A movie poster, if it’s creative, is protected by copyright.
This was established by the Court of Rome in an order dated April 13, 2026, regarding the unauthorized use of a movie poster dedicated to Niccolò Paganini to accompany a critical review published online.
In this specific case, the Court held that the poster constituted a photographic work eligible for protection under Article 2, No. 7, of the Copyright Act, since it was not merely a portrait but expressed, in an unquestionably creative manner, its own interpretation of the person depicted (namely, the actor Klaus Kinski in the role of the well-known composer and violinist), highlighting aspects of his character prone to excess and recklessness.
The order also ruled out the applicability in this case of the exception provided for in Article 70 of the Copyright Act, which permits the summary, quotation, or reproduction of excerpts or parts of a work and their communication to the public for the purposes of criticism or discussion, within the limits justified by such purposes and provided that they do not constitute competition with the economic exploitation of the work.
Since the review concerned several works in the “biopic” genre and not the movie poster for the film about Paganini, reproducing the poster was not deemed necessary to identify the film that was the focus of the review.
(Fabrizia Serpieri)
