CJEU: protection of works of applied art by copyright

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled on the requirements for copyright protection of works of applied art, confirming that stricter criteria of originality cannot be imposed than those required for other categories of works and specifying how the originality of utilitarian objects and the scope of protection against infringement should be assessed.

Key points:

• Accumulation of protections: designprotection and copyright protection may coexist, without there being a rule-exception relationship or hierarchy between the two.
• Same standard of originality: higher requirements of originalitycannot be imposed on works of applied art than on any other work protected by Directive 2001/29/EC.
• Concept of a work: a work requires an intellectual creation of its own that reflects the author's free and creative decisions, excluding elements imposed exclusively by technical or functional requirements.
• Assessment of originality: this must be based on the perceptible elements of the object that express the creative contribution, without factors such as the author's intention or expert recognition being decisive.
• Technical limitations: the existence of functional constraints does not exclude protection if there is still room for creative freedom.
• Criteria for infringement: infringement exists when the original creative elements of the protected work are reproduced in a recognisable form.
• Inspiration and similar creations: protection only applies to the original elements contributed by the author, and the possible existence of similar independent works does not exclude protection.

This CJEU ruling reinforces legal certainty in the field of applied arts, harmonises the standard of originality in the EU and more precisely defines the criteria for assessing copyright protection and infringement.

Access the full article published in Curia Europa here.