A café at Frederiksberg in Copenhagen has received a fine of DKK 20.000 for illegal sale of 24 counterfeits of Hans J. Wegners Y-chair. The punishment once again reminds of the importance of choosing originals.
Enjoy your coffee in the classic Y-chair. This is how customers at the Frederiksberg café in Copenhagen probably thought they could drink their americano – in a piece of classic Danish design by the star architect Hans J. Wegner.
Not until the café’s interior was to be exchanged and the chairs were put up for sale online for just DKK 1,500 each, did it become clear that these were illegal counterfeits. The café pleaded guilty without trial and thus accepted a fine of DKK 20,000 for the illegal resale. The 24 Y-chair were handed over to the police for destruction.
Originals are both the ethical and safe choice
However, it is far from the first time that a café, restaurant or shop adorns itself with counterfeit designer furniture, although it is illegal to display counterfeits in public places when the furniture is protected by copyright.
That’s why, among other things, The Danish Rights Alliance and a number of design members earlier in the year joined forces to publish the flyer “Why Originals?”, which aims to inform and guide people to choose original designs over illegal counterfeits.
In connection with the publishing of “Why originals?”, the director of The Danish Rights Alliance, Maria Fredenslund, stated that the collaboration is an expression of the need to inform about the choices that are part of choosing originals:
“Investing in an original piece of design is about much more than economics. It is also a matter of choosing ethics, security, sustainability and tradition. Counterfeit furniture is not produced according to the same standards as the originals and can be dangerous to have around,” she explained.
The flyer therefore offers facts about safety and sustainability and gives good advice on how to tell the difference between an original and a counterfeit, and what to look out for when you shop online.