If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, then this paper should feel extremely flattered.
Local company Koan Design’s (宇寬設計) new “Rain Times” tote has the design of the Taipei Times’ layout printed on the front, back and inside of the bag.
At first glance, the bag’s design is almost an exact copy of this paper’s front page. The most apparent difference is that the name of the newspaper on the bag is the “Rain Times.”
PHOTO: CATHERINE SHU, TAIPEI TIMES
Koan Design said the name “Rain Times” was chosen by designer Bruce Chan (陳盈守), who got the idea when he saw people using newspapers to shield themselves from rain. The waterproof tote is designed to be used as a normal bag, but can be opened up to expand to the size of a newspaper page and held over the head.
But does imitation cross the copyright line?
Lee Chih-an (李治安), a professor at National Chengchi University’s Institute of Intellectual Property, said copyright infringement would depend on the originality of the design.
“If the bag is designed so that the average consumer might confuse it with the newspaper or mistakenly think that it is in some way related to the news company, such as the tote being a complimentary gift that comes with a newspaper subscription, then the outcome of any lawsuit might be favorable,” Lee said.
Chan said that while he came up with the creative concept behind the bag, the newspaper layout was designed by a group of colleagues who looked at “many different newspapers.”
Kuo Yao-huang (郭耀煌), president of Koan Design, apologized to the Taipei Times.
“We will immediately recall the bags from retailers and produce a new design of the bag within two weeks,” he said.
Amber Chang, special assistant to the Taipei Times’ president, said she was not surprised by the imitation because the paper has won numerous awards for its design. However, she said the paper regretted the striking resemblance, coupled with Koan’s decision to sell the bags, without first contacting the paper.
“We are glad to hear that [Koan] has apologized for the incident, but we will continue to observe whether the company carries out the redesign as promised,” she said.
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