A South American winery copied the work of a renowned British artist for its Malbec labels, a judge has ruled in a £150,000 damages claim.
Shantell Martin — who creates distinctive black and white line drawings — sued the Argentine winery Bodegas San Huberto for producing her designs on more than 18,000 bottles of wine for the UK market.
However, a judge has told Martin that despite winning her claim, the amount of damages awarded would be less than 10 per cent of what she had demanded.
The 44-year-old artist grew up in Thamesmead, southeast London, and exhibits in major international galleries. She produces many of her drawings for live audiences alongside music and has collaborated with the singer Kendrick Lamar as well as high-profile brands, such as Tiffany & Co, Adidas and Puma.
The label which Martin sued over …
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… and her original work
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After graduating from Central St Martins in London, Martin moved to Tokyo in 2003 where she projected drawings onto nightclub walls. Five years later, Martin relocated to New York.
Earlier this year, Martin was awarded an MBE for her contributions to the arts and charity.
She has spoken publicly of experiencing racism when she was young, as a mixed race child on a predominantly white estate.
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Her copyright row with the winery started five years ago, when she said the label for its Aminga Malbec featured drawings that appeared to be lifted from her 2017 show at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in the US city of Buffalo.
A bottle of Malbec by San Huberto is currently sold at Asda for £5.50, with a different label.
Martin complained that two more labels displayed on an additional 500,000 bottles of imported wine also infringed her work.
The artist sued the winery and Marc Patch, the head of GM Drinks, an import business based in Hampshire.
Martin sued the winery as well as the head of GM Drinks, an import business in the UK
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Sitting in the High Court, Mr Justice Stone backed her claim. He ruled that the first of the three labels Martin had complained about — which was created for the winery by an independent designer — had copied her work.
And Stone found that although it did not know about the copying until the artist complained, Patch’s company was liable for selling said infringing bottles in the UK.
However, the judge told Martin that damages would not be close to her stated figure of $200,000, £150,000, as the vast majority of the bottles either did not infringe on her designs or were sold before the companies were aware of the problem.
Martin may get £10,000 or less, after filing a claim for £150,000
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The court heard that after Martin initially complained to Bodegas San Huberto, the winery redesigned the label twice — and GM Drinks imported about half a million bottles with the new designs.
But Martin pressed ahead with legal action, claiming that the two new labels also infringed her work. She demanded $200,000 on the basis that it was a typical fee she would arrange for such a commercial collaboration.
But in his judgement, Stone said that the amount in damages she would be entitled to would be potentially as little as £10,000.
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The judge noted that GM Drinks had only made a profit of £924 from the bottles the judge ruled had infringed on her work.
Stone said the artist, the winery and the importer should attempt to agree an amount in compensation in light of his findings.
But he added that if damages could not be agreed, then he would transfer the claim to the small claims track of the intellectual property and enterprise court, which deals with copyright infringement claims worth less than £10,000.
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