Zara Home Convicted for Plagiarism – Decision of Brussels Court in case Damiaens - Odink vs. Zara Home

Zara Home Candle |  Damiaens - Odink vs. Zara Home 

To Whom it May Concern: 

Zara Home Convicted for Plagiarism – Decision of Brussels Court in case Damiaens - Odink vs. Zara Home 

The purpose of this press release/statement is to allow my clients to manage, streamline and react to the numerous requests for interviews that have come their way following the decision of the Brussels Court in the matter of Damiaens - Odink vs. Zara Home.

 The decision is attached to this e-mail, and summarized below. This statement also includes a couple of quotes from the decision, and subsequent remarks from the claimants and their lawyer. We politely ask you to direct any further questions you may have to Dieter Delarue via dieter@vaninnis-delarue.be. Thank you. 

 Summary of the decision – quote:

 The Brussels Court held that, while that is not the case for the original family coat of arms, the adaptation (wood carved sculpture) made of it by mr Patrick Damiaens is an original work of art and thus protected by copyright. The Brussels Court further held that by reproducing the sculpture onto a carved candle sold online and in Zara Home stores, without the artist’s permission, Zara Home infringed this copyright. 

 The Brussels Court ordered Zara Home to stop selling the candles (Zara Home had already pulled back the applicable candles), and convicted Zara Home to pay damages and legal costs, and to publish the decision in the “Heraldisch Tijdschrift”, a periodical focused on heraldic art. 

 Reflecting on Zara's typical modus operandi, the Brussels Court stated the following: "this clearly illustrates the intentions and attitude of Zara Home when designing and producing the candle: a commercially interesting and existing design, of not too much renown, is reproduced on the applicable goods in order to optimize sales without any recognition of the person who actually created the work and whose personality the work reflects."  

Statement by Dieter Delarue (lawyer for Patrick Damiaens and Mervyn Odink) 

 “As a copyright lawyer and a true advocate for the protection of innovation and creativity, it has always struck me that, no matter how strong and noisy the media campaigns against these practices were, in the end they faded away and the retailers went on and copied further. The retailers have always assumed that smaller designers or artist would be bluffed away, or would not persist in enforcing their rights. I hope that this decision, probably the first of its kind, even worldwide, can serve as a turning point in that respect, and that it may give courage to other designers or artists that are in the same boat.

 Statement by Patrick Damiaens (claimant 1):

 “I am very happy with the result. Two long years of persistence finally paid off. Zara Home found images of my sculpture online (probably on my blog), copied my work on one of its products and sold the product all over the world, without asking my permission. And then, when asked for an explanation two years ago, they simply waived the expression of my concern and feeling of disrespect away. They even threatened with a law suit for slander. I felt insulted and was too stubborn to let things go just like that.“

Statement by Mervyn Odink (claimant 2):
“To a certain extent I am happy with the end result: that Zara Home did not get away with what it did and that it has to realize that respect for third parties’ intellectual property rights is something that they need to show, too, no matter how big they are. I am disappointed, however, to the extent that the court has held that the original family coat or arms is not protected by copyright, because the creation of a work like this is in part the result of pre-defined choices or the combination of existing elements. We do not agree with this point of view”. 

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

The ODINK Family, Netherlands | Family Coat of Arms carved in wood | Heraldic WOOD CARVING

Patrick Damiaens
Heraldic Wood Carver


ODINK Family, The Netherlands 
  
A Heraldic Family Coat of Arms 
carved in wood

Patrick Damiaens, Heraldic Wood Carver

 





















Family coat of arms carved in wood

One of my specialties is the carving of Heraldic family coat of arms and Crests in wood. To carve a family coat of arms in wood is a bit of a personal challenge for me. Heraldry is a most interesting subject and I always look forward to taking on new assignments involving heraldic Coat of Arms.

You learn about interesting people that captivate the imagination, all of whom have their own fascinating life story or family history. And for me personally it’s always nice to hear that my craftsmanship and quality are greatly appreciated.

Every heraldic coat of arms is different. Most of the time, it starts with an example that serves as a source of inspiration in the form of a drawing, an old sketch or some photographic material delivered to me by the client.
In some cases it occurs that the design for the family coat of arms is not entirely suited as the blueprint for the carving of it in wood.

This might be due to the fact that the design is in a format which is a lot smaller than what the client had in mind (e.g. a large heraldic panel), in which case the family coat of arms has to be redesigned. If one were to simply enlarge the small design, the proportions or the composition of the design would be distorted. 

Usually things have to be added to the composition in order to make better use of the available space. It might also be that there is no logic to how the mantling was arranged, and it’s entirely possible that the design was never meant to be carried out in wood. After all, wood has its limitations.

It is equally important that the relief fits the dimensions of the coat of arms.
We always try to resolve these small and sometimes larger issues together with the client.

 ____________________________________________

_____________________________

Odink Family

Much has been written and published about various families named Odink. This pertains mainly to older families both under the name Odink and Odinck. Characteristic of the fact that the name is written in different ways is a charter from the 17^th century, in which an ancestor is and in which his surname was written in several different ways.

The original seal is a house mark in the shape of the letter V/Roman numeral 5 crossing another V/Roman numeral 5 adorned with garlands on top and on both sides. Instead of a helmet, a crown is used on top. 

Paper heraldry

The seal stems from a period that’s also known as “paper heraldry”. In the 17th and 18th century paper heraldry ushered in a “decadent” period, where they would use contrived and twisted baroque and rococo cartouches in shield shapes. Artists lost track of the proportions between shield, crown, helmet and shield bearer and on the shield, they would depict so many figures that the main characteristic of heraldry, recognition, was lost.

House mark

A house mark is described by certain writers as a hereditary family crest for people who weren’t of noble birth. The ressemblance in shape to the old Germanic runes is striking, yet there is no historical connection between the two; styllistically house marks are also related to cuneiform script, but the ressemblance in both cases rest solely on the necessity to use shapes that were easily carved or applied.

It is often assumed that people who used house marks were illiterate. But when we take a closer look at Derk Odink (I) and the time that he and his descendants lived in as well as the circumstances they were in, and when we take into account the fact that they all used a seal to stamp their charters, we can safely assume that they were in fact not illiterate.

It is believed that the house mark had been around much longer, but there’s no way to be certain of this.

Registration

After one of the descendants of the Odink family found the charter, signed by Derk Odink (III) on 12 February 1793, the crest was registered according to the heraldry guidelines on 17 February 2012.

________________________________________
_____________________________

HERALDIC WOOD CARVING

Carving a Heraldic Coat of Arms in lime wood.
Different steps.

The heraldic drawing, is placed on to the wood

Heraldic wood carving

Modelling of the Mantling

Carving the heraldic helmet

Carving the Heraldic Family shield

The ODINK Family Coat of Arms carved in wood, Netherlands

The carved heraldic helmet

Family Crest carved in Limewood

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info