Copyright in squares? Agreement reached in legal row between artists

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Tobias Rehberger - New York Bar Oppenheimer

A  few years ago, German artist, Tobias Rehberger's known for his 1960s and '70s design styles and interesting interpretation of art and space, was commissioned to create a piece for the Berlin National Library.

The result was “Uhrenobjekt” (“Watch Object”) a giant black and white checkered painting that was concealed for almost year because of a copyright complaint brought by one of the UK's most important living artists, the British Op-Art painter Bridget Riley who claimed that the German artist Tobias Rehberger piece was a copy of one of her most famous paintings,movement in squares (1961).

Riley demanded it be removed from display in the library’s reading room, however Rehberger argued that the checkerboard pattern was part of the public domain.

Movement in Squares, 1961 Bridget Riley

Almost a year later, the case has now been resolved and the painting is back on display with a new title: “Uhrenobjekt nach Movement in Squares von Bridget Riley” (“Watch Object after Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley”).

According to an online art publication, “On 15 January 2014, Riley and Rehberger settled the case before the Kammergericht, the highest appeal court in Berlin. According to the settlement, Rehberger’s Clockobject may only be published and shown with the addition to the title ‘after Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley.

The Rehberger work – installed in the Rara-Reading Room in the Staatsbibliothek Unter den Linden (National Library, Berlin) – may only be shown there and can only be illustrated in an art historical context.”

Apparently, Bridget Riley waived all possible copyright claims regarding Rehberger’s Clockobject. In consideration and ‘as a sign of good will’ – as stated in the settlement – Rehberger will pay Riley the amount of €10,000. Riley will donate the money received from Rehberger to Space Studios, London, a charitable organization that she helped set up in 1968 and has been supporting ever since.

The Goss-IPgirl thinks this is an interesting case! Clearly the works are very similar but there are also differences. The checkerboard design is old and widely used, so the question arises: is it really possible for the British artist Riley, to lay a claim to copyright ownership in a black and white grid? According to one online art magazine, this is not the first time Riley has gone to court to protect her work – in the 1960s she famously sued a fashion house for creating a range of clothing that used one of her pieces as the pattern. In that case, she was unsuccessful.