- Sweden’s Supreme court: Artists’copyright of outdoor art also applies online
The Supreme Court, has today given Image Copyright law in an important issue of principle on how a restriction In the Copyright Act should be interpreted.
The dispute is between The Visual Copyright Society in Sweden (Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige – BUS) and Wikimedia Sweden and the question that applies is, If the artists have their copyright intact on the internet or not: Can outdoor art be publicly available online without the artist needs to be asked or paid? The Supreme Court of Sweden has stated that artists have the right to be consulted and get paid when their works are posted on internet, even if it comes to artwork that is permanently located on or at a public place outdoors. They also write that an open database of artwork has a commercial value and that this value should be reserved for the artworks authors.
- [CEPIC’s member’s] BLF view on the Wikimedia case
BLF as well as Bildupphovsrätt thoughts on the decision from the Swedish Supreme Court is that it is beneficial for photographer’s and other artists. The decision by the Supreme Court shows that professional internet company´s creating online databases shall have agreements that favour’s authors. The decision is not a restrain on photography, It ‘s Wikimedia’s usage that are restrained by using the authors work without either permission or compensation for doing so.
- Note from CEPIC
The main take-away from this decision is the recognition of the commercial value of the Wikipedia database.
The Supreme Court did confirm that Swedish copyright law does permit members of the public to take pictures of public artworks. But the Court added: “. … A database of this kind can be deemed to have a commercial value that is not inconsiderable… The court rules that the copyright-holders are entitled to this value. It is not relevant whether or not Wikimedia has a commercial aim.”
