Venditti v. Rai
Case Law- Country
- Country Location
Latitude: 42.82063999428387
Longitude: 12.730955243111072
- Country Location (linked Case Law)
- Italy
- Decision Date
- Mar 20, 2018
- Case Status
- Closed
- Case Outcome (Procedural)
- Reversed Lower Court
- Case Outcome (Disposition)
- Access Restriction/Content Regulation/Information Control
- Keywords
- Data Protection and Retention
- Defamation / Reputation
- Privacy
- Judicial Body
- Supreme Court (court of final appeal)
- Court Name
- Italian Supreme Court
- Case Number
- 6919/2018
- Case Summary
The Italian Supreme Court held that the rebroadcasting of a video about a famous songwriter five years after it was taken was unlawful and the artist’s right not to be misrepresented outweighed the right of the public to be informed. Antonelli Venditti had issued proceedings against Italy’s main broadcaster, RAI, claiming damages for the unlawful use of his image, the violation of his right to be forgotten and the defamatory nature of comments included in the broadcasted video. Relying on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and national courts, the Court listed factors to be considered in determining whether the right to be forgotten prevailed over the right to inform. It reasoned that the content of the video and the way in which it was disseminated, some five years after the event took place and as part of a TV show ranking the most obnoxious celebrities, was neither relevant for public debate nor justified by reasons of justice, public security, or of scientific or educational interest. The Court further reasoned that the comments added to the images could not be justified as satire which is dependent on a specific context, for example, for the purpose of social or political criticism, and must not result in an unjustified attack on a specific person, in this case, the denigration of an artist in order to represent him as a person who was always unfriendly.
- Case Significance
The decision contracts expression by ruling that the right to be forgotten prevailed over the right to inform.
The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.
- Related Caselaw (self)
- Source URL
- Global Freedom of Expression
- Collection
- Columbia
- Date Updated
- Jul 3, 2024