Web shops with cheap designer furniture will shut down

Changes in Britain’s copyright law, now in line with the European Union’s legislation, will mean the end of web shops selling cheaper design furniture knockoffs.

Copyright now lasts longer

Up until now, the United Kingdom has maintained a rule saying that furniture design copyrights expired 25 years after the death of the designer. In the European Union, copyright remains until 70 years after the designer’s passing. The difference in legislation meant that plenty of European designer stores were facing of competition from web shops that imported fake furniture from China and subsequently sold them across Europe. These stores could not be stopped because they were officially located in the United Kingdom.

The law went into effect on 28 July 2016, but stores were given six months to get rid of their stock of cheap replicas, a period that ends at the end of the month. The British government is mainly satisfied because of the fact that the new law protects several well-known British designers.