A stolen textile design on a dress in my closet. Shit.
I received a comment on an old post about the textile print pictured above that was used on a Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent dress I own. I was alarmed to learn that the graphic print on the silk fabric was lifted from an Australian artist by the name of Mini Graff. The reader wrote:
Did you know this print was taken & reproduced from an Australian artists website? Her name is Mini Graff. The design is derived from drawing of a horse called Trevor and the native Australian flower called Kangaroo Paw. The fashion industry is ruthless!!!
Thanks for the heads up reader! I immediately checked out Mini’s website http://www.minigraff.com and introduced myself to her rad art. I emailed her and she quickly responded with a thoughtful response. The jist of it was that the print was taken unlawfully from her website and reproduced & sold for profit with no acknowledgment to her. She used the design as background texture for a number of her own projects. She pursued legal action sending a cease and desist letter which only resulted in Mini opting to back down after an expensive exchange of legal letters.
It is disheartening to know that I’ve purchased something that is part of the whole Internet copyright law vagueness. It is also frustrating that taking legal action is beyond most people’s financial means and time. So many independent artists and designers have their work stolen only to appear on a corporate brand unacknowledged. Urban Outfitters was notorious for doing this for awhile but they did begin to actually collaborate with artists and designers in the last few years. I haven’t seen anything written in the media/blogesphere about them lately. The latest big case getting media/blog coverage was the Trovata VS. Forever 21 debacle. A mistrial was declared in that case and of course Forever 21 played dumb, which seems to be the best defense unfortunately. It also sucks that artists who go through this might be fearful of having a defamation suit slammed on them if they take their story public. Fuck corporate oppression.
While I can understand that large corporate firms may not know where they get the textiles they source it’s amazing to me that the justice system/companies don’t feel compelled to compensate the artist, after the fact, once it is obvious the design was stolen and the company clearly profited from it. I realize copyright in the digital age is a new frontier and there are so many complexities with what is right and what is wrong but it is certainly going to make me think twice about purchasing clothes from corporate chain stores that carry clothes manufactured by negligent corporate fashion companies. Even though I always hope that a design is produced in house I guess as the consumer we can never be 100% sure how things are manufactured. Sticking to local goods might be the easiest way to stay conscientious. Mini is speaking at a Sydney event on Friday June 5th about her experience with this print & how artists might be able to protect themselves from similar situations. http://vividsydney.com/copyleft-right-between-ip-remix-culture/
I bought the dress because of the cool print on it. I’ve never worn the dress and was actually considering selling it right before I was notified of all of this. 
I’m not sure what I will do with it now, especially hearing from Mini herself that she thought the reproduction of the print was sub-par, but I felt compelled to pass Mini’s story on.
One good thing that has come out of all of this is our introduction to Mini Graff, who is an accomplished artist based in Sydney Australia. Turning a negative into a positive she made a series of prints based on her awful experience. Totally love seeing a woman making some meaningful urban art. San Francisco needs a Mini Graff mural. Here is her bio from her website>
Mini Graff is a Sydney based artist whose work tends to large scale mural projects, both private and public. Mini’s street art challenges typical perceptions of graffiti art. She stencils and paints images on to a variety of media (walls, boards, wallpaper, rarely canvas) which strongly relate to the given environment and community, transforming an anonymous repetitive urban landscape into a unique and personal aesthetic experience. She works with local identities/ characters, artists, musicians and businesses to create each unique project.
Mini with one of her murals.
