If a photo mural is visible in the advertisement for a holiday apartment, it does not constitute a copyright infringement. This was decided by the Stuttgart Regional Court (Ref. 17 O 39/22).
Copyright protection for photographs includes the photographer’s moral rights and exploitation rights. However, the photographer can grant usage rights to third parties, according to the commercial law firm MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte, which focuses on IP law and copyright law. According to the ruling of the Stuttgart Regional Court dated October 25, 2022, copyright protection does not extend to include a photo mural visible in an advertisement for a holiday apartment.
In the underlying case, the owner took photos of the rooms to advertise the holiday apartment and posted them online. A photo mural was also visible in one of the shots. When the rights holder of the photo learned of this, she sued for an injunction and damages. The photographer had previously transferred the rights to his photos to a company that sold photo murals.
The Stuttgart Regional Court dismissed the lawsuit. The defendant owner of the holiday apartment published and reproduced the photograph with the photo mural without naming the author. However, this does not constitute a copyright infringement. The plaintiff had placed the photo mural into circulation and was therefore, in good faith, obliged to consent to its use by the defendant, the court said.
In the digital age, it must be expected that photos of the room, and thus of the photo mural, will be taken and these images will also appear publicly accessible on the Internet, the Stuttgart Regional Court further elaborated. This could only be different if the defendant used the photo mural in a way other than its intended purpose or if the photo mural could no longer be recognized as such. However, this is not the case here. Rather, the photo mural was photographed merely incidentally and almost inevitably as part of the room, the court said.
At MTR Legal Rechtsanwälte, experienced IP law und copyrightlawyers advise.
Get in contact now!➤ Attorney IP Law – learn more!
