There ’s no interrogative a orotund amount of artistry goes into fashion design , including footwear . But a German motor hotel may have just set a precedent on whether such work can be legally protected . This hebdomad , the motor inn ruled that Birkenstocks miscarry to converge the sound definition of nontextual matter .
Birkenstocks are sandals with bottle cork fillet of sole that conform to the wearer ’s footprint . Hugely popular , they ’re also open to aper that cook up similar pattern in an exploit to capitalize on the sword ’s success . Birkenstock attempted to litigate the issue in a German court by claim their product was art and therefore subject to right of first publication law , meaning knock - offs could be consider copyright infraction . They seek enjoining against three company whose names were not publicly disclosed .
Accordingto the Associated Press , the effectual scheme failed to pay off . While a Cologne royal court agree with Birkenstock in an early ruling that the shoe merited being define as art , a higher court overturned it on appealingness . In the newest opinion , Germany ’s Federal Court of Justice maintain the appeal , asserting that a work — in this cause , shoes — can’t be copyright if they are bound by technical or plan elements that throttle aesthetic expression .
“ For the copyright protection of a work of applied art — as for all other type of piece of work — the level of figure must not be too low , ” the tourist court pronounce . “ For right of first publication protection , a level of design must be achieved that reveals individuality . ”
In other words , the peck - bring out Birkenstocks are too uniform to be considered a unique work of art .
Birkenstocks rise in Germany in the 1770s but did n’t make their stateside debut until 1966 , when a German - American dressmaker named Margot Fraser spotted the shoes on a trip . With chronically aching feet , Fraser get hold the horseshoe well-situated andbelievedthe style would invoke to American consumers . She procure U.S. distribution right from the Birkenstock family and began marketing them , mainly in health food stores . Given the counterculture movement of the 1960s , the shoesdevelopeda reputation for being the footgear of choice for hippies . A all-embracing variety of designing and better dispersion led to the trade name take off in the States , and they ’ve since outgrown their bohemian roots ; a pinkish twosome was featured in the 2023 blockbusterBarbie .
This latest attempt at protect their design elements is n’t likely to be the last . Company lawyer Konstantin Wegnerstatedthat further legal action mechanism is possible and that , “ We want to add arguments in these pending proceedings . ”
