'Albrecht Durer's Enforcement Actions: A Trademark Origin Story' by Peter Karol in 25 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law (forthcoming) comments
This article offers a reappraisal of a pair of remarkably contemporary enforcement actions brought by the Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) against copyists of his work. These cases have long been debated by art, cultural and copyright historians insofar as they appear to reject Dürer’s demand for proto-copyright protection for his prints. But surprisingly little attention has been paid by trademark scholars to the companion holdings—in the same cases—that affirm Dürer’s right to prevent use of his monogram on unauthorized reproductions.
This article seeks to fill that gap by analyzing Dürer’s cases through the lens of contemporary trademark theory. It argues that, properly contextualized and understood, these cases provide the first complete record we have of tribunals enjoining the unsanctioned use of a famous mark in commerce both to protect consumers from purchasing mislabeled goods and preserve the source-associative power of that sign. In so doing, they show us a path towards recentralizing the role of artists and authors as a core aspect of trademark law’s otherwise industrial legal history.
