The children’s book ‘Der Räuber Hotzenplotz’ is very well known in Austria. On the cover, he can be seen wearing a large black hat, a red hat band and a large feather, standing behind a fence, looking away.
Now, this character has also played a role in a court case. A political party has adopted the distinctive elements of the graphic representation of the robber Hotzenplotz in order to use them for its own purposes to criticize the Mayor of Vienna. The publishing house, as the holder of the rights of use, applied for a temporary injunction for infringement of (i) the right to the title ‘Der Räuber Hotzenplotz’, (ii) the well-known trademark of the same name and (iii) the copyright in the graphic representation of ‘Räuber Hotzenplotz’, in particular the hat.
Read the article by Claudia Csáky here or on the Lexology website and find out how the Appeals Court Vienna, confirmed by the Austrian Supreme Court ruled in this case.
