French courts rule on derivative works and parody in Tintin cases

Two recent French court cases involving the Belgian company Moulinsart SA have highlighted the legal complexities surrounding derivative works and parody in copyright law. In the first case, the Tribunal of Marseille ruled against artist Christophe Tixier (alias Peppone) for creating busts of the character Tintin without authorization. The court ordered Tixier and his gallery to pay €114,157 in damages for counterfeiting, rejecting the defense that Tintin is not copyrightable because it was inspired by the earlier character Tintin-Lutin created by Benjamin Rabier in 1898. In the second case, the Tribunal of Rennes ruled in favor of artist Xavier Marabout, who created mashup works combining Edward Hopper's paintings with Tintin. The court applied the parody exception to copyright, which does not require the original author's consent when the use is for caricature or parody. The article also discusses Italian law, where parody is similarly considered an exception to copyright, provided it results in an autonomous work and does not compete commercially with the original.