Are you sitting comfortably? By the end of October – after a six-month “amnesty” for retailers – that luxury will cost you more, maybe 12 times more, than now. And it's all thanks to the bloody European Union.It's thanks to Britain bringing its own copyright laws on furniture design into line with our partners – a dovetailing that was meant to be happening in 2020, but has been expedited after representations from the licensees (we'll get back to them) as well as the estates of dead designers. The measure also grants designers the same protection as that enjoyed by plastic and graphic artists, and gives them rough parity with writers, musicians, broadcasters and film-makers. Which is all well and good. But the change could precipitate the disappearance of the “Barcelona”-style chair – currently so ubiquitous in building society branches – and the fetishisation of its licensed equivalent, originally conceived by Mies van der Rohe and costing nearly £6,000. The starter-home couple will be denied the pleasure of those Italian chrome standard lamps on long spindly arcs, because a licensed Castiglioni version will cost them more than a grand.

The same goes for Anglepoise lamps. And you'll be so scared of scratching your clear Perspex Louis Ghost dining-chairs that you won't dare sit on them. What's at issue is the deal on offer to dead designers' estates. At the moment, the copyright in a creator's work holds for 25 years from his or her death – during which time top-drawer copiers can buy licenses to put the designs into manufacture. The licensees can then make limited editions, before churning out as many as they can sell for a few thousand quid a time. But after a quarter of a century, it's open season. Then, the knock-off merchants can legally swing into action. And soon your online oulet is advertising, say, a replica-Charles Eames reclining armchair and footstool – perfect examples of the current taste for “mid-century modern” – for around £400, instead of the £5,000 that the licensee's stockist will charge you. Anglepoise lamp: Out of copyrightFrom 28 April, furniture designs in Britain will be protected from unlicensed manufacture for 75 years – that's an extra 50.

Under the new legislation, retailers selling unlicensed copies – whether classics or bog-standard bog seats – will be liable to fines up to £50,000 and jail terms of up to 10 years. What's more – or less – we'll see fewer representations of the expensive stuff as licensors begin to assert their rights to charge for and control the reproduction of their work in the visual media.chair rental andover mn It's doubtful that the Coalition government really considered that ramification, when it decided to repeal Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1998). executive chairs for sale manilaIts intention, reasonably enough, was to protect intellectual property. table and chairs wolverhampton

But what it couldn't take account of is the debate within the “design community”. For while Sir Terence may want his chicken-brick to bankroll future generations of Conrans, an interior designer who shall be nameless says it will now be a “nightmare” to prop rooms for his clients at a reasonable mark-up. officemax chair matAnd, this being the design community, there are socially conscious angles to consider, too.table and chair rentals cedar city utah Step forward Stephen Bayley, the design pundit who knows so much about his subject that his email address starts with “guru@”. table and chair rentals montgomery alHe agrees that the issue is “complicated” but clearly believes design should have a point beyond the percentage cut:wheelchairs for sale dubai

“The essential, defining proposition of modern design is – or rather, was – that an idea can be limitlessly reproduced at low cost,” he says. “Clearly, the legislation may protect the auteur, but it seems to me at odds with the principles of widely available democratised luxury which make design such an interesting subject. chair cover hire telfordThe danger as I see it is that too costive a view of copyright protection might bring the subject into the ancient realms of rarity, preciousness, attribution, provenance and all the other antique stuff that attends fine art.”affordable office chairs johannesburg And if, after that, you need a lie-down. do it on an Eileen Gray day-bed. Hanging chairs & swivel chairs The price reflects selected options Why we like it: CA, East Palo Alto

Go to Hanging chairs & swivel chairs) was groundbreaking due to its fibreglass reinforced plastic seat. ) costs just £59 Made of steel arches and copper 'leaves', this original (left, from nest.co.uk) was designed by Henningsen 58 years ago for Copenhagen restaurant Langelinie Pavilion, where versions still hang. It is available for £5,445. The lookalike (right) is available for just £200 from vertigo-interiors.co.uk Inspired by street lights, Castiglioni's arched 1962 design (left, conranshop.co.uk) featured in the 1971 Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. The designer version can be bought for £1,425. The lookalike (right) is available for just £195 from iconiclights.co.uk Created in 1958 in Copenhagen, this chair (left) was made famous by reality TV show Big Brother (conranshop.co.uk). It would set you back £5,004, but the lookalike (right) is available from pash-living.co.uk for just £399 This fun shade (left, from cloudberryliving.co.uk) was created by the Danish designer in the Sixties and named in homage to the 'flower power' movement.

) was created by Charles' wife Ray in 1953 to encourage children to hang up their belongings tidily. It can be bought for £199 for a snip at just £29 The Irish designer's work (left, from aram.co.uk) was hugely popular in stylish French homes in the early 20th century. The original design can be bought for £489, but the lookalike version (right) can be bought for just £60 from vertigo-interiors.co.uk Now over 60 years old, it was created to allow parents to sit in comfort and rock their babies to sleep . Italian-American Bertoia said this chair, from the Fifties, looked like it was 'made of air, like sculpture'. The original (left) is available from conranshop.co.uk for £1,668, while the lookalike (right) can be picked up for just £69 from stonebutterfly.co.uk With slats to let light through, this stylish bench was created by the American designer in 1946. The original (pictured) is available from nest.co.uk for £538 Charles Eames designed this leather and plywood chair for his friend, Hollywood film director Billy Wilder, in 1956.

The original design (pictured) is available from wharfside.co.uk, for £5,100 The design was intended to resemble the 'warmth, familiarity and comfort of a well-worn baseball mitt'. The lookalike (pictured) can be picked up for £749 from pash-living.co.uk Invented by Japanese-American sculptor Noguchi in the Forties, the glass top balances on two solid wooden legs. The original design (pictured) is available from nest.co.uk for £1,323 While originals are still available thanks to the table's sturdy construction, a lookalike version (pictured) is also available from stonebutterfly.co.uk for just £145 Created in 1960, this was the first chair made from a single piece of plastic. Meanwhile, the lookalike can be bought for £59 from pash-living.co.uk This versatile unit from 1967 features at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. , while the lookalike (right) costs £85 from next.co.uk This iconic clock brought modern design into Fifties American homes. for £239, but the lookalike (right)will set you back just £44.99, from vertigo-interiors.co.uk