An Italian court has ruled in favor of Florence’s Gallerie dell’Accademia in its lawsuit against the Edizioni Conde Nast publishing house, which used an image of Michelangelo David without authorization.
The publisher would have planned Davidon a model’s head for a magazine cover photo. However, the company has not obtained a license from the museum, which owns the image rights to the famous 500-year-old sculpture, even though the work belongs to the public domain.
The case was based on Article 9 of the Italian constitution, which protects symbols of the nation’s cultural identity and historical memory. A related law allows public institutions across the country to charge concession fees for commercial reproductions of cultural heritage artworks, regardless of their copyright status.
In a statement, the museum said that “insidiously and maliciously [juxtaposing] the image of Michelangelo’s David with that of a model”, the publisher “degraded, obscured, mortified and humiliated the high symbolic and identity value of the work of art and subjected it to publicity and editorial promotion.
The court in Florence ruled on May 15 that the publisher must pay the museum two separate amounts: €20,000 for the royalty and an additional €30,000 for the way in which DavidThe image of was distorted for the magazine.
Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell’Accademia, called the move a “great achievement” for the institution. “A principle is now affirmed which goes beyond the individual case,” she added.
“I appreciate the decision of the Court of Florence on the work of Michelangelo David, which recognizes the principle of image rights for cultural heritage,” Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s Minister of Culture, said in a statement. “It must be said that the use for commercial purposes for cultural goods must be paid for, whereas it must be free for images for educational and study purposes. It’s comforting that the judges think like the Ministry of Culture.
This is not the first time an Italian institution has taken legal action over depictions of famous works of art. Earlier this year, the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice filed a lawsuit against the German toy company Ravensburger around a puzzle representing the emblematic Leonardo da Vinci vitruvian man design. The court ruled in favor of the museum and prevented Ravensburger from producing future editions of the product.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay one step ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive breaking news, revealing interviews and incisive reviews that move the conversation forward.
