In the world of modern communication, creativity is expressed not only through traditional forms of art, but also through shorter and more immediate forms of expression, such as advertising slogans. A recent decision by the Court of Bari shows that the language of marketing can also be considered a field rich in creative potential and deserving of protection under copyright law.
Index:
- The Copyright Law
- The decision of the Court of Bari
- How to protect the expressive form
The Copyright Law
As is well known, Italian copyright law (Law No. 633 of 22 April 1941 – the Copyright Act) protects all works of authorship of a creative nature (including, for example, literary, musical, dramatic, sculptural, pictorial, architectural works, as well as films, photographs, software, and works of industrial design).
The decision of the Court of Bari
The Court of Bari, in judgment No. 3389 of 5 September 2023, recognized copyright protection for an advertising campaign, reaffirming that creativity may also be found in marketing language, as long as the expression is original.
In the case at hand, the slogan “Quando tutti gli altri arrivano dopo un driin driin, noi siamo lì dopo un dlin dlon” (“When everyone else shows up after a driin driin, we’re there after a dlin dlon”), created by an advertising agency for one of its clients and later used without the creator’s consent, was deemed protectable under the Copyright Act.
The Court held that this expression, although inspired by common ideas, exhibited an autonomous linguistic form, based on onomatopoeia, rhythm, and phonetic wordplay, sufficient to constitute an act of creativity, even if minimal, and therefore deserving of protection under copyright law.
How to protect the expressive form
The decision reiterates that copyright protects not the underlying idea, but the way it is expressed: that is, the original form in which it is communicated. Even in advertising language, therefore, original expression can give rise to fully enforceable copyright, although a slogan will typically retain a more or less evident connection with the product or service it aims to promote.
Quite often, moreover, a slogan can also be protected through trademark registration, which provides more precise and structured protection.
In all such cases, it is therefore always advisable (and sometimes essential) to rely on professionals experienced in intellectual property law, who can identify the most suitable protection strategy.