• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.123-135
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• 2014

The author has explored whether legal protection of fashion designs is possible under the current Korean Copyright Act with the purpose of promoting the understanding of the legal principles of the copyright law among fashion professionals. It examined the general provisions of the copyright law as well as the requisites for establishment of "works of authorship" and the types of protection stipulated by the copyright law, which are needed to understand the possibilities of legal protection for fashion designs under the law. It then analyzed several leading cases in the fashion designs sector for the interpretation of related legal principles. The Copyright Act defines "works of authorship" for protection as the creative works that express human ideas or emotions. Works to be legally protected under the law include artistic works that are equipped with the prerequisites for establishment of "works of authorship", or fashion designs that are equipped with the prerequisites for establishment of an independent applied artistic works whose originality is distinguishable from articles.