The next big thing in piracy? Watch faces. That’s right – there’s a growing contingent of gadgeteers riling up watch-makers by nicking watch-faces for their wrist-borne tech.
A widely lauded feature of the current generation of smartwatches is the ability to swap out digital watch-faces at will, but it’s raised concerns for watch-makers who fear their copyright is being infringed.
According to piracy news site TorrentFreak, the ‘world’s leading luxury watchmakers’ have banded together to put an end to unapproved watch-face usage.
Brands cited specifically include Omega, Tissot, Certina, and Mondaine, all of which are reportedly sending cease and desist notices to ‘sites and individuals thought to be offering faces without permission.’
Apparently owners of sites proliferating dodgy watch-face copies are being given 24 hours to bin the nabbed content, although it’s not yet clear whether any of the firms are willing to risk legal action.
The owner of user-uploaded watch face site FaceRepo, known only as ‘Luke’, told TorrentFreak that the site had indeed received takedown notices from watch brands.
“Although some of the replica faces we’ve received take downs for are very cool looking and represent significant artistic talent on the part of the designer,
“If a copyright or trademark owner contacts us, we will promptly remove infringing material.”
He added: “To date, all requests for removal of infringing material have been satisfied within a matter of hours.”
Of course, there’s nothing to stop users hunting down their dodgy watch-faces elsewhere, or even creating their own.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
