Milan court orders Dolce & Gabbana payout to Maradona
Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has been awarded damages after suing Dolce & Gabbana for using his name on the back of a jersey.
Maradona sued the Italian fashion brand after one of its 2009 fashion shows, held in Naples, featured a model wearing a blue football shirt with “Maradona” and the number 10 on the back.
Maradona played for Napoli, based in the city, from 1984 to 1991. During his time at the club, Maradona scored 115 goals and won the Scudetto twice, cementing his reputation as one of the greatest football players of all time.
After discovering Dolce & Gabbana’s use of his name at the fashion show, Maradona sued the company for €1 million ($1.1 million) in damages.
Eleonora Rosati, associate professor in IP law at the University of Southampton and of counsel at Bird & Bird, explained on the IPKat blog that Maradona had argued the unauthorised use of his name falsely implied a commercial partnership between himself and the fashion house.
Earlier this month, the Milan Court of First Instance sided with the Napoli legend, ruling that Maradona’s name “cannot be freely used by third-party undertakings without the permission of the rights holder” [translated from Italian by Rosati].
“Without any doubt, the use of a decorative element which reproduces a third-party distinctive sign or name, leads – to say the least – to the establishment of an association with that person,” the court ruled.
But the damages awarded to Maradona fell far short of the requested €1 million. The Milan court awarded the footballer €70,000 in compensation for Dolce & Gabbana’s infringement of his rights.
Dolce & Gabbana must also pay litigation costs of €13,400.
“It is well-known that image rights protection in Italy is quite extensive, and courts have issued decisions that have progressively broadened the scope of protection afforded to one's own image,” Rosati commented.
“The take-home point seems to be once again that image rights can go quite far in Italy and that unauthorised use of third-party image, likeness, etc should be done - and handled - with care,” she added.
In 2017, Maradona sued a Japanese video game maker for unauthorised use of his likeness in “Pro Evolution Soccer 2017”.
In a statement issued at the time, “Pro Evolution Soccer” developer Konami insisted it was in compliance with its licensing obligations.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
IPOS rejects Ferrero Rocher 3D mark
