November 2017. In a ruling dated 15 November 2017, the District Court in The Hague concluded that international fashion brand Marc Cain had infringed designer Eleanor Cashman’s copyright and design rights to a wallpaper.

Cashman’s wallpaper on the left, Marc Cain’s commercial on the right 

TV commercial

The wallpaper had been ordered online from Cashman by a photographer working for Marc Cain, who failed to explain it would be used in a TV commercial for Marc Cain.

Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age

Golden Age

At the hearing, Marc Cain argued that Cashman’s design wasn’t original because similar designs could be found on seventeenth century paintings from the Dutch Golden Age.

Own creative choices

But although the design was reminiscent of a certain type of traditional motif, it nevertheless reflected Cashman’s own creative choices, the Court found. Marc Cain was ordered to pay 2,500 euros in damages and over 16,000 euros in legal costs.