A cartographer has once again failed to get more money to use his Europe graphic on euro banknotes. However, the legal dispute with the ECB could continue.
His Europe graphic served as a template for billions of euro banknotes, but the remuneration for the creator remains meager: The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court (OLG) dismissed the appeal of a now 87-year-old cartographer who was hired by the European Central Bank (ECB). in the first instance had demanded 5.5 million euros for the use of his work.
“The 11th Civil Senate, which is responsible for copyright law, comes to the conclusion that the plaintiff is not entitled to any additional remuneration even if the authorship of the file is assumed to be in his favor and the acceptance of a work capable of copyright protection is not due,” the OLG announced on Thursday. According to the Higher Regional Court, which dealt with a claim of 25,000 euros as part of a partial lawsuit, the land mass depicted on the euro notes actually represents a different work.
An appeal was not permitted, but it would be possible to lodge a non-admissible appeal against the judgment at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The cartographer’s lawyer, Philip M. Jakober, said in an initial reaction that he considered it “very likely” that he would go to the BGH. His client’s original claim for millions is by no means off the table.
Lawyer: Compensation not appropriate
According to Jakober, the Austrian cartographer “traveled around the globe to create his maps” throughout his life. To depict Europe, which has been engaging lawyers for several years now, he used various satellite images and digital files, then moved coastlines, fjords and islands and reworked surface structures and colors.
In 1997, according to his lawyer, the cartographer transferred the rights of use for the depiction of Europe created in this way to the Austrian central bank for payment of 30,000 schillings – the equivalent of 2,180 euros. This license was later transferred to the ECB, which had the Europe relief printed on the back of all euro banknotes.
The dispute with the ECB, which has now been decided in the second instance, was initiated by an actually harmless request from the cartographer: in 2014, his client approached the ECB with the desire to finance a new map project for him, said lawyer Jakober. The central bank then requested a list of his claims and demands. When examining the case, the law firm came to the conclusion that the cartographer had not received appropriate compensation for the use of his work.
Demand for millions is not legal
The Frankfurt Regional Court did not consider the additional demand of 2.5 million euros immediately and a further 3 million euros for the next 30 years, which was levied under copyright law, to be legal. The judges justified their verdict in May 2022, although the image file was used in the design of the banknotes, but at the same time it deviated to such an extent that an independent new work was created. Among other things, the color was changed and certain geographical elements were not adopted.
The Higher Regional Court agreed with this content. In addition, the Higher Regional Court Senate saw no causal connection between the use of the European map on the banknotes and the amount of the ECB’s so-called seigniorage income, in which the plaintiff wanted to participate. According to the court, this income for banknote handling would have arisen even if the card had not been used for euro banknotes.
Source: Stern
