Seated at the center of a new design-related copyright conversation, a series of Eiffel chairs sold by discount superstore Aldi has designers arguing on both sides.

The chairs in question look significantly like the DSW Eames Plastic Chair (designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1950), currently made by copyright holders Vitra in Switzerland.

Critics point out that Aldi has been caught doing this before, selling things like Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair on countries where it can avoid copyright entanglements, either because the copyrights have expired or replicas are permitted by law.

Defenders of the discount retailer argue that the entire point of these plastic chairs was to create something cheap, comfortable and easy to mass produce. In other words: the fact that replicas sell for 40 GBP and licensed remakes sell for ten times that goes against the intent of the designers.

Either way, Aldi seems to way to stay out of the fray, perhaps planning to hide behind slight design differences when it comes to the structure, materials and details of the seats.

In some places, like the United Kingdom, changes to laws have been proposed or are in the works, which may provide additional protections for rights holders now and into the future.

There is a larger question at work here though too: how close do designs have to be for them to risk creating intellectual property controversies? There are, after all, only so many ways to plan, design and construct a chair for a human occupant. These days, so many 3D models of seats have been uploaded to programs like SketchUp and it is easier than ever to simply cut, paste and print a copy of one’s own on a 3D printer.

You know what an Eames chair is, even if you didn’t know its name – an iconic modern classic still seen in the most stylish of homes, hotels, restaurants and offices all over the world over 60 years after it was first produced. And even if you’re an Eames devotee, lusting over the clean lines and sharp silhouettes of Eames products at the Herman Miller Collection, you may not know much about the designers – Charles and Ray Eames. The documentary ‘Eames – The Architect and the Painter’ examines the duo’s legacy.

Often thought to be brothers because of their names, Charles and Ray Eames were actually a married couple consisting of an architect and a painter. Best known for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office actually produced a surprising variety of products including games, films, toys and even splints for wounded military during World War II.

Though the pair collaborated on virtually every aspect of their designs, it was Charles Eames’ name that went on each product, and that is still most associated with the brand today. As a woman in the 1950s and ’60s, Ray was often pushed into the sidelines.

Narrated by James Franco, ‘Eames – The Architect and the Painter’ sheds light on this creative duo, telling us about their lives, their work and how their motto – ‘the best for the least and for the most’ has affected modern American design. The film debuted at the IFC Center in New York City in November 2011 and is now available on DVD.