A while back, the Japanese embroidery artist Hiroko Kubota produced a wonderful shirt for me on which she embroidered the likeness of Hili. Here’s one of the series of photos I posted:
I really should wear this more often, but I’m afraid of wearing it out! Hiroko also produced a book of her cat shirts, and one of the sections features my shirt with the model:
Now Hiroko informs me that a dastardly company, “Paul & Joe“, has ripped off her designs, producing embroidered cat towels, shirts, and slippers using her very embroidered designs. The ripoffs:
Naturally, Hiroko filed a lawsuit, and this link shows that the company backed won, agreeing not to sell her designs on its clothing. I never cease to be amazed at the mendacity of some humans.
In the meantime, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Hiroko continues to make her famous cat shirts. You can see them on her flickr site (note: there are 9 pages!), and I put some of the nice cat designs below. (She also embroiders fish, fruit, frogs, flowers, d*gs, and so on.) The bad news is that she’s no longer selling them on her etsy site, and apparently makes them for Japanese customers only (I have registered a protest!). Note: the previous sentence was in error. Hiroko will still make shirts for foreign customers, but takes orders only once a year. If you wish to contact her, you may be able to do it through the flickr site; if not, email me.
Some new designs:
Go have a look—there are a gazillion shirts!
It might be worth moving to Japan just to get one of these cool shirts…and get out from under American politics.
What about a long vacation there, would that count?
The kitty with the yarn is my favorite.
Surely a Japanese reader can order one and have it shipped to you!
Or maybe you could get one on a visit. Would have to be off the rack because no time to wait for a custom make. Also, if you have a friend in Japan, say a military person or civilian working and living there, they could get you one. And, they could send it to you much cheaper than the expensive international mail cost. They have access to APO mail. Same cost as sending something within the US.
Maybe the high mail cost is why Hiroko no longer makes for U.S.?
One of the pics looked like they had used her exact design (just cropped it). That would be copyright infrigement. But are they, or anyone, else barred from doing their own designs on such shirts? One hopes not.
I think to infringe copyright, it would have to be a close copy of one of her designs.
But the idea of putting a cat on a shirt is not copyrightable, though some fat corporations would doubtless try to patent it (I’m looking at you, Apple).
cr
I would love to own one of these shirts and buy one for each of my sons. They are exceptionally beautiful!
Glad Hiroko was able to put a stop to the theft and unauthorized greedy use of her beautiful designs. Some of the cats pictured have the most impressive “eyebrows,” especially #3! Maybe we humans would be more tolerant of wayward and overgrown eyebrows, if we could use them to find our way in dark, narrow spaces, like cats do.
I love Hiroko Kubota’s amazing artistic skills and embroidery. It is unclear to me from the settlement announcement whether the lawsuit was about copying specific artwork (of specific art, such as a specific cat face) or the idea of an embroidered cat peeking out from a pocket or other place of concealment. If a specific cat design, then I could get behind her infringement, if it was for the broader idea of a peeking cat, then I couldn’t. It is the difference between copyright (a legal monopoly) in the specific words of Darwin’s Origin of the Species and being able to hold a legal monopoly on the idea that species evolved. That is I support copyright of her specific art work, but not copyright in the idea of a peeking cat.
Oops:
… I could get behind her infringement lawsuit,…
Well put.
I think she missed a chance there. While she undoubtedly has copyright in her actual designs, and every legal (and moral) right to stop them being copied, she could have offered to license the designs to the company for a suitable royalty (or create a one-off design for them if she didn’t want to compromise the uniqueness of her existing designs).
cr
After looking at the photos in the settlement announcement, it looks like P&J may have copied one cat in specific – which, if that was the case, was incredibly stupid of P&J given that they could have used any one of thousands of licensable cat photos to the same effect.
Agreed.
cr
I do not know why they are no longer shipped out of country. Unless doing so would be cultural appropriation. :/ They are borderline national treasures.
Okay, I am now in a tizzy. Hiroko had put me on a waiting list that comes due this coming June. I was very much looking forward to getting a shirt for my wife with Gunner and Zizou’s likenesses on it. Now I wonder if she is going to honor her promise. I will attempt to email her to clarify.
Hi,
I have heard from Hiroko that I misunderstood her. She takes orders from ANYBODY once a year, so I think you’re safe. I misunderstood because right now she is making a bunch of shirts just for Japanese people (her most frequent customers), but she will sometimes mix in a less common foreign order. So I think you’re safe. Sorry for the misunderstanding, and I’ll clarify above!
That is great news! Thanks, Jerry.
Ugh. I hate people who steal other people’s work and ideas. It’s dreadful and dastardly!
I’m so sorry Hiroko had to confront this; but awfully glad for the opportunity to view some of her lovely shirts again!