This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to extend the copyright protection for original furniture designs, from 30 years from the date of design, to 70 years after the death of the furniture designer - as is law in Germany. More details
Submitted by Ben Capper of RALPH CAPPER INTERIORS LIMITED – Deadline to sign up by: 11 March 2009 – Signatures: 564
Currently it is legal to manufacture and / or supply copies of furniture in the UK, when the original design is over 30 years old. Often misleading, the copies are often promoted in National Press, referencing the name of the designer they are copied from. Many factories in Eastern Europe and the Far East simply replicate the original design using lesser quality materials, often in sub standard factory conditions and with little consideration for human rights, recognised ISO standards or the environment. These cheap copies are then sent to the UK for distribution as we do not have sufficient laws against this. Original furniture designs should be encouraged and protected for 70 years after the death of the author / designer (as in Germany and Switzerland) in order to discourage the need for immoral production facilities, plagiarism and cheap 'knock offs'. This would, in turn, promote good quality, environmentally aware manufacturers and rightfully protect the royalties earnt by designers.
Because there are so many signatories, only the most recent 500 are shown on this page.
Because there are so many signatories, only the most recent 500 are shown on this page.