header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
02 September 2022 / David Langwallner
Issue: 7992 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

State of the art

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
92272
In the eye of the beholder? David Langwallner examines copyright protection for works of artistic craftsmanship

Recently, I visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow. Quite a trek, but it was utterly beautiful and revealing. Morris of course sought to revive folk art and goods of practical utility that could be afforded by people, and was in fact a socialist. He even wrote a socialist pamphlet based on Utopia by Thomas More.

The exhibits in the museum are jaw-droppingly beautiful, and of course are goods of utility: wallpaper, ceramics, textiles. Not shoddy goods, but rather affordable art for the people.

‘Looking nice’ is not enough

Mr Morris and the arts and crafts movement gave rise to a separate species of copyright protection works of artistic craftsmanship. In the case of Hensher (George) Ltd v Restawile Upholstery (Lancs) Ltd [1976] AC 64, [1973] 3 All ER 414, the House of Lords differed widely as to what that test for protection is. Lord Reid said such works were protected if a person got ‘pleasure

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Renters’ Rights revolution begins—brace for tribunal chaos

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll