Tamedia threatens legal action against commuter newspaper parody
The editorial team of the satirical magazine La Distinction has received mail from the legal department of the Zurich media house received.
The editorial team of the Westschweizer
Satirical magazine La Distinction has received mail from Tamedia's legal service
received. At the launch of Le Matin Bleu at the end of
October published a parody of commuter newspapers. The
The design of the magazine called Zéro Absolu, published by the Geneva daily newspaper Le
Courrier was essentially based on 20
minutes. According to Le Courrier, Tamedia therefore sees a
Risk of confusion and infringement of copyright. Complete as
However, the Zurich publishing house does not want to be seen as a spoilsport: Since 20
minutes has not yet appeared in French-speaking Switzerland and the content of
Zéro Absolu is not directed against Tamedia, a lawsuit will not be filed,
writes the legal service. However, a repeat case will be
under no circumstances tolerate it. La Distinction disrespectfully counters the threat:
"We wonder whether this letter isn't forged. How could the
Newspaper with the largest circulation in the country does not have the right to parody
", the editorial team is quoted as saying in Le Courrier. They suspect
therefore a maneuver by Edipresse behind it, to prevent the competitor
ridicule. The fact that a lawsuit actually has little prospect of
would be successful, says media lawyer Regula Bähler. The
Copyright law expressly provides for exceptions for parodies as long as they
were recognizable as such, she told Le Courrier.
Satirical magazine La Distinction has received mail from Tamedia's legal service
received. At the launch of Le Matin Bleu at the end of
October published a parody of commuter newspapers. The
The design of the magazine called Zéro Absolu, published by the Geneva daily newspaper Le
Courrier was essentially based on 20
minutes. According to Le Courrier, Tamedia therefore sees a
Risk of confusion and infringement of copyright. Complete as
However, the Zurich publishing house does not want to be seen as a spoilsport: Since 20
minutes has not yet appeared in French-speaking Switzerland and the content of
Zéro Absolu is not directed against Tamedia, a lawsuit will not be filed,
writes the legal service. However, a repeat case will be
under no circumstances tolerate it. La Distinction disrespectfully counters the threat:
"We wonder whether this letter isn't forged. How could the
Newspaper with the largest circulation in the country does not have the right to parody
", the editorial team is quoted as saying in Le Courrier. They suspect
therefore a maneuver by Edipresse behind it, to prevent the competitor
ridicule. The fact that a lawsuit actually has little prospect of
would be successful, says media lawyer Regula Bähler. The
Copyright law expressly provides for exceptions for parodies as long as they
were recognizable as such, she told Le Courrier.
