The Supreme Court of Cassation delivers a momentous decision on
parody as an exception to copyright and trademark
Decision No. 38165/2022, published on December 30, 2022, once
again gave the Italian Supreme Court of
Cassation an opportunity to grapple with an issue of
topical interest, this one regarding the interplay
between copyright and trademark law
and the applicability of exceptions for parody purposes. The
subject of the dispute was an advertisement in which an actor
mockingly impersonates legendary masked
swordsman Zorro.
The lawsuit started in 2007, after the commercial was broadcast
on television and radio as part of an advertising campaign
for Brio Blu, a well-known Italian brand of
sparkling water, and the rightsholder (the U.S. company Zorro
Productions Inc.) filed a claim against the company that had
commissioned the advertisement (CO.GE.DI. International).
