Riley v. Rehberger Copyright Lawsuit Settled

Can a checkerboard design be protected by copyright law? You know the answer by now, it depends, and that “depends” (not the baby diaper kind) also includes the question of jurisdiction.

Painter Bridget Riley had previously sued artist Tobias Rehberger in a German court for copyright infringement. Yes, another artist vs. artist copyright dispute. I’m not well-versed in German law, but it seems this case reached the highest appellate court. The case settled, with Rehberger agreeing to pay Riley €10,000 (approx. $15,000) as a sign of good will. Riley will donate the money to a charitable organization she founded in 1968.

The more interesting part of the settlement, and one which I think should become part of any copyright settlement of this sort, is where the appropriating artist gives actual credit to the original artist (yes, I used the word “original”…gasp!). In this case, Rehberger has agreed to give Riley credit in the installation title, Watch Object after Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley and, according to Gossip-IP Girl, may only be shown at the commissioned site, the Berlin National Library, and can only be illustrated in an art historical context. In effect, copyright law here is being used to solidify Rehberger’s project as site-specific and qualm any intent by Rehberger to make replicas or editions. Very interesting…and smart.

Movement in Squares, 1961 Bridget Riley

Checkerboard designs of the most basic kind (checkers, chess), I would posit, would probably not obtain copyright protection in the U.S. if the design stuck to its usual black-white schematic. But it gets tricky from there. Remember the origami lawsuit against artist Sarah Morris, and which, I will remind readers out there, I thought was clearly fair use. What do you think?

Thanks to Gossip-IP Girl for the heads up on this one.

Tags: Art Law, artwork titles, checkerboard, Copyright, fair use, German law, lawsuit, Rehberger, Riley, site specific