reference (like you do when you write an paper) -- what would happen?" Having to prove where their idea came from isn't as much of a problem (assuming one remembers) as being required to file legal work to have commercial rights to it. That is the problem. Independent designers don't have enough money as it is. No one can say what this will cost but it's incalculable because each design will have to be vetted through a visual database which will take hours in legal fees. If the proposed law passes, independent designers will have to hire the attorneys and get the registrations because their contractors and pattern makers will require it because there is no indemnity and they don't want to get sued. The law will only benefit elite socialite designers who already have legal departments and those few independents who can cut, sew and sell their own stuff in house and don't need to hire anyone. Retailers will want proof of ownership too because they're on the hook for piracy -a criminal offense. http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive\\... Thanks for the insight Kathleen. What you say is very true. It is also potentially problematic for those same "socialite designers" as many of them are copying other designers left right and centre anyway -- so even if they sued how would they prove their idea is the original? What makes an idea in fashion original? I concluded in my paper that stricter copyright law isn't the answer -- it is too problematic to