A Fabric Design Has Been Found to be a Work of Artistic Craftsmanship: Will Response Clothing Cause a Shift in How UK Copyright is Assessed?

摘要

This comment discusses the Response judgment in which HH Judge Hacon has found that apiece of fabric cannot be protected by copyright as a graphic work but can be protected as a work of artistic craftsmanship. This is an interesting development in UK copyright law which gives a relatively narrow interpretation of "graphic work", a much wider interpretation of "work of artistic craftsmanship " than we have seen previously, and a very wide interpretation of "public". It is also the first UK decision which begins to consider the implications of the CJEU ruling in Cofemel.