The Dutch protect a lot of things under the Dutch Copyright Act. Did you know that even underwear can fall under the scope of copyright? A judge in the Netherlands has ruled this week that this is the case. So, what is the threshold for copyright protection in the Netherlands?
A work can be protected in the case it has an individual, unique character and bears the stamp of the author. The form must not be derived from the work of another. The form of the work must be the result of "creative human labor and thus of creative choices". In other words, a product of the human spirit. Even uniquely designed underwear can be protected, as Marlies Dekkers -a famous dutch (underwear) designer- has recently found out. At least a couple of her designs are unique and therefore, subject to protection.
What was the case? Sapph, a competitor on the lingerie market, thought it would be easy to 'borrow' some designs of Marlies Dekkers. Sapph added the famous 'extra straps' to their own models, stating that it was inspired by a commonly known, 50 years older design. Sapph argued that because of this, several bras and panties from MD were not protected under any copyrights, since they were not unique.
The judge thought differently. The design wás unique and could be protected. Sapph is told to stop the sale of the infringing models, has to pay damages (or pay the total net profit) and provide insight of all the cash books.
Daan van Eek
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office Emerald House Jozef Israëlskade 48-G Amsterdam, the Netherlands t +31 (0)20 - 305 3066 www.hoogenhaak.nl |
post PO Box 76780 1070 KB Amsterdam e info@hoogenhaak.nl f +31 (0)20 - 305 3069 chamber of commerce 34314579 |
The Dutch protect a lot of things under the Dutch Copyright Act. Did you know that even underwear can fall under the scope of copyright? A judge in the Netherlands has ruled this week that this is the case. So, what is the threshold for copyright protection in the Netherlands?
A work can be protected in the case it has an individual, unique character and bears the stamp of the author. The form must not be derived from the work of another. The form of the work must be the result of "creative human labor and thus of creative choices". In other words, a product of the human spirit. Even uniquely designed underwear can be protected, as Marlies Dekkers -a famous dutch (underwear) designer- has recently found out. At least a couple of her designs are unique and therefore, subject to protection.
What was the case? Sapph, a competitor on the lingerie market, thought it would be easy to 'borrow' some designs of Marlies Dekkers. Sapph added the famous 'extra straps' to their own models, stating that it was inspired by a commonly known, 50 years older design. Sapph argued that because of this, several bras and panties from MD were not protected under any copyrights, since they were not unique.
The judge thought differently. The design wás unique and could be protected. Sapph is told to stop the sale of the infringing models, has to pay damages (or pay the total net profit) and provide insight of all the cash books.
Daan van Eek