Derivative works and authorisation + Off-White is suing a Californian ice cream shop over alleged infringement

Derivative works and authorisation: the example of “La reina de España”

Carlos López and Manuel Angel Egea are the authors of a small book called “La niña de tus ojos”, that was turned into a Spanish TV show produced by Fernando Trueba in 1998. 18 years later, Fernando Trueba, the producer, was about to launch “La Reina de España”, when López and Egea filed a copyright claim before the Courts of Madrid claiming that, as they were the original authors of the first TV show, Trueba did not own the rights to produce a sequel, therefore claiming damages and a prohibition for Trueba to use it in the future.

Unfortunately for them, the Court sided with Trueba here, establishing that the scriptwriters of “La niña de tus ojos” (TV show version) were Rafael Azcona and David Trueba who, based on the short novel written by López and Egea, developed a full story depicting the hardships that Spanish cineastes had to face during the civil war, shooting movies in Berlin under the surveillance of the Nazi regime. López and Egea were properly credited.

According to the Court, the only thing that “La niña de tus ojos” and “La Reina de España” have in common is the fact that they are centred on cineastes and the creative hardships they faced when filming in Germany, a storyline that cannot be protected through IP since it is part of history. Aside from that, both scripts and stories are completely different. Hence, “La Reina de España” can’t be considered a sequel, which means that Trueba did not need to gather authorisation to produce its recent TV show.

Off-White is suing a Californian ice cream shop over alleged infringement

Off-White, a clothing company, claims that Afters Ice Cream (“Afters”) is offering up merch that uses the graphic and logo used by Off-White, in order to confuse consumers into believing that its products are Off-White products and/or that both companies are somehow related when this is not the case. 

Indeed, Afters Ice Cream seems to be offering merch that includes the Off-White trademark for “alternating parallel diagonal lines” which has been used on or in connection with Off-White products since 2013, according to Off-White. As a consequence, not only are consumers confused as to the origin of the goods, but Afters is also taking advantage of Off-White’s reputation. Off-White is therefore requesting damages and for Afters to remove its merchandising from the market.

This is all for this week. With the end of the year nearby, it seems that the IP world in Europe is slowing down. Have a very nice week!