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Writer's pictureEvelina Kyritsi

What legal impacts does AI have on the Fashion Industry?

Updated: Sep 16

The fashion industry is transforming due to advances in artificial intelligence (AI). In addition to improving consumer experiences, AI is also changing the legal landscape, especially with regard to intellectual property rights, privacy, advertising, and employment. This article explores how AI affects the fashion business and how the legal environment should prepare for these changes.


The Use of AI in the Fashion Industry


The fashion industry is one that has benefited from the application of AI. Through the compilation of data from the Internet and social media, the fashion industry has been able to use AI in a number of creative ways, including gaining insight into rapidly changing fashion trends, figuring out what consumers want, helping with the design process, and gathering information on salient features of competing fashion lines and price points. Access to such large amounts of data, as well as the ability to synthesize that data objectively and efficiently, is advantageous to fashion companies; however, these developments may create new legal challenges and threats to intellectual property rights as well as implicate privacy concerns in ways that were not previously problematic.

someone taking a picture of shoes

Effects of AI on Intellectual Property Rights and Privacy


AI's role in developing new fashion designs is expanding. Algorithms may use large datasets of fashion trends, historical designs, and consumer preferences to generate new patterns, styles, and collections. However, this creates significant problems with intellectual property rights. Generally, designers and brand owners can gain a variety of intellectual property rights in their designs, logos, graphics, pictures, and brand names, such as trademark, trade dress, patent, and copyright protection. 


With regard to nonhuman works, most national laws are reluctant to grant copyright protection to works created by "non-human" creators. If such AI-generated works are not protected; they may become increasingly prone to copying and harming fashion companies and brands in the future, raising complex questions about what constitutes infringement for designs created in part or whole by AI.


AI systems may not be listed as inventors in patents, although the use of an AI system by a human does not preclude that person from qualifying as an inventor if they "substantially contributed" to the claimed invention. In contrast, AI-created trademarks may be protected since trademark rights are derived from their commercial use rather than their invention or conception. To preserve their AI-generated concepts, human designers should be included in the final stages of development, ensuring that the human element may claim inventorship.


AI also creates privacy issues for customers because it targets specific individuals across a wide range of data categories, including personal data that customers might not have anticipated fashion firms to acquire. As AI is developed and used more widely, businesses and their legal advisors need to be aware of its legal consequences to be competitive in the market.


Ethical Considerations and Impact on Employment


The use of AI in the fashion industry raises ethical concerns, ranging from labor standards in AI-powered manufacturing to the influence on sustainability. As the industry grapples with these problems, regulatory frameworks are expected to emerge to address issues such as transparency in AI decision-making processes and accountability for the ethical consequences of AI applications in fashion.


AI could reduce the workforce, raising legal concerns about employment rights, job displacement, and compliance with labor laws. Companies will need to consider how automation affects workplace safety and employee rights, potentially leading to new legal standards.

robot and human working together

Advertising and Content Authenticity


Brands using AI-generated marketing content must ensure compliance with advertising regulations to avoid legal action for misleading or false representations. Legal standards may evolve regarding the responsibilities of brands using AI to generate advertisements or promotional material, including disclosure requirements.


A growing concern is the possibility of the quick spread of credible falsehoods and formerly true information about a brand, which can result in significant reputational loss. The increasing sophistication and prevalence of AI technology affects the traditional reputation management approach, especially with the recent introduction of deep fakes. AI-generated deep fakes alter photos and videos to produce convincing but fabricated content, frequently showcasing a near-identical duplicate of a specific person or thing. Deep fakes have serious consequences for the fashion business, notably in terms of customer trust, authenticity, and brand integrity. 


International Law on the Effects of AI on the Fashion Industry


The worldwide character of the fashion industry needs an integrated approach to AI and fashion. Jurisdictions around the world are attempting to update and adapt their intellectual property rules to address the problems posed by AI-generated material. International collaboration is critical for ensuring a consistent legal framework that protects both inventors and consumers in the global fashion sector.


Conclusions


The implications and challenges of AI may continue to raise new legal issues, but the law must address the intersection of AI with intellectual property and privacy issues to avoid threats to innovation and better define the rules of protection of intellectual property and data.


Despite these potential legal concerns and uncertainties surrounding AI, the fashion industry is likely to continue to employ technology, as the benefits of AI allow brand owners to remain competitive and will likely play a larger part in product development. Companies and brands should invest in comprehensive intellectual property management systems that use artificial intelligence to monitor and enforce intellectual property rights around the world. 



 

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