What a great way to travel with all your belly dance bling without tangles. Of course something with bigger sections may be needed for a lot of us! How do you travel with your jewels? Any great tips to share? Please comment below.
Travelling with Bling. Jewellery Hack for dancers.
26 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in Belly Dance, Costume Design, Dance tips Tags: Australia, Belly Dance, Belly Dance Tips, Costume, Dance tips, jewellery, Make-up
Copyright and Costumes. Do you own that look? Can you be sued?
28 Aug 2014 2 Comments
in Belly Dance, Costume Design, Tribal Belly Dance Tags: Australia, Belly Dance, bellydancing, copyright, Costume, Costume design, Dance, Jade Belly Dance, law, sue, Tribal, Wings
As artists it is always one of those perplexing questions – how much of what I create do I own?
WARNING!! An Australian belly dancer just told me via facebook of her intention of getting rich by suing other dancers if they copied a costume element she recently performed with!!! She wrote that she had the ‘copywrite’ (sic) for it.OUCH! So much for the sisterhood.
In this piece I will let you know what is the copyright standard for costumes in Australia. It may vary for other countries and is not to be taken as legal advice just a guideline. For more details see http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/browse-by-what-you-do/fashion-costume-designers/
This post is inspired by the most bizarre exchange a few days ago where the afore mentioned comment was made. I was shocked to say the least and it made me wonder –
Exactly how much of your home made costume do you own? Can you protect it?
“Key points
• One-off fashion garments, costumes and jewellery pieces are likely to be protected by copyright.
• You will generally only be able to rely on copyright protection if what you want to protect is a “work of artistic craftsmanship” (such as a one-off garment or necklace) or a design for an item you have not yet started to exploit commercially.
• If you intend to make multiple copies of items you have designed (such as a design for readyto-wear clothes), you will need to look at your options under design law, not copyright law, and you will need to do this before you start marketing or manufacturing the items.” (Australian Copyright Council, 2012, p1)
“Copyright is free and applies automatically: there is no registration system for copyright and no fees to pay.” (Australian Copyright Council, 2012, p3)
If you make something inspired by something you see in a show or online – can someone sue you?
Copyright does not protect styles, techniques, information or ideas or concepts.
Eg. “A particular style of clothing such as peasant-inspired clothing would not be protected by copyright, although a particular item of clothing in that style may be.” (Australian Copyright Council, 2012, p3)
So over all it seems – don’t copy anyone’s costumes exactly or without their permission – which is just common sense really. The copyright information sheet goes on to recommend getting someones permission in writing. (Australian Copyright Council, 2012, p4). If you really like something, either buy it from the original designer or put your own unique twist on it.
It is OK to publish photos of copyright protected works if it was the purpose of making a critique, review or reporting news (Australian Copyright Council, 2012, p5).
I fully support the rights of designers and artists in all genres, and have never attempted to make a copy of anyones costume. However, I never thought we would get to the point of people wanting to sue each other over costume elements in Belly dance that have been available in various styles for years. It made me very sad indeed.
How do you feel about your costumes? Would you try and sue someone if they made something similar? Where do you think the line of ownership should be drawn? Comment below.
(For those enjoying the hints on costume shopping in Cairo, the continuing parts of it are still coming. I posted this piece in between as it is quite topical.)
Reference
Australian Copyright Council (2012). Fashion & Costume Designers Information Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/browse-by-what-you-do/fashion-costume-designers/
© Jade Belly Dance 2014 😉
Egyptian costume shopping – with tips for a solo female traveller (part 1)
10 Jul 2014 1 Comment
in Belly Dance, Costume Design Tags: Belly Dance, bellydancing, Cairo, Costume, Egypt, shopping, Solo female, Travel tips
Egyptian costume shopping in Khan el Khalili
With tips for a solo female traveller (part 1)
Wow, times have changed in the ‘Khan’ since i was there last. It was a bustling place with many tourists and happy shop owners with hilarious one liners, trotting them out in a dozen languages. Now, it is more a case of spot the tourist. Luckily there are still locals visiting.
The one liners are still there, but the hustle and bustle is gone. It makes it way easier to move through it but I couldn’t help but feel sad for those trying to make a living. If it wasn’t for the locals shopping there, then I am not sure what would happen to the place.
Cafe’s at the entrance to Khan El Khalili
The good news is – the belly dance shops are still there and seem to be doing OK. it seems dancers are ignoring the over zealous safety warnings for travel to Egypt and are still coming, albeit in lesser numbers.
Ok, on to actually shopping information. Mahmoud Abdel ghaffar ‘s shop is a great place to use as a base and to orient yourself. It is down the main street of the khan and reached down a short alley between 2 shops that also sell some belly dance gear. It is 3 levels of belly dance bliss. 4 years ago it was great. This trip it was tricky as they were renovating and a lot of stuff was covered plastic to try and protect it from the dust of construction, but it will be even better when its finished. At the start of April Mahmoud said it would be done in only a few weeks. I think it may be a few months by the time it is done but costumes and belts are still available. You don ‘t negotiate here, the price is named and that is it. (this is in contrast to most of your other dealings in Egypt). Prices are not cheap but neither are they rip offs, so if you like something here, buy it! He has the most stunning array of belts / hip-scarves I have seen. As a price indicator, earrings are around 10LE belts between 60 and 80 LE. If you need costume adjustments or help, a woman is brought in to assist. There is a variety of sizes here. I bought a costume from this shop on my first trip, it was a little large and I adjusted it at home ( as i didn’t have time for the seamstress to do it for me on site) and I noticed that while it does have some smaller stuff, it has a decent range for ladies with fuller figures. If you are really busty or above a size 12 (Australian) then this is a particularly good place to have a thorough look through.
Costume I bought at Mahmoud’s
You can send large boxes of shopping back home through him at the cost of approx $300 AUD per box to get to Australia. I don’t know if its cheaper to send to Europe. The box can contain around the 20-25kg of awesomeness and is big enough to fit 2 drums inside plus a lot of extra things packed in and around them. You can buy things from other shops and deposit them in your box while you are in Egypt and then stop by on your last day in Cairo and pay the shipping. It will be at your house in about a week, which is pretty good going.
(I keep running out of time to edit my 1700 word epic on costumes in Cairo so I decided to post it in shorter parts, I still didn’t have time to edit this much but hopefully it make sense – stay tuned for more soon)
Have you travelled Egypt on your own? What were your experiences? Please comment below.
Jade Belly Dance 