EUROPEAN UNION: Copyright Protects Works of Applied Art Regardless of Country of Origin

In a case between the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra and the Dutch retail chain Kwantum, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that EU member states must protect works of applied art, regardless of the country of origin or nationality of the author (Case C-227/23 ECLI:EU:C:2024:914) and are not allowed to apply any additional national limitations. The decision, which was announced on October 24, 2024, will have a major impact on copyright protection in the EU, particularly for works from jurisdictions that do not offer national protection.  

Vitra owns the rights to the design of the iconic Dining Sidechair Wood (DSW Chair), which the U.S. couple Ray and Charles Eames created in 1948 for a furniture design competition organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Kwantum, operator of a chain of interior design stores in Belgium and the Netherlands, marketed a similar product, the so-called Paris Chair, which allegedly infringed Vitra’s copyright in the DSW Chair.

Vitra sued Kwantum in the Netherlands for copyright infringement. The lower court dismissed the action, but the court of appeal overturned this decision. The Dutch Supreme Court referred the case to the CJEU for clarification of the applicability of the “material reciprocity” criterion laid down in Article 2(7) of the Berne Convention.

For works of applied art, this material reciprocity clause provides that works protected in the country of origin only as designs and not by copyright do not automatically enjoy copyright protection in other jurisdictions. This provision was crucial in this case because the DSW Chair, although created in the United States, is not protected by copyright there.

The CJEU ruled that, where a rule of EU law harmonizes copyright protection, it is for the EU legislature alone, and not the national member states, to determine any limitation or restriction to copyrighted works originating from a third country or the author of which is a national of a third party.

On the basis of the wording of Articles 2 and 4 of the InfoSoc Directive (Directive 2001/29), the CJEU then referred to its case law according to which a work which meets the definition of a work must be protected by copyright under the InfoSoc Directive, adding that this Directive does not impose any condition as to the country of origin of the work or the nationality of its author.

The decision is an important next step towards further harmonization of copyright law across the EU. It also has major implications for cross-border enforcement possibilities of copyright protection for product design.

Left: DSW Chair (Vitra); Right: Paris Chair (Kwantum)

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