CHANGING STATIONS

The IPKat is grateful to James Heald for drawing his attention to a story covered by Bloomberg. It seems that the architect of the main Berlin railway station has won a moral rights case against the German rail company Deutsche Bahn AG. The architect, Meinhard von Gerkan, objected to the replacement of his original roof, which resembled a cathedral’s nave, with a flat metal roof designed by another architect.

The court said:

"The chamber is of the opinion that the flat ceiling seriously distorted the architectural design…[The decision to change the roof] is a breach of architects' rights as set out in the copyright law".

The station being built (right)

The decision was welcomed by the architecht’s firm, a partner of which commented:

"We are very happy about this decision…It means this current ceiling will be torn down and replaced".

The IPKat says that when IP dictates the way in which ‘real’ property (in the land law sense) can be used, the result tends to be messy.

CLARIFICATION: the roof originally depicted with the post was not the roof at the heart of the controversy. Instead, the offending ceiling is located underground.