On 8 April 2019, the Enterprise Court (ondernemingsrechtbank
/ tribunal de l'entreprise) (the "Court") held
that the use by Greenpeace of a cartoon character named "Maya
the Bee" infringed the copyright exploitation right of Studio
100, a Belgian production company in the entertainment sector, as
well as the moral rights of Waldemar Bonsels Stiftung
("WBS"), a company governed by German
law.
The fictional character, Maya the Bee, was created and described
in 1912 by Mr. Waldemar Bonsels in his book 'The Adventures
of Maya the Bee'. WBS exercises Mr. Bonsels' moral
rights in his works.
Studio 100 commercialises Maya the Bee movies and cartoon series
in the Benelux. The company's general activities focus on
children's entertainment. Studio 100 licenses the image and
rights in Maya the Bee for various (merchandising) products,
including poultry sausage, which indirectly led to the present
dispute.
