The graphic representation of a pizza slice can be protected by copyright. This was decided by the Cologne District Court in a ruling dated June 9, 2022 (Ref. 14 O 283/20).
Copyright protects intellectual property. It does not need to be registered, but comes into existence with the creation of the work. However, the prerequisite for copyright protection is that the work arises from a personal intellectual creation and achieves a sufficient level of individuality and creativity, explains the business law firm MTR Rechtsanwälte, which specializes in copyright among other areas.
The Cologne District Court considered this level of creativity to be present in the graphic representation of a bitten-off piece of pizza. The trick was that the pizza slice was bitten not in the middle as usual but on the edge. In this design, the Cologne District Court recognized a creative concept that clearly went beyond the mere naturalistically simplified representation of a pizza slice.
The designer of the graphic had transferred the usage rights to a company, which now saw its copyrights violated by a graphic with a pizza slice bitten on the edge appearing on pizza boxes or carry bags for a competitor’s gastronomy and sued for surrender.
The Cologne District Court followed the plaintiff’s argument. The bitten pizza slice enjoys protection as a work of applied art under the Copyright Act. For it is not merely a purely naturalistic representation of a pizza slice. Rather, it is reduced to the essentials through shape and color while remaining recognizable. The design of the graphic was based on the idea that someone was quicker than others and had already bitten off the pizza. This is clearly shown by the fact that the pizza slice was bitten off at the rounded edge and not, as usual, at the pointed end, according to the court. In the opinion of the Cologne District Court, a creative concept had manifested here.
With the graphic, a sign was created that on the one hand exhibits sufficient distinctiveness in the sense of trademark law and also sets itself apart in an original way from the usual stylized representations of the product pizza, the Cologne District Court continued.
MTR Rechtsanwälte provides its clientele with experienced attorneys in copyright law.
