Planned changes to copyright laws in 2020 are likely to impact on UK commercial furniture in particular, as the government attempts to protect intellectual property holders in the industry from unfair treatment.
Until now, works of art that are industrially manufactured have only been protected by copyright for 25 years - compared to the standard 70-year protection given to works like music, paintings and so on.
This means that regardless of how much artistry goes into the creation of an iconic item of furniture, if more than 50 identical pieces are made, 45 years is knocked off of its copyrighted period of protection.
Now that is set to change, to ensure that even items that are mass produced, such as new designs from the UK commercial furniture sector, receive the full 70 years of copyright protection.
In order to enshrine this protection into law, section 74 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 is now due to commence on April 6th 2020, repealing section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
When that happens, there will be a clear discrepancy between facsimiles of copyrighted works manufactured before the law change, and the need to prevent any further manufacture from taking place under the new legislation.
As such, the government has asserted that existing copies will still be allowed to be sold off, with no end deadline on the sale of any such items.
New unlicensed copies may not be produced within the UK, nor imported from abroad, after April 6th 2020.
However, existing copies can still be traded freely - whether owning them, selling them on, hiring them out or exhibiting them in public.
It's likely to be a difficult transition to police properly, although as time goes on it is likely to become easier to spot new copies coming on to the market - and with five years before the new law comes into effect at all, there is plenty of time to act in order to become compliant.
Ultimately it should mean furniture designers throughout the industry are better able to protect their iconic designs, which should hopefully mean more incentive to create a wider variety of spectacular seating and other furniture items.