Danish Design: Legal Restrictions and Creative Responses

This article argues that the creative processes of the designer occur within a social context that includes national intellectual property law, and in particular that Danish designers make design decisions that are direct responses to the unique contours of Danish copyright law. Two recent Danish copyright infringement cases, one concerning Arne Jacobsen's Ant chair and the other regarding the so-called Lyngby Vase, illustrate particularly well the dynamic exchange between Danish copyright law and Danish designers' creative strategies. Although design historians have not yet been particularly attentive to the ways in which intellectual property laws vary by nation, these Danish copyright infringement cases suggest that distinctive national legal contexts are among the many factors that shape national design aesthetics and traditions.