The Code of Conduct and Ethics and the Protocols Governing Fashion Design in the Country - Assignment Example

RUNNING HEAD: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE ESSAY Analysis of the designing profession Name Institution May, 2012 Professional Practice Essay Analysis of the designing profession The designing profession highly protects the interests of indigenous people. The designing profession (Fashion design) has the public interest at heart; it has a professional code of conduct, guidelines and protocols which are used in the protection of the indigenous interests. Professional code of conduct and ethics In order to remain relevant in the industry, fashion designers should put the interest of the local people or the indigenous people as their first priority. It is very important for the Australian fashion designers to be recognized in the country’s fashion industry as the professionals with high standard. In order to achieve this, the fashion designers are expected to conducts themselves honestly and honorably when dealing with people, colleges and community as a way of protecting the indigenous interests. The professional code of conduct in Australia is based on the Model Code of Professional Conduct for Designers. According to this model, a designer has the responsibility over the community and should accept any professional obligation with the aim of furthering the aesthetic and social standards of the community while keeping the dignity and honor of the profession. The designer should also not accept any position which will lead to a conflict between the professional duty and personal interest. All this are done as ways of protecting the indigenous interests. The designer should also acquaint himself with the business of his or her client and also design standards which will act in the best interest of the clients and which will be within the limits of professional responsibility. To protect the indigenous interests, the designer is not allowed to work on two or more simultaneous assignments which are in direct competition without informing the employer or the client. Public interest is highly treasured as the professional designers are expected to treat all knowledge of the intentions of the client as confidential. Confidentiality is a quality adopted by professional designers in order to protect the interest of the local or the indigenous people. In case of any advertisement to be done by the professional designer, he or she should ensure that the advert is dignified. The information included in the advertisement should be free from ostentatious, laudatory or complimentary expressions and implications and should be truthful. By doing this the professional designer will be protecting the interest of the indigenous people. The interests of the local or the indigenous people should be highly protected. To do this, a professional designer should be fair in his or her criticism abut should not lead to the regeneration of the reputation or work of a fellow designer. The designer should also not attempt indirectly or directly to supplant another designer who has had a firm commitment with a certain client on a particular project. The designer should also not allow his or her name to be associated with the realization of a design which has been so changed by the clients as no longer to be substantially the original work of the designer. All this are aimed at protecting the interest of the indigenous people. A part of their responsibility towards the environment and society, a professional designer should consider the social, environmental and cultural implications of his or her work in order to minimize adverse impacts. A designer should not engage himself or herself in the basis of age, sex, race, national origin and disability. As a way of protecting the interest of the indigenous people, a professional designer should not accept any instructions from employer or client which will infringe on the human rights of other people. The code of conduct and ethics is mainly aimed at ensuring that all the interest of the people are prioritized. Protocols and guidelines in Australian fashion designing Fashion designers should not copy their designs. It is important for every designer to have an original piece of design to avoid copyright infringement. In the Australian fashion designing, originality in every piece of design is the protocol or code of behavior. Copyright protection in Australia is available for styles like designs and it is highly protected by the law. In Australia, it is not a necessity for the copyright owner to complete any formality like payment of fees or registration in order to obtain protection. Copyright protection is therefore not depended on any formal notice but it is a best practice in Australia and as a protocol, it is advisable for all copyright owners to place a copyright notice in a prominent place of their work. This is made to ensure the protection of the designers against copyright infringement which leads to the protection of the interests of the indigenous people. The IP laws in Australia provide a legal framework which is aimed at protecting the designer’s innovative and creative ideas as well as their designs. The country has the IP rights which encourages artistic expression and innovation like design and fashion and also helps them to expand and build their businesses, create new jobs and stimulate the sector both overseas and in Australia. The legal protection of the IP rights in Australia provides artists, designers, business people, inventors and entrepreneurs with the exclusive rights to use and control and also benefits from the creative and intellectual work. Once the designers enjoy these rights, then they will ensure that their artist work is done in a way which will protect the indigenous interests. In Australia, if a designer has already disclosed his or her design whether sold copies, exhibited or catalogued, the designs may not be considered to be distinctive or new. However, a designer can use formal publication process as a way of preventing others from obtaining registration for the same design; here a formal publication request can be used. Publication in Australia prevents other designers from obtaining certification. If a designer is unable to register his or her design and wants to prevent others from registering the same design, he or she can use a formal publication can be used. Opinions In my own opinion, I think the protocols and the professional code of conduct and ethics does not go far enough as some designers usually flout the protocol and code of conduct. For example, the infringement of copyrights is highly rampant in the Australian industry and especially in the fashion industry. In certain instances, one may find dresses or designs from different designers being identical an indication that one of the designers may have copied from the other making the designs to lack originality. The fashion design in Australia has been facing a long term crisis in terms of originality and copyright infringement. For many designers, oversees buying, websites like net-a-porter and style.com and magazines have become the primary source of ideas and copying in the country has become a way of designing. Most designs in Australia have been based on ideas and samples found in the magazine photographs. It seems like in Australia, the designers do not have nay time to design and that is why they end up copying from other designers. Majority of the designers in Australia copy from the magazines and other sources only to give the design a small editing. By the end of the design, the edited design will be more or less the same as the original design and this means that the designers in Australia either lack the ideas to design original designs or do not have enough time for that or there is no strict punishment of any copyright infringement. For example, a case in Melbourne where there was a copyright infringement in the case of two identical dresses. The brand review in Melbourne convinced the judge that a dress by Sydney Label was a copy of another dress presented to the judge. Improvements to be made The fashion rule in Australia should be enhanced in a way to make it more punitive to the offenders. For example, as part of disclosure in Australia, the designer should register his or her design to be new to prevent other designers from registering the same design. The law should include punishments for any designer who may publish a similar design to the one already registered. The code of conduct of the Australian fashion designers should also include a punitive way of punishing the designers who infringes the copyrights of other designers. For example, the code of conduct of fashion designers should withdraw the licenses of all those fashion designers who are found flouting the code of conduct and ethics and the protocols governing fashion design in the country. The designers who are found copyrighting other designs from other designers should also be charged in a court of law and even sentenced to imprisonment or fined heavily as a way of discouraging other designers from copying other designers work. This will also encourage the Australian designers to do their own designs and to make maximum use of the knowledge they have acquired in class work. Reference The voice of professional design, http://www.dia.org.au/index.cfm?id=35. Accessed on 22th May 2012 Read More