Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519, and it’s safe to say by most interpretations, his work is now considered in the public domain. Cue a curious dispute between The Italian Government and the German puzzles and toy’s manufacturer Ravensburger – stemming from a puzzle featuring the Vetruvian Man.
The Italians’ position is based on domestic law. The Italian Cultural Heritage Code states that cultural goods ‘owned by the State’ cannot be reproduced without first suecing an administrative authorization; essentially purchasing a license.
In reproducing puzzles featuring da Vinci’s Vetruvian Man, the Court of Venice ruled that Ravensburger has been in breach of this licensing requirement, and therefore owes certain penalties to the Italian State. They ruled as such in 2022.
However the story doesn’t end there. Ravensburger rightly raised the issue with their domestic German courts and the Stuttgart Court has found that Ravensburger has not breached any licensing provisions because ultimately, under German law, da Vinci’s works are under public domain. It was their ruling that in seeking to apply Italian law outside Italy, the Italian domestic courts had overstepped their jurisdiction.
Under German law, works within the public domain are can be utilized commercially without fees – similar to the position around copyright in the US and the UK, as well as a number of the other EU constituent states. This has raised a curious in-market conundrum since in theory, Ravensburger products penalised in Italy may give rise to complaints of restraint of trade barriers.
Despite the single market, it can still be seen that there are different jurisdictional interpretations to what would seem to be copyright norms, and it’s important to be mindful of these potential pitfalls. Will be keeping an eye on how this pans out.