London Craft Week – Protecting design: what exactly is “artistic craftsmanship”?

In 2017, changes to UK copyright law gave designers of works of ‘artistic craftsmanship’ the same enhanced copyright protections afforded to visual artists, musicians and writers. The changes were hailed by many as the end of the UK’s lax approach to cheap unlicensed replicas of iconic mid-century furniture designs and other products. But exactly what counts as ‘artistic craftsmanship’?

Our multi-disciplinary panel of experts, including designers, curators, commentators and legal experts (see details below), will address this question from a number of viewpoints. Join us as we attempt to get to the essence of what it means to put artistic objects into the world today and to try to decipher what exactly we should consider to be ‘artistic craftsmanship’.

Meet the panel

Michael Bloch QC – Michael Bloch QC is a leading intellectual property barrister and Queen’s Counsel who has appeared in a host of substantial copyright and design right cases, including Lucasfilm Ltd v Ainsworth, the Star Wars stormtrooper helmet case.

Simon Joy – Simon Joy played a significant role in the successful lobbying effort for the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 when he was UK Managing Director of the Poltrona Frau/Cassina Group until 2016.

Tom Raffield – Tom Raffield is an artist and designer maker who works with wood using the method of steam bending. He has created a furniture and lighting range by steam bending a variety of woods, chiefly temperate hardwoods including ash, oak and walnut.

Dr Catharine Rossi – Dr Catharine Rossi is a design historian based at Kingston School of Art. Her research interests include post-war Italian design and the relationship between craft and design past and present, and she recently co-curated Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960 – Today which opened at Vitra Design Museum in March 2018.