Fashion designer James Concannon is suing Lego for allegedly copying his jacket design in their set, ‘Queer Eye – The Fab Five Loft’.

Concannon created the jacket for Antoni Porowski, one of the presenters on the hit show Queer Eye, after Porowski sent him a plain black leather jacket. The designer emblazoned the piece with his unique trademark designs before returning it to Porowski for use in the show.

Fashion in the LEGOverse … LEGO included a minifigure leather jacket in its Queer Eye set as worn by Antony Porowski. It’s seemingly based on a design by artist James Concannon, who’s now suing the LEGO Group for copyright infringement https://t.co/MLdD8U5tl7

— Prof Johanna Gibson (@ProfJohanna) January 14, 2022

According to the Guardian, Concannon has accused Lego of recreating the leather jacket without his permission, claiming that the toy jacket is a “blatant copy” of his design. According to the fashion designer, however, the Lego jacket copies “the unique placement, coordination, and arrangement of the individual artistic elements”.

https://twitter.com/oh3kqd/status/1482962665282707459

Having made several clothing items for Porowski in the past, in the lawsuit Concannon maintained that since 2017, Netflix had consistently sought consent from him to show his clothes on the show prior to airing episodes.

However, in the fourth series, Porowski appeared in an episode wearing the jacket. According to the fashion designer, Netflix never sought his permission to feature the jacket but he believed it to be an oversight.

https://twitter.com/conscienc2/status/1483147247957143553

According to the lawsuit, after becoming aware of the Lego jacket’s similarities to his creation, Concannon contacted the company. He alleges that he was offered a set of Lego worth $99.99 by a customer service representative in compensation. However, another company representative later informed him that Lego had a policy of not giving away products for free.

Further to this, the lawsuit alleges that Concannon’s attorney proceeded to contact the company on his behalf. Apparently, lawyers acting on behalf of Lego have confirmed that the company had copied the design of the jacket but maintained that the fashion designer’s decision to give the jacket to Porowski permitted an “implied license” to Netflix.

In refusing a cease-and-desist order, they argued that this “implied license” entitled Lego to reproduce the jacket under their licensing agreement with Netflix.