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Johan Deckmyn v. Helena Vandersteen

Case C-201/13 (2014)

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Johan Deckmyn v. Helena Vandersteen

European Union Court of Justice
Case C-201/13 (2014)

Facts

Johan Deckmyn (defendant) was a member of the right-wing Vlaams Belang party, which was supported by the nonprofit Vrijheidsfonds VZW (defendant). At a New Year’s reception in the Belgian city of Ghent, Deckmyn and the Vrijheidsfonds handed out calendars that contained a drawing inspired by a 1961 Spike and Suzy comic by Willy Vandersteen. The comic depicted a character in a white tunic throwing coins to people. The calendar changed the character to the mayor of Ghent and depicted the coin recipients as people wearing veils and people of color. Helena Vandersteen and other heirs of Willy Vandersteen (the Vandersteen heirs) (plaintiffs) brought a copyright-infringement action against Deckmyn and the Vrijheidsfonds, who responded by citing parody as a defense under Belgian law. The Vandersteen heirs argued that parody was required to (1) serve a critical purpose, (2) display an originality of its own, (3) display humor, (4) attempt to mock the original work, and (5) borrow no more from the original work than necessary. The Belgian court referred the matter to the European Union Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)

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