Petition Equal Rights for Design!

ELLE Decoration UK petitions the government to afford the discipline of design the same UK copyright protection as is currently granted to works of literature, drama, music, film and art: ie 70 years after the death of the originating author/s. This is in stark contrast to design, where registered works are currently covered for only 25 years from date of issue. We ask, why is design seemingly deemed less worthy of protection? Additionally, the hypocrisy of our copyright laws promotes the UK as a default "safe harbour" for copyists, manufacturers producing cut-price fakes of classic designs. We believe this amounts to UK-endorsed intellectual property theft.

If the government stands by Chancellor George Osborne’s stated desire for ‘the words: “made in Britain”, “created in Britain”, “designed in Britain”, “invented in Britain”, to drive our nation forward’, then we see no impediment to immediate ratification of this e-petition.