John Galliano sued for copyright infringement

John Galliano has been sued for using the creative works of another artist for his own collections. The British designer used replicas of a renowned U.S. photographer's "atmospheric" images in his latest ad campaign without acting the artist's permission. Galliano reportedly is required to pay William Klein Eur 200,000 for the unauthorized use of his "painted contacts," in addition to Eur 150,000 for copy right infringement, and an additional Eur 50,000 for damaging the reputation of his work, reported for poor production quality.

Klein who resides in France , is "insulted and furious" that Galliano used his images in ads that ran in several fashion magazines and were "gross plagiary." The prints were replicas of his signature half-painted photos of street scenes. The artist has gained notoriety for his technique of using coloured enamels to highlight parts of photographs. One of these collections was recently featured at an exhibit at the Pompidou Centre in Paris where it did very well.

When a friend of Klein's saw Dior's ads in a fashion magazine and asked why he gave Galliano permission to use his work, the artist was outraged. That was the first time he'd heard of the campaign. Galliano is fighting the case and hopes to have the fine reduced. His lawyer, Michel-Paul Escaped, says, "John Galliano's advertising campaign did not reproduce any original image of the artist, it can't therefore be accused of be counterfeiting." The entire case is ironic, considering the lengths luxury fashion houses go to, including Dior, to prevent counterfeiting and copies of their collections and accessories.