UK Copyright Amendment Provokes Controversy in the Art and Design World

By Christopher Visentin

The British government has recently moved to repeal section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (the “CDPA”). Removing this section would increase the copyright duration for artistic designs—as opposed to traditional artistic works—from 25 years from the year the designs were first marketed, to the more common term of life of the author plus 70 years. In a report published February 18, 2015, the British government detailed provisions for implementing the change, set to take place April 6, 2020, and also published responses to comments made by those affected by the law. It seems, however, that the new arrangement has stirred up some controversy in the process.

As in the United States, the United Kingdom has long grappled with what copyright protection—if any—should be available for functional, yet arguably artistic, designs (see Brandir International, Inc. v. Cascade Pacific Lumber Co. for a famous U.S. treatment of a similar issue, involving the design of ribbon bike racks). Such artistic designs can be hard to define, but certain iconic mass-produced pieces, such as Arne Jacobsen’s “Egg Chair,” or Robin Day’s “Polypropylene Chair,” serve as examples of the types of works implicated in this change.