Copenhagen Court orders Danish Volkswagen importer to pay dissident artist Ai Weiwei
In March, the artist took Volkswagen in Denmark to court for violating his 'intellectual property'
A suburban Copenhagen court has ordered the Danish importer of Volkswagen to pay $226,000 US to Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei for "unjustified use of artwork in an advertisement."
The Glostrup City Court says Skandinavisk Motor Co. A/S used one of Ai's large-scale installations on the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea as backdrop in a 2017 ad featuring a Volkswagen Polo parked in front of the artwork.
The court said Wednesday using Ai's installation, Soleil Levant, composed of more than 3,500 life jackets collected from refugees arriving on the Greek Island of Lesbos "was a violation" of Danish marketing laws.
The court also granted Ai compensation for non-financial damage of $38,000 US.
In an email to The Associated Press, company spokesman Thomas Hjortshoej said "it was not what we had hoped for."
"We have regretted and acknowledged that this was a human error from the beginning," he said, adding the group that imports brands like Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley tried to find a conciliatory solution with Ai.
In March, the artist took VW Denmark to court for violating his "intellectual property and moral rights."
The artwork was installed on the exterior of a downtown Copenhagen art gallery in 2017.