. Consumers want to know. They want to know who made this. What does this pattern mean? Where did the craftsmanship come from? Don\u2019t hide those stories,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a great marketing opportunity for you, particularly if you\u2019re going to be importing into our country,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a webinar hosted by Berkeley College, a lawyer presented a pattern inspired by Kente, the colorful fabric…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,2590,2917],"class_list":["post-117882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-fashion","tag-webinar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}