Michael Kors' Entire Spring 2010 Ad Gets Knocked Off—Cheaply!

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

On December 3rd in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, Michael Kors filed a claim of copyright infringement against Oatt, a company that produces inexpensive graphic-print T-shirts, alleging the company appropriated Kors' spring 2010 ad for use on $15.99 T-shirts it sold through the website PapayaClothing.com. The complaint, which includes a demand for a jury trial, claims that Oatt "manufactured, distributed and sold women's shirts that have outright copied the MK Spring 2010 Ad without Michael Kors' authorization." Point 19 reads:

Oatt Collection's willful and unauthorized use of Michael Kors' intellectual property confuses consumers into believing that Michael Kors actually produced the shirt, and/or that Michael Kors is somehow affiliated with Papaya and/or Oatt Collection, and/or that Michael Kors sponsored or endorsed the use of the MK Spring 2010 Ad on the infringing shirts.

And to add insult to injury? The shirts were made of crappy quality! Yup. There's the clincher. See Point 20:

The infringing shirts, which have retailed for $15.99, are made of poor quality materials, and reflect a cheap image that stands in stark and disparaging contrast to the high quality, luxury fabrics and workmanship that are associate with Michael Kors' products.

C'mon guys, if you're gonna knock off Michael Kors, at least do it with some class, will ya?
· Michael Kors v. Oatt Collection, 10 cv 9080 (S.D.N.Y 12-3-10) [LexisNexis]