Why is Louis Vuitton so protective of its image?
Louis Vuitton is one of the most luxurious brands not only in the United States but also in the world, and it has mostly been associated with the rich. The company has been recognized for quality products that depict a sign of affluence to the people who possess such items. Therefore, it becomes imperative for the company to maintain its brand image. The company has created an aura of sophistication and elegance, which are vital for the continued success of the company. The company has to ensure that any other enterprise does not reproduce its products because if this happens, the high-end consumers may not be willing to pay the enormous amount of money to a company whose products have fallen out of fashion. As a result, the company has always been swift to institute lawsuits for knockoff companies that imitate products from the company.
The high-end market may respond faster to a product that appears to be common in the market. To ensure sustainability, the company has to be so protective of its products so that they remain unique. This will enable the company to retain the market it currently holds. Furthermore, the company needs to have an exclusive right to produce the product, something that will eliminate competition and loss of the market share. As a result, the company has to be proactive in instituting legal actions against businesses that imitate its products under the parody right of fair use.
- Do you think Louis Vuitton should continue to pursue legal action against companies that parody its products? Why or why not?
Louis Vuitton should not continue to institute legal actions against companies that parody its work or its products. The copyright act has enumerated the factors that determine whether a particular use of a product for parody is fair use. Most of the establishments that have parodied its products use the inventions either for noncommercial reasons, for educational purposes, or criticism. If a firm that has imitated the work of another company adheres to these guidelines, such a company cannot be sued for copyright infringement. Such a case will be easy to determine if the parodied work falls within the categories indicated above.
However, the scope of the fair use may be extended after considering the purpose for which the work was used. Furthermore, if the work has been transformed in some way such that it is not a copy of the original material, the judge may consider this to be fair use. The amount and the portion of copyrighted material also determine the scope of the fair use when considering whether to sue a company for copyright infringement. If the product has been copied as a whole, including the material, then this becomes infringement. However, this criterion is not in black and white since there are instances where a court has found the use of entire work to be for fairness while in others a small quantity to be improper use. Another consideration of the parody is the effect on the market, where if the impact is enormous, then it is essential to institute legal actions. Therefore, Louis Vuitton should not be quick to initiate legal action against parodied material without considering all the factors to ascertain whether the case is merited or not.