CULTURAL HERITAGE | The Court of Appeal of Bologna on the protection of ‘Italian image rights’

On 24 September 2024, the Court of Appeal of Bologna handed down its judgment No. 1792/2024 in a case on the protection of assets belonging to the Italian cultural heritage without securing the prior authorisation of competent administrative authorities as required by the Italian Cultural Heritage Code (“ICHC”). In the case at issue, the appellant, a vinegar maker that used the image of Duca d’Este without the authorisation required under the ICHC, challenged the first instance judgment that awarded damages to the Ministry of 22,000.00 euro for each year in which the Duca d’Este’s image had been used without a licence. The Court of Appeal upheld the first instance judgment and stated that, like a natural person’s image rights under Article 10 of the Italian Civil Code, image rights certainly extend to cultural heritage assets upon consideration of their collective value. Furthermore, the judgment recalled that while copyright protects private interests, the administrative protection of the ICHC serves to preserve the memory of the national community and to promote cultural development in accordance with Article 9 of the Italian Constitution and, therefore, claims that the ICHC violates fundamental principles of intellectual property or constitutional principles are unfounded.

Newsletter n. 101 – November 2024