Copying - An Haute Couture Perspective

Last week, I attended a City Womens Network drinks reception hosted by haute couture fashion designer Roubi L’ Roubi in his studio in the City. I chatted to Roubi about the presentation I had just given at the Copyright Licensing Agency earlier that afternoon.

In contrast to the social media approach to content - where bloggers freely use photos from other websites and video-makers create mash-up movies from other people’s footage - the traditional approach to content is to protect it from being used by others without financial payment.

The main theme of my presentation to the rights-holders was that there are other currencies and values to be gained from taking a more free and easy approach to your content - kudos and community, fun and creativity can be used by content creators to disseminate their work and their reputation more widely than the old protectionist approach and in this way, create a more valuable brand and a larger market for their product.

Roubi, who creates amazing ceramics and large canvas paintings as well as beautiful fashion designs, nodded enthusiastically. “It’s much better to share and be open with your work than to hide it all away!” he said. In the fashion business, designers look at designs created by others for inspiration and develop and build on those designs to make something entirely new - but there are also those who copy an idea out-and-out. Roubi’s take on this is: “If someone copies you, it’s an inspiration for you to get new ideas, keep moving ahead, keep innovating. That’s business. You have to be a leader and keep creating and being the best. You can’t stand still in business. Creatively, it’s a good way to be challenged to come up with new ideas.”

This entrepreneurial take from a successful creative designer was striking for its contrast to the worries and concerns expressed at the copyright meeting earlier that day. As a novelist, I completely understood those concerns from the afternoon discussions and yet, as someone involved in a creative online business, I also immediately connected with what Roubi was saying. Looking at the social media, marketing and communication businesses out there online, it’s easy to see that the millenial approach of openness and sharing is very much to the fore. Here on the ZenGuide blog, I offer advice and tips and share my views for free in the same spirit.

Roubi told the story of a jewellery designer who had created an innovative design for a delicate and exquisite necklace. The necklace was sold only through one retail outlet in London. The designer had not sold many over the years but had not wanted to make it available in more outlets because she was afraid it might be copied. It didn’t make any business sense, Roubie commented. His story reminded me of the self-defeating approach of the Bertolt Brecht estate I mentioned earlier this week.

I want to leave the last word to Roubi, who emailed me some additional thoughts on succeeding in life and in business:

“My two rules of thumb:

- open your little black book and share with others.

- be transparent with work and open to others.

They serve me well and make me enjoy attracting people with same attitude to life.”