Galliano fined for copying imagery

[Scott]

Fashion designer Galliano fined for copying imagery


PARIS (Reuters) - Fashion designer John Galliano was ordered to pay 200,000 euros ($271,800) in damages to renowned U.S. photographer William Klein for unauthorized use of his atmospheric imagery in an advertising campaign.

The photographer, who lives in France said he was "furious" at Galliano's use of some of his half-painted photographs of street scenes in advertisements in several fashion magazines.
Klein's giant versions of contact sheets showing a series of photographs, painted over in colored enamel to highlight particular images, were a popular feature of a recent exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
The court of first instance in Paris said Klein's "painted contacts" were a hallmark of his work and Galliano's use of imagery was clearly illegal in the absence of authorization from the photographer.
It ordered the designer to pay 150,000 euros to compensate for abuse of Klein's rights as author and 50,000 euros in damages to the image of the work that resulted from the poor quality of the reproductions.
Klein told the daily Le Monde he had first become aware of the campaign when a friend asked him why he had authorized the use of his pictures in an advertisement.
He called the reproductions of his work "gross plagiary" and said: "I am insulted and furious."
Galliano was appointed designer at Givenchy in 1995 before switching to Christian Dior the following year. He also has a label that bears his name.
Klein said he was particularly offended because Dior has led a relentless campaign against illegal reproductions of its own creations.

*yahoo.com

 

[Scott]

it is rather hypocritical and prefect example of that hypocrisy that belies with these conglomerate companies.

 

[Dkammern]

what campaigns does he refer to? and how are these fabulous photographs that klein does?? any pics?

 

[Yimi]

pics please!!!

 

[Salvatore]

This is for Dior or Galliano? I haven't seen the ads yet for Dior and I was not aware there were ad campaigns for John Galliano.

 

[SandraJH]

Well I just went to some sites about the photographer, and I'm guessing these may be the images used ? And they are all a part of a 'paris' collection

(designboom.com)



(froggydelight.com)

 

[*k.a.t.e*]

I'm sure I'd seen the colours in a Galliano ad before so I had a flick through a few recent magazines and found this in Vogue UK. It has some similaries to the pics above but there's probably more in the campaign that're more similar. Sorry for the bad pic btw



my photo

 

[Yimi]

but, in many ways everyone in the fashion world makes copies,
and calls it "inspiration"

 

[Scott]

i think the point is that galliano/dior used the copies as major advertising campaigns....

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Wow, what gall ...

 

[Yimi]

well, thinking about money it is like a quarter of million!!!!!

 

[LostInNJ]

Is it truly Galliano's fault, or was it someone else that is supposed to handle these kind of copyright issues? Not to say that the person who's name bears the label isn't at fault, but really, who is responsible.

 

[ilaughead]

^Yes, I doubt Galliano had too much input on the graphic design of his least important label's campaign. We too easily place blame on the designer of a company, not the hundreds of staff members on the business side.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

it is rather hypocritical and prefect example of that hypocrisy that belies with these conglomerate companies.

The concept behind the paintings is vaguely interesting, I guess, but the execution is so heavy handed... and the display space... it looks like a nightclub. I wonder who actually chose the images for Galliano.

 

[noahman12345]

thats is crap u cant sue someone for having the same painting style

 

[Scott]

^it's not about similarity doll. it's about blatant copying. there is a difference,you know?

i dunno who specifically chose the image or what graphic artist worked on them....but you see,Galliano does design Dior and does have a heavy stake in what goes with what he does aesthetically,so I am sure he saw them and then passed them along.

 

[noahman12345]

A couple lines of paint is not coping

 

[JJohnson]

Wait...is Galliano paying out of pocket for this? Everyone keeps saying LVMH owns his company, but I never see the company listed under LVMH's brands, if they owned it, wouldn't they have to pay the fines? *confused*

 

[Monsieur]

A couple lines of paint is not coping

it is if it's clearly stylised... think of the coca cola dynamic ribbon device...

in a similar way the lines of paint are defining and unique features of the artist's work...

 

[birdofparadise]

I disagree, I think this would be one thing if Galliano had used his actual photographs without Klein's permission since the actual photography is what Klein is known for. Calvin Klein (not related) used the contact sheet theme in their Kate Moss ads for last season--William didn't sue them. He's suing for the paint lines and color, something he himself obviously didn't create or was the first to use. Can Vionnet turn around sue Galliano for all of his freeloading use of their (her) bias cut?