Dear Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Austria
How would you feel if I took an image of an artwork by an artist you represent accompanied by your name and I would print it on a T-shirt? How would you feel if I then proceeded to sell the T-shirt and advertise it as my own "fashion" collection?
I guess you would probably sue me for copyright infringement and you would rightly do so. But, don’t worry, I'm not contacting you to ask if we could do a fashion collaboration.
My name is Anna Battista and I'm a freelance journalist. I'm contacting you because I became aware of the fact that extracts of a feature entitled "The Quirky Aesthetics of Joy: Interview with Cinzia Ruggeri" I did for my site Irenebrination in 2013 are being used as the starting point of an imaginary dialogue that forms the main inspiration for your next exhibition, dedicated to Cinzia Ruggeri and Birgit Jürgensse, "Lonely Are All Bridges".
I should be honoured as the event is organised by two esteemed curators, Maurizio Cattelan and Marta Papini, but, instead, I'm a bit annoyed.
Yes, I'm annoyed because I was never asked for any permission (permission that I would have granted for free) and the quotes on your site do not even appear to be credited.
Essentially the curators lifted the following quotes:
"I love freedom and I hate prejudices, I just wanted to express myself and my ideas in a completely free environment and in different fields and make people smile. See, even tableclothes irritated me because they had to look the same with their symmetrical prints, patterns and embroideries."
and
"Fashion allowed me to explore the wearer's intimate secrets, needs and desires, but also a person's crazes, fads and nervous disorders and I loved this aspect of fashion as the entire point behind my work wasn't to continuously and bulimically create, but to tackle and explore these issues also through behavioural garments."
The first one was copied as it was:
"C. I love freedom and I hate prejudices, I just wanted to express myself and my ideas in a completely free environment and in different fields and make people smile. See, even tablecloths irritated me because they had to look the same with their symmetrical prints, patterns, and embroideries."
The second was edited into:
"C. Fashion has allowed me to explore the secrets of who wears a garment, needs and desires, manias and personal disorder. I loved this aspect of fashion as the entire point behind my work isn’t to continuously and bulimically create, but to tackle and explore these issues also through behavioural garments."
Now, there are some serious infringement of copyrights in what your curators did. First of all, Mrs Ruggeri gave me those answers in a private interview that took place in 2012 at her house in Milan. I did that interview for my own site because I wanted to rediscover her and I wasn’t commissioned by anybody else. I went to Milan using my own money and paying for all my expenses. Mrs Ruggeri was solicited to answer as she did by my specific questions. I created those questions that triggered that specific response.
Second, the interview was done in Italian and I proceeded to translate it into English.
So I'm the copyright owner of the interview and also of all the translations. In a way by using the two quotes you're doubly infringing my copyright. I also have the recording of the interview in my archive and I'm the sole owner of that recording. I am in the process of licensing several contents from my website to a publisher for an exclusive deal, and this would certainly be a further issue between you and that publisher.
I therefore have some requests to make if you still want to use those two quotes:
1. The two quotes and other eventual quotes lifted from my interview ith Cinzia Ruggeri will have to be clearly credited in ALL the materials connected with this exhibition to:
Battista, Anna. "The Quirky Aesthetics of Joy: Interview with Cinzia Ruggeri", Irenebrination, 25th May 2013, https://irenebrination.typepad.com/irenebrination_notes_on_a/2013/05/cinzia-ruggeri-interview.html
2. I’m not requesting money from your gallery to use the quotes in connection with the exhibition, but I want you to make two donations (one per quote) of Euro 1,000 each. The first one should go to Emergency in memory of Cinzia Ruggeri -
The second one should buy 5 sewing machines and four leather workshop sessions for further Emergency projects in Iraq.
3. In case you don't want to comply with any of the above mentioned requests, I ask with this letter to remove ALL the quotes taken/inspired by my interview with Cinzia Ruggeri and by other features I wrote throughout the years about Cinzia Ruggeri as I'm not granting my permission to use them for free in conjunction with this event or with any others taking place at your gallery. DJs pay when they want to use samples of other artists in their commercial remixes, so I can't see why your gallery and the curators of this event shouldn't even ask for permission to use the quotes lifted from my piece. The same quotes were used for other exhibitions in 2019, but they were correctly credited, so I'm not sure why you think you can use them without crediting them. If the curators had used quotes taken from an interview by a famous art critic, published by a powerful publication, they would have had to ask for permission or even pay to use them. In the case of my quotes the situation is also a bit more complicated because the point is not just using the quotes without crediting them, but using them as the essential starting point for the event at your gallery. The exhibition is indeed based on an imaginary dialogue that includes also the quotes taken from my interview. Without those quotes the curators may have not put together the concept that then resulted in the event. So my interview didn't provide just a quote used in a catalogue or in a press release, but the idea behind the entire event, becoming instrumental to the exhibition. The presence of my article online since 2013 is well documented, and being publicly readable online doesn't mean it can be copied without permission, as you should know. Otherwise anyone could proceed to copy all contents from your own website as well. The presence of your infringing materials is now documented too, so, removing this page or the quotes included in it wouldn't be a good idea, too.
Italian artist, fashion and interior designer Cinzia Ruggeri died in November 2019, and many of her genuine friends are finding it hard to move on with their lives. We keep on seeing her name being exploited in ways we couldn't have fathomed while she was still alive and this deeply hurts.
Mrs Ruggeri was often understated, unacknowledged and ignored by the same establishment that is now hailing her as a pioneer or attaches to her labels that never belonged to her. Many of her friends wish this attention had reached her while she was still alive, because she had an amazing energy and a rare and unique vision.
Mrs Ruggeri, Cinzia, was a lovely, gentle and kind soul with a wonderful imagination and a great sense of humour. In a feature I wrote last October, entitled "Ciao Shatzi" I stated I would have liked to be able to do more for Cinzia while she was alive, but I wasn't able to do so. The only thing I can do now is honour and preserve her legacy.
With the utmost respect for your establishment, Mr Cattelan and Ms. Papini, I ask to take my requests into consideration and I trust a solution to this matter will be found as soon as possible.
All the best,
Anna Battista
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