Collins says Australian designers are deterred from producing new designs as the more successful a design is, the more likely their intellectual property will be stolen, price cut and mass marketed without them receiving any royalty.
“The issue is not so much about Matt Blatt because at the end of the day he is operating within the laws, so we need to change the law,” says Collins.
“There needs to be an automatic protection under the law for new design and then after six or 12 months there is the opportunity for official registration.”
Lucy Feagins, founder of design website The Design Files, told SmartCompany the laws surrounding the marketing were “problematic”, as they allowed the use of a designer’s name along with the term replica.
“I really hate replica furniture and the reason I hate it is that I feel that it really devalues original design and it is so prevalent that you find yourself falling out of love with the original design as you see it replicated so badly and proliferated through every food court,” says Feagins.
“I’m really passionate about supporting emerging designers and people starting out in the design industry and it is a really dangerous precedent to set, as it is notoriously difficult for young designers to make a living in Australia and that is not helped when you can buy a crappy fake Eames chair for $100.
“It doesn’t help the local industry and it discourages Australian designers from putting something out there as there is no way they can ever match that price.”
Feagins has been disappointed to see the acquiescence of many Australian design publications to the replica market.
“In the UK, Elle Decoration is very anti replica furniture, they don’t run advertising for replica furniture and they have spearheaded a campaign about increasing the copyright laws for design.
“I do find that here, more and more, you see a lot of advertising for the replica shops in some of our best design publications and it is a really sad thing.
“You open Vogue Living, Inside Out and Real Living and you see a Matt Blatt advertisement and I think that is a sad thing for us culturally.”
Feagins agrees with the ADA that legal change is required to protect Australian design.
“The copyright laws on design should really match fine art and music and all other forms of creative protection where, in most cases, it is 70 years after the person has died, and I think that should be a bare minimum,” she says.
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
