Intellectual Property Law Could Affect Design
A new law has been passed in the house of Lords to “omit section 52” of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988, which means that the exploitation of classic furniture will have to be stopped.
This new law will affect designers, manufacturers, publishers and museums, as with the current law designers are aloud to reproduce work after 25 years of the original being created. Therefore creating authentic replicas, but this is no longer to happen as copies are sold for a fraction of the price of the original.
McDonald’s has been claimed to copy Arne Jacobsen furniture by Danish furniture company Fritz Hansen who stated the new furniture in McDonald’s new rebranded restaurants were infringing intellectual property law, even though the designs used were deemed legal.
But this will no longer be the case, as due to the new act copyright of design, you would have to wait till the life of the author plus seventy years before copying the design.
The reason for this change is to encourage investment into British designers leading to more manufacturing in the UK and resulting in more jobs. This change is not beneficial for everyone, …