Copyright protection in fashion. In fashion a lot of designers provide their designs with a recognizable trademark to distinguish themselves from other designers. A well known example of a trademark in fashion are the high heels with the red soles designed by the French shoe designer Christian Louboutin. These red soled shoe designs were launched by Louboutin in 1992 and they have been successful ever since. In 2011, during the show in which the resort collection of Yves Saint Laurent was showed, an obvious copycat red soled shoe design appeared on the catwalk. After that show Christian Louboutin sued Yves Saint Laurent for selling an identical shoe with red sole, that could easily mislead the public, for which Louboutin was awarded a trademark in 2008. The discussion about copyright protection in fashion is going on for several ages. 'A government ordinance penalized the counterfeiting of weaving patterns for the first time in 1711 in Lyon.'1 But there is still a difference between the European law and the U.S. law. Fashion is not considered to be the same as art in the United States, that is why it is not possible to get copyright protection for fashion designs. 'Copyrights generally are not granted to apparel because articles of clothing, which are both creative and functional, are considered "useful articles" as opposed to works of art.'2 The disadvantages of not having the law for copyright protection is that the reputation of large brands can get damaged because of the many copies that are made of their designs by companies that produce the designs in less quality. It is on the other hand difficult to protect fashion designs because through the centuries, a lot of possibilities have already been explored in the way of designing clothes, therefore there are hardly any clothing designs that are completely new. In conclusion, the discussion about making copyright protection available for fashion designs worldwide is endless and may never be solved. Perhaps the best way to see it is as Coco Chanel once said: 'Imitation reflects the highest form of flattery'.3 Barrère, C. ; Delabruyère, S., 'European Journal of Law and Ec onomics' Springer Science+Business Media, 4 March 2011. [20 September 2012] L. J. Jackson, 'Some Designers Say Their Work Deserves Copyright Protection; Others Say It Would Harm the Industry', ABA Journal, 1 July 2011. [20 September 2012]. 1 Dr. Fischer, F., 'Design law in the European fashion sector' WIPO MAGAZINE, February 2008. < http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008/01/article_0006.html> [20 September 2012] 2 Cox, C. ; Jenkins, J. 'Between the Seams, A Fertile Commons: An Overview of the Relationship Between Fashion and Intellectual Property' THE NORMAN LEAR CENTER, 29 January 2005. [20 September 2012] 3 Morand, P., L'allure de Chanel, Paris 1996.