The Rubik's cube is a work of intellectual property protected by copyright.

The Criminal Court of Cassation, in its ruling no. 27641 of July 28, 2025, recognized the Rubik's cube as a work of intellectual property protected by copyright.
In support of their decision, the judges referred to the reasons given on April 30, 2025, by the Court of Venice, which classified the well-known three-dimensional puzzle as an industrial design.
Industrial design works are eligible for copyright protection if they meet the requirement of artistic value in addition to the requirement of creativity required by copyright law for all types of intellectual works.
The existence of this latter element has been recognized by case law in the presence of a series of objective elements, such as the recognition of the design creation in critical-specialist fields, its display in exhibitions or museums, publication in specialized magazines, and the awarding of prizes.
Artistic value has therefore been identified with the so-called “historicization” of the work, i.e., the phenomenon whereby a design object becomes a social or cultural icon.
The fact that the Rubik's cube has artistic value has been recognized in its exhibition in some of the world's leading museums (e.g., the MoMa in New York) and in its mention as an iconic object of the 1980s in newspapers and in palys or movies.