panies can currently sell replica goods providing 25 years has passed from the date the item originally went on sale, but a new EU ruling has extended that period to 70 years.Businesses which sell replica furniture could become liable to a potential fine of up to £50,000, and a custodial sentence of up to ten years. An EU ruling means that furniture replicas will be banned under copyright laws. Versions of the Eames chair (pictured) are currently available for less than £500, but people will soon have to pay £5,000 for an original Can you tell the difference? Cheap versions like the one on the left will be banned when the law is imposed, bringing the £1,200 Castiglioni design (right) back into copyrightThe ruling will appease designers who see their work recreated by high street chains at a fraction of the price, but homeowners will have to pay much more for fashionable furniture. Versions of the Eames chair are currently available for less than £500, but these copies will be banned, meaning people would have to pay £5,000 for an original.
Other iconic designs which will come into copyright include the Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen and the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe.A £250 replica Arco Floor lamp, like one owned by David and Samantha Cameron, would be taken off the shelves and the PM would have to pay £1,200 for an authentic product.The coalition government's decision to repeal Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988, as part of the the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, was expected to be implemented in 2020, to give companies affected time to adapt.However, a legal challenge has forced the government to fast track it to April 28 this year. This is despite complaints the short period would cause 'disproportionate harm'.Companies will have six months to sell their stock from this date.The changes have been backed by the likes of Sir Terence Conran and Vitra, a Swiss-based company which is licensed to produce many of these classic designs. Other iconic designs which will come into copyright include the Egg chair (left) by Arne Jacobsen and the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der RoheTony Ash, Vitra UK managing director, said: 'We are very pleased with the change.
Vitra's view is that if a law is changed for sound, logical, legal reasons, why wait another five years to enforce it?'We merely wanted the UK to conform to EU laws as quickly as possible after the government agreed that EU IP laws had to be adhered to in the UK.'The originals that we stand for are certainly superior to a copy. A design classic has a history and an added emotional value.' Professor Lionel Bently, an intellectual property expert at Cambridge University, is one of a number of legal academics who are critical of the change.He said: 'The repeal of section 52 was targeted at those who produce replicas of classic furniture but lots of other interests are in fact going to be affected by it.'Companies which publish design books may have to get numerous licences to reproduce photos because designs have come under copyright.'Even with respect to replica furniture makers, importers and sellers, the process has been far from satisfactory. The Government has flip-flopped over the length of the proposed transitional period from five years to six month for fear of being sued.'They are scared of being sued and that seems to be a strange way to go about determining appropriate and proportionate protection of the established property rights and legitimate expectations of third parties.'
ARCO FLOOR LAMP BY ACHILLE & PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI Replicas can currently be bought for between £150 and £250An authentic lamp first produced by Flos in 1962 will now cost around £1,400.Pier Giacomo Castiglioni died in 1968Will now be under copyright until 2038 BARCELONA CHAIR WITH OTTOMAN BY LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROCHE Replicas can currently be bought for around £500An authentic chair and ottoman made by Knoll, licensed in 1929, will cost around £5,700Ludwig Mies van der Rohe died in 1969Will now be under copyright until 2039 EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR BY CHARLES AND RAY EAMES Replicas of the chair licensed in 1956 can be bought from around £279An authentic chair made by Vitra will cost from £3,390Ray Eames died in 1988Will now be under copyright until 2058 THE ORIGINAL 'EGG' CHAIR BY ARNE JACOBSEN Replicas of the model, first patented in 1952, can be bought from £329An authentic chair made by Conran will cost around £5,000Arne Jacobsen died in 1971Will now be under copyright until 2041
Expired Copyright Homeware Organisation, a campaign group, has called on the government to postpone the changes until 2020.Ivan Macquisten, ECHO campaign adviser, said: 'While ECHO members have been aware for some time of the threat to their livelihoods, others affected are only just waking up to the far-reaching consequences of this law change. 'Many of those whose businesses are at risk, as well as important cultural institutions and the consumer, have no idea of what is about to hit them.'At this late stage it is not too late to avert disaster, and we appeal to the Secretary of State, who has been extremely sympathetic to the case we have put forward, to do the sensible thing.'A spokesperson for the Intellectual Property Office said: 'Changes are being made to copyright law to bring copyright protection for works of artistic craftsmanship into line with other artistic creations like paintings and sculptures. It is important that creators are rewarded for their work.'Initially the government felt that five years was an appropriate time to allow the change in law, however after reviewing this decision in light of a legal challenge, the government now believes a short transitional period is more appropriate.'
Ball Chair by Eero Aarnio 1963 The Ball Chair - or Globe Chair as it's called sometimes - was designed by using one of the most simple geometric forms - the ball. Cutting of a part and fixing it at one point Eero Aarnio comes to a remarkable result - a completely unconventional shaped chair: A Ball Chair is a "room within a room" with a cozy and calm athmosphere, protecting outside noises and giving a private space for relaxing or having a phonecall. Turning around its own axis on the base the view to the outer space is variable for the user and thus he is not completely excluded from world outside. The Vitra Design Museum notes in his brochure on the Ball Chair miniature: "It is something between a piece of furniture and a piece of architecture and at the same time embodies both the mobile and the established, the fixed." - You'll find this miniature at the Vitra Design Museum's Shop. Aarnio: "The idea of the chair was very obvious. We had moved to our first home and I had started my free-lance career in 1962.
We had a home but no proper big chair, so I decided to make one, but some way a really new one. After some drawing I noticed that the shape of the chair had become so simple that it was merely a ball. I pinned the full scale drawing on the wall and ‚sat' in the chair to see how my head would move when sitting inside it. Being the taller one of us I ‚sat' in the chair and my wife drew the course of my head on the wall. This is how I determined the height of the chair. Since I aimed at a ball shape, the other lines were easy to draw, just remembering that the chair would have to fit through a doorway. After this I made the first prototype myself using an inside mould, which has been made using the same principle as a glider fuselage or wing. I covered the plywood body mould with wet paper and laminated the surface with fiberglass, rubbed down the outside, removed the mould from inside, had it upholstered and added the leg. In the end I installed the red telephone on the inside wall of the chair.
The naming part of the chair was easy, the BALL CHAIR was born." The result was great. It was the birth of one of the most remarkable chairs in the furniture history of the 20th century. This first hand made Ball Chair is still standing in Eero's house. It was this first prototype two young managers from the company Asko discovered when visiting Eero to see some pine wood designs. They were immediatly impressed and convinced of the phenomenal design. It took a few years to get it into production. 1966 the Ball Chair was presented at the international furniture fair in Cologne. It was the sensation of the fair, the international breakthrough for Eero Aarnio and the start for a whole line of fibreglass designs by Aarnio. The video EERO AARNIO - solid shapes of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE gives some insight on how ball chairs are made. If you like to see the Aarnio furniture in different colors please visit our colors page. where to buy Aarnio designs