Design piracy is the unauthorized copying of another designer or manufacturer's work. While controversial, it is an instiutionalized practice in the aparel industry. The purpose of this study was to beter understand student perceptions of design piracy, particularly as it is one they wil encounter in their future carers. The authors interviewed twenty-four aparel design students at a land-grant Midwestern University. Data was analyzed using theme analysis. Thre themes developed including: 1) Expresions of cognitve disonance in statements expresing enjoyment of the practice of design piracy as a consumer; yet disapointment when (and if) their own design work was copied. 2) Concerns regarding the definiton of originality and the logistics of enforcing a plan against design piracy. 3) Diferences of opinion regarding the prevalence of the practice, particularly if the students had industry experience or not. Advice for profesors from students regarding piracy is included.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.