Winning copyright case over archaeological costumes

We have successfully represented the Lithuanian National Centre for Culture in a legal dispute with Ms Daiva Steponavičienė.

Ms Steponavičienė argued in court that the archaeological costumes of the Baltic tribes that she had reproduced were protected by copyright and that the Lithuanian National Centre of Culture was using them illegally.

The court of first instance and the Lithuanian Court of Appeal rejected almost all of the applicant’s claims and ruled that the archaeological costume could not be regarded as an object of copyright and protected.

“The courts have addressed a very sensitive issue – whether scientific research work can be considered copyrightable and whether it is protected by copyright law. I am glad that the courts have once again confirmed the fundamental rule that copyright protects not the work and effort, but the result of creation,” said Mr Andrius Iškauskas, Partner and Attorney-at-Law, after the decision of the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.

Mr Iškauskas advised the Lithuanian National Centre for Culture on the strategy of the case, drafted the procedural documents and represented the defendant in both the court of first instance and the Court of Appeal.