Chico Buarque’s debut album cover turned into a memereproduction
Posted on 09/29/2021 5:16 PM
RIO – A technology company on Wednesday (29) was ordered to pay 25,000 Brazilian reals to Chico Puarque de Holland. The singer filed a lawsuit against Valor Tecnologia and demanded compensation of 40 thousand Brazilian reais for moral damages, but the amount said by Judge Fernanda Rosado de Souza, of the Registry of the Sixth Special Civil Court in Lagoa, was less than required.
In March of this year, Chico Buarque learned that the cover image of his first album had been used in a commercial and unauthorized manner in an advertisement for advertising purposes on the social networks Facebook and Instagram. The store claimed that the image had become popular on the Internet and that it had been used for years as a “meme”.
The company that filed the lawsuit argued that there were many commercial posts using the meme and added that it had not at any time attempted to “link” the artist’s name to the ad and said it only used the image to represent “the difference between an image of a sad person and a happy person”. Valor Tecnologia also maintained that the meme became separate from the artist.
In the ad, the meme was accompanied by the text: “The ability to come from anywhere and consult with patients from all over the world makes us love Chico Puarque II there.”
The posts were taken to the air after the lawsuit began.
Judge Fernanda Rosado de Sousa recognized that compensation for the abuse of the image was fully supported by the Constitution. In his decision, he stressed that “familiarity, private life, honor and people’s image are safeguarded in a way that guarantees the right to compensation for material or moral damage resulting from their violation.”
The judge stressed that improper use of the image at other times does not absolve the company of liability. He noted that “the fact that the plaintiff’s photo has been improperly used, on other occasions, by different people and for a variety of purposes, does not detract from the defendant’s wrongful conduct.”
The article attempts to contact Valor Tecnologia. Space is open to expression.
