You see a dress that you absolutely love and must have on the runway during Fashion Week New York. Obviously you'd have to refinance your house if you really wanted to buy it. But, then two weeks later you're walking through Target and you see an almost identical dress. Hallelujah! The fashion gods have saved you once again.

Well, Washington is about to make sure that this scenario will happen no more. Darn politicians, they're always messing up a good thing! The Council of Fashion Designers of America took a bill that will beef up copyright protections on designs to congress yesterday. The bill has been floating around in congress since 2006, got a serious push in 2007, and is just now going to the table.

Narciso Rodriguez testified before congress telling them why they should pass the bill, while Steve Maimen testified on behalf of the apparel companies arguing against the bill. Narciso says his company has lost millions of dollars because of knock offs, while Steve says that it would be impossible to determine just exactly how original an item is.

I can see how this bill would be a good thing for designers who are sick of seeing their designs knocked off. But, there's also a fine line between inspiration and flat out copying. Where do you draw that line? Who can determine whether a design is a knock off or just a similarly inspired piece?

There are stronger copyright laws to protect designers in Europe, but the thing is, on the other side of the pond, people rarely register their designs. This is because they can't be bothered to sue. Here in the US we tend to utilize the judicial system much more (a.k.a. we sue the pants off of anyone who crosses our path). So if this bill passes it would affect the fashion industry here, much more than it affected the industry in Europe.

While I do see both sides of the story, are knock offs really taking that much money away from the designers? Personally, I would never be able to afford designer clothes. If I'm buying a garment in Target that's a look-alike, it's not because I prefer the superior quality of Target clothing over Narciso's line, it's because I simply don't have the money to buy the designer item. Whether a knock off exists or not, isn't going to change my buying habits. What do you think about this hot issue in fashion right now?

Via WWD.