Nike Stunt Backfires – and it’s a Slam Dunk in a Paris Court

In 2011, the French men’s basketball team qualified for the European basketball championship and the London Olympics (2012). In celebration, Nike and a local marketing company, Ubi Bene, contrived to place a giant French basketball jersey with Tony Parker’s Number 9 on a ten foot tall statue of Sir Winston Churchill stationed in central Paris.

The stunt gathered a great deal of attention as images of the jersey-wearing Churchill went viral and caught the attention of local and national media. Jean Cardot, the sculptor of the famous Churchill statue, was furious at what he saw as his work being defiled and so he launched an action against the duo for copyright and moral rights infringement. The French Court agreed with Cardot and fined the pair. However, Cardot wasn’t satisfied with the quantum and so he appealed the decision.

Last month, the Paris Court of Appeal agreed with Cardot, citing article L 122-4 of the Intellectual Property Code (France), which provides that translating, adapting, transforming, arranging or reproducing a protected work “by any technique or process” is an infringement of the rights of the copyright holder. The Court found that both Nike and Uni Bene commercially benefited from the widely distributed image while not first seeking the approval of the artist, and that such actions were a defilement under the Code. The Court awarded US$140,000 in compensation to Cardot.