Duff, Dub or Flub? - on the misappropriation of the likeness of a golf professional
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Herr Kaymer was not impressed |
The defendant had offered "pop art style" portraits of the well-known young German golf professional Martin Kaymer for sale on his (the defendant's) website as well as on an internet auction site. These portraits showeda photograph of the golf professional, which the defendant had created by altering the colour combination of photographs into pop-art style. He sold one of these portraits online via an internet auction site achieving a rather humble sale price of €43.50. The defendant argued that his portraits were meant to pay "tribute" to Mr Kaymer and that the dissemination of the portraits also served the "higherinterest of art" as well as the information interest of the general public.

Furthermore, the judges regarded the information value of the portraits as "very low" and found they primarily served the defendant's commercial interests. As such the judges took the view that the claimant's right to determine how his image may be used for commercial purposes outweighed the defendant's rights.
A common sense decision or should I say "a hole in one", in view of this Kat. The court's press release of 20 July 2013 can be found here. Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court, decision of 23 July 2013, reference I-20 U 190/12