Within the late fifteenth century, when Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci accomplished “Vitruvian Man” – one in all his most well-known drawings, which depicts the proportions of the human physique – he couldn’t have predicted that it might be reproduced on low-cost notebooks, espresso mugs, T-shirts , aprons and even puzzles.
Centuries later, the Italian authorities and German puzzle producer Ravensburger are combating over who has the appropriate to breed the “Vitruvian Man” and revenue from it.
On the coronary heart of the dispute is Italy’s cultural and panorama heritage code, which was adopted in 2004 and permits cultural establishments equivalent to museums to request concession charges and funds for the business copy of cultural items such because the “Vitruvian Man”.
This code is at odds with European Union laws, which states that works within the public area (equivalent to “Vitruvian Man”) aren’t topic to copyright.
For greater than a decade, Ravensburger has offered a 1,000-piece puzzle that includes a picture of the well-known cartoon. However in 2019, the Italian authorities and Venice’s Gallerie dell’Accademia, the place da Vinci’s well-known work and different items are on show, used the Italian code to demand that Ravensburger cease promoting the puzzle and pay a licensing payment.
Ravensburger refused and later argued that the Italian code didn’t apply exterior of Italy.
In 2022, a Venice courtroom ordered the corporate to pay a high-quality of 1,500 euros (or about $1,630) to the federal government and the Gallerie dell’Accademia for every day the fee was late.
However final month, the authorized battle took a flip when a courtroom in Germany sided with Ravensburger, ruling that the corporate doesn’t should pay and that the Italian cultural heritage code doesn’t apply exterior its borders. The courtroom stated the Italian code violated European legislation that standardizes copyright protections for 70 years after the artist’s demise. (Da Vinci has been lifeless for 505 years.)
“The Italian State doesn’t have the regulatory energy to use it exterior Italian territory”, dominated the German courtroom. “The opposing view violates the sovereignty of every State and should subsequently be rejected.”
However Italy continued to react. An Italian authorities spokesperson told an Italian media outlet final week that the German resolution was “irregular” and that the federal government would problem it earlier than “all nationwide, worldwide and group courts”.
Italy’s Ministry of Tradition didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.
Heinrich Huentelmann, a spokesman for Ravensburger, stated in an announcement Tuesday that the corporate remained in touch with the events concerned and was making efforts to resolve the battle.
Ravensburger stopped promoting the puzzle worldwide amid the authorized battle, Huentelmann stated, however a fast Google search revealed that related puzzles made by different firms are nonetheless accessible on-line.
Eleonora Rosati, an Italian lawyer and professor of mental property legislation at Stockholm College, stated Italian authorities had been attempting to concurrently safeguard the nation’s cultural heritage and monetize it.
Firms, each inside and outdoors Italy, that use items of Italian cultural heritage in merchandise might wish to function with warning, Rosati stated. She famous that in 2014, Italian authorities pursued an Illinois-based weapons producer for using an image of Michelangelo’s statue of David to promote a rifle.
“I don’t imagine that this German resolution is the ultimate phrase on this matter and, in actual fact, all those that use photographs of Italian cultural heritage might wish to consider the chance they absorb doing so,” stated Rosati. she stated. “At this level, the state of affairs has heated up quite a bit.”
However Italy’s fervent method to defending culturally essential works might backfire, in accordance with Geraldine Johnson, professor of artwork historical past on the College of Oxford.
“The outcome might be that authentic firms that might produce high-quality merchandise representing iconic Italian artistic endeavors will flip to non-Italian objects,” Johnson stated, noting that such a shift might scale back the affect of Italian tradition around the globe. whereas unlawful counterfeit merchandise proceed to be manufactured at low price with photographs thought-about unlawful by Italian courts.
“This doesn’t appear to be within the curiosity of accelerating Italy’s world standing and relevance via the ‘delicate’ energy of iconic visible photographs,” she stated.
