RKKW defends freedom of information in the art market

RKKW successfully represented a client operating in the art market in a dispute with one of the largest auction houses in Poland.

In a recent ruling, the court, in accordance with the interests of the client conducting informational, educational and statistical activities on the art market,

dismissed in its entirety the application for interim measures filed against our client by one of the largest auction houses in Poland.

The application for interim relief sought to effectively prevent our client from conducting its business by prohibiting it from using any materials found on the applicant’s website in its business, based on the provisions on combating unfair competition.

In response, lawyers from the IP department pointed out that:

• the parties to the dispute do not engage in competitive activity;
• our client’s activity and the materials published by him are not contrary to the law or good morals due to the lack of copyright protection for photographs of works of art in auction catalogues due to their non-creative nature;
• alternatively, any use of creative elements by our client – as falling within the scope of the right to quote or the right to reprint – was not unlawful;
• the application was in fact aimed at monopolising the possibility of informing the public about content that is in the public domain;
• finally, that the claim itself was not sufficiently specific, which in itself determined the necessity to dismiss the motion.

The dismissal of the motion for interim relief by the Court should be assessed positively as satisfactory for the client and conducive to unhindered access to information.

The project was led by the following members of the RKKW Law Firm:

Mateusz Hyży – Senior Associate, solicitor,

Julia Filbier – Junior Associate, trainee solicitor,

with substantive support from

Aneta Pankowska – Partner, legal adviser.