Overview
- The Bologna civil court recognized the Casalecchio store graphic as Cristina Cati’s protected work and ordered IKEA to pay damages.
- Judges said the image is an “opera d’ingegno,” which means a creative work protected under Italian copyright law.
- Cati filed the case in the Tribunal of Bologna’s intellectual property section after rejecting what she called a small cash offer to settle.
- The use surfaced in December 2021 when an Instagram follower spotted her “Tortellino con ingredienti” on display without her name.
- The decision is final and could encourage independent artists to challenge unauthorized corporate use found through social media.