Eriksson v. TV4
Sweden Supreme Court
Case No. T2117-06 (2008)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Claes Eriksson (plaintiff), a Swedish film director, produced a satirical, feature-length film titled The Shark Who Knew Too Much. Eriksson assigned TV4 (defendant), a Swedish television-broadcasting company, the right to televise his film. During TV4’s broadcast of Eriksson’s film, TV4 inserted two five-minute commercial breaks. Each commercial break was preceded by a notice that the segment was not part of Eriksson’s film. The commercial breaks were each timed to coincide with a scene change in the film. Eriksson sued TV4 for violating his moral rights under Swedish copyright law by adding unauthorized commercial breaks to the film in a way that was injurious to Eriksson’s personality as expressed in the film. Eriksson argued that the unauthorized commercial breaks injured the film by breaking up its intended flow, rhythm, and atmosphere. Eriksson also argued that adding commercial breaks directly contradicted the message of the film, which was a satirical critique of society’s hysterical pursuit of money. Both the trial court and the appellate court ruled in Eriksson’s favor. TV4 appealed to the Sweden Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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