Calling early-career furniture, lighting, and object designers! Entries are now open for vivid design competition 2021 // Entries close May 2nd. Open to professional designers [...]
AUTHENTIC DESIGN ALLIANCE®
HELP STOP DESIGN THEFT!
Authentic Design Alliance® is an independent member-funded association that promotes the value of investing in original furniture, lighting, and interior products in the fight against design theft. We advocate for vastly improved IP protection for the furnishing sector, and for the word 'replica' to be eradicated from our industry.
In 2016 Britain joined Europe by criminalising the 'replica' industry, leveling fines of up to £50,000 or 10 years jail! Reforms included backdating copyright law to cover design icons savaged by the replica industry, extending copyright protection for the life of the designer plus an additional 70 years after their death ('life plus 70'). We're awaiting final info on how Brexit affects these massive leaps forward for the UK design and furnishing sector.
"A successful product employs a network.
A successful collection creates a sub-economy"
Meanwhile, unlike other creative disciplines, no automatic copyright protection applies to furnishings in Australia. Music, film, literature, art, photography, and architecture are automatically copyright protected at no cost to the creator - so why is design treated differently?
As an education platform, we support designers, manufacturers, distributors, importers, and retailers of authentic products, and advocate for radically improved intellectual property (IP) protection to align with Europe and other trading partners.
We work in consultation with IP Australia and other industry groups to help shape the best possible future for the growth of the Australian furnishing sector.
ADA® members directly enable our advocacy and education including a national event program. ADA® Members help us to inform consumers, business owners, and design professionals about the importance of investing in authentic products and providing ongoing updates on the latest developments with IP reform.
Discover more about ADA® membership here (or here if on mobile / device)
Lets get real.
6 Facts About Design Theft.
BECOME A MEMBER
ADA Members enable our program
As an education platform, we strive for a shift cultural change in buyer behaviour by spotlighting how objects are made, why they exist, and why we all must invest in original products we care about, value, and don't throw away.
We work in consultation with IP Australia and other industry groups to help shape the best possible future for the growth of the Australian furnishing sector.
As a member-funded association - membership fees directly fund our activity. Join now and help stop design theft!
> WHAT MEMBERSHIP IS RIGHT FOR ME? (desktop view)
> OR HEAD HERE // if on a phone or tablet
LATEST NEWS
MDW21 :: IP AUSTRALIA EVENTS RECOMMENDED FOR ADA NETWORK
IP Australia joins Melbourne Design Week with three virtual events. Free to attend, participants will have the opportunity to direct questions and contribute to this next [...]
PROGRAM UPDATE :: JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN STRATEGY SESSION // Melbourne (March)
Our intended February roundtable sessions have been rescheduled in Melbourne (March) and Sydney (April). We invite you to join our strategy sessions and help inform the ADA® [...]
CONTRIBUTE TO ADA® CAMPAIGN STRATEGY + HELP SHAPE OUR 2021
We are excited to share that our first events in 2021 will enable our network to help shape ADA® campaigns, and have a say! In February, we will host roundtable sessions in [...]
IMPORTANT UPDATE I A GREAT WAY TO END THE YEAR – PROGRESS!
What a great way to round off this challenging year - finally, tangible progress from our ongoing consultation with IP Australia, with a Bill presented in Parliament proposing [...]
RECIPROCAL DESIGN RIGHTS BETWEEN UK & EU END JAN 1, 2021
In 2016 Britain announced sweeping changes to UK intellectual property (IP) laws following extensive lobbying by a group of leading European brands. Among many new [...]
NEWS I READ IP AUSTRALIA REPORTS Designs Review
To round off the research phase of the IP Australia Designs Review, some 'short-term wins' are due (fingers crossed) to hit Parliament in late 2020. GRACE PERIOD The [...]
VIVID DESIGN COMPETITION l The 2020 winners are ….
We are proud to support the 17th edition of the vivid design competition for the fifth year, Australia's leading springboard for emerging furnishing designers. Helmed by the [...]
AUSTRALIAN DESIGN COUNCIL l Set to drive a design-led renaissance!
The announcement of the re-formation of the Australian Design Council is great news! Helmed by industry leaders spanning innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers, the Council [...]
MY MILAN HIGHTLIGHTS
MY MILAN I CHRISTOPHER BOOTS – James L Marshall
Stepping behind the scenes of this year's Milan Design Week we've asked ADA Members to share their inside tips and experiences from the 56th edition of Salone del Mobile in our My Milan series. James Marshall joined the Christopher Boots team as they showcased installations at Fiorisalone in three locations in central Milan. Based in […]
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY // Clement Meadmore – the problems with design theft in the 1950’s still prevail today!
Best known for massive outdoor steel sculptures that can be seen across Australia and around the world, the late Australian-American artist Clement Meadmore (1929-2005) was [...]
CASE STUDY I The problem with copyright – don’t assume you’re covered!
Some of Australia’s best-known rock photographers claimed copyright infringement by an online auction of media giant Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald image archive. ABC news [...]
CASE STUDY // Don’t Ask Designer-Makers to Copy Original Designs!!
What happens when credible studios or makers unwittingly accept a commission to produce what they believe to be original work only to later discover the project is a [...]
CASE STUDY // THE BUILDING INDUSTRY PROBLEM
The heart of the problem when building industry professionals swap the original furniture and lighting on projects for blatant knock-offs has been succinctly headlined in a [...]
CASE STUDY // Miss Glass Home x Aldi Knock-offs
Retailer ALDI Australia advertised a near identical product to one created by the Melbourne-based brand Miss Glass Home. The story then went viral as social media feeds lit up with many views on the growing problem of big business knocking-off original work by independent design brands and local creators. ROBBED ON HOME TURF These David vs […]
WHY DO AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTIONS BUY REPLICA FURNITURE?
National Gallery Australia: NGA x Replica furniture As the problem with design theft escalates it's clear that many national gallery, museum and public institution decision-makers simply don't know what's real and what's fake. Either that, or they simply don't care. But, sadly, replica furniture resides in many galleries and public institutions in Australia. Authenticity is […]
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